Monroe County

A city address is usually permitted by the city, not the county — but not always, and some authorities keep building and hand electrical to someone else. Getting this wrong costs the whole submittal, because every requirement below belongs to whoever actually holds jurisdiction. Check the overlays in the same pass: an HOA, a historic district, a windstorm certification or a system-size cap can reshape the design, and all of them are cheaper to find now than after the array is laid out.

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? Yes — for the unincorporated area of Monroe County. The County is NOT the AHJ inside Key West, Marathon, Islamorada, Key Colony Beach or Layton, each of which self-permits. 95% · County FAQ page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both — Building and Electrical, performed and inspected in-house by the County (not delegated). 'The Building Department intakes and issues permits for all types of development, including plan reviews by planning, environmental, structural, plumbing, mechanical, electrical, floodplain, and fire.' A residential PV retrofit is processed as a stand-alone ELECTRIC trade permit (job type option 'Solar Panels'), reviewed by PLAN/Electrical, Floodplain, and (commercial only) Fire disciplines. 90% · department page + County Permit Type Summary
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes, a permit is required. The County's HB 803 $7,500 minor-work exemption (effective 1 Jul 2026) explicitly excludes electrical work — 'may NOT include electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, or gas work' — so PV, which is processed as electrical work, cannot use that exemption regardless of value. 92% · department page
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Separate — a roof-mounted PV system is processed as a stand-alone Electrical trade permit (record format R-ELEC-YYYY-#### / C-ELEC-YYYY-####), independent of a Building permit. A ground-mounted array additionally requires a separate Accessory Building/Structure permit (R-ACCB/C-ACCB) alongside the Electrical permit. 78% · County Permit Type Summary (internal rev. 1/1/2025)
• Is there a historic-district review? Yes, in one specific unincorporated area — the Tavernier Historic District overlay (Monroe County LDC Sec. 9.5-260.1) applies within unincorporated Tavernier. The County's Tavernier Historic District Preservation Guidelines document does not mention solar/PV specifically (no exemption or added requirement stated). Outside that overlay, unincorporated Monroe County has no other historic-district review mechanism I could find. 58% · County Historic District Preservation Guidelines (Tavernier)
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No Texas-style windstorm-inspection certificate exists in Florida/Monroe County; instead, compliance with the applicable design wind speed is demonstrated through Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade County Notice of Acceptance (NOA) for the racking/anchoring system, which the County's own Permit Type Summary lists as a required 'Product Approval' document for the Electrical/Solar Panels permit type — it does not specify which of the two (statewide FL Product Approval vs. Miami-Dade NOA) is required. 55% · County Permit Type Summary + full site enumeration
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No — a routine residential rooftop PV retrofit does not require a Specific Use Permit or Board/Council approval; it is processed administratively through the standard ELECTRIC permit. Monroe's Rate of Growth Ordinance (ROGO) does not gate it either: solar photovoltaic (3kW+) appears only as a bonus SCORING item inside the separate, competitive NROGO (nonresidential) allocation system used for new commercial development, not as a requirement or gate on adding PV to an existing residence. 68% · County NROGO scoring document + Permit Type Summary

Several authorities require the electrical permit to be pulled by a licensed electrician, or require the contractor to be registered with them BEFORE applying. Registration is not same-day. This is second on the list rather than fourth because it is the step most likely to stop the job before the drawings matter.

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? Either — a Florida-licensed electrical contractor (FS 489.513, required for grid-interactive PV) or the property owner acting as owner-builder for their own single-family residence. There is no general/building-contractor route to the electrical permit; PV routes through the ELECTRIC trade permit specifically. 62% · department page (contractor licensing) + Fees/Forms/Applications page
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes, in effect — the contractor must either hold a Monroe County Certificate of Competency in the electrical/solar trade, or (if licensed by a different Florida county) obtain reciprocity from Monroe's Contractors' Examining Board, or (if state-certified under DBPR Part I/II) register that state certification with the County before pulling the permit. 65% · County Reciprocity Application Checklist + contractor-complaint page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes — an owner-builder may self-permit, subject to the standard Florida owner-builder disclosure/affidavit process; the County publishes both an 'Owner-Builder Affidavit' and an 'Owner-Builder Residential Re-Roof Permitting Requirement' among its standard permitting forms. 62% · department page (forms index)

Almost everywhere wants a site plan, a one-line or three-line electrical diagram, equipment cut sheets with listings, and a structural attachment detail. Build it against the published checklist rather than the last jurisdiction you worked in — the checklist is what the reviewer marks against.

• What documents make up a complete submittal? For the standard Electrical/'Solar Panels' permit type: a Site Plan (required document), plus Electric Utility Approval, Construction Drawings, Engineer Drawings, Shop Drawings, and Product Approval (listed as the trade's 'other docs'). Submission is a single package through the online portal. 82% · County Permit Type Summary
• How many copies, and in what format? Electronic/online only for permits filed through the current system: applications, plans and supporting documents are submitted as a package through the County's Oracle Permitting and Licensing (OPAL) online portal, 'Community Development.' Legacy permits under the prior CommunityPLUS system were paper, filed in person at a Building Dept. office. 75% · department page + County inspection scheduling handout
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes, a site plan is a required submittal document for the ELECTRIC/Solar Panels permit type. The County's own Permit Type Summary names 'Site Plan' as the required document but does not itemize its required content specifically for a PV job (that level of detail exists for other permit types, e.g. Dock/Seawall, but not for Electric/Solar). 55% · County Permit Type Summary
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Effectively yes — a one-line electrical diagram is required in practice: it is an explicit condition of the separate utility interconnection application ('a one-line (electrical drawing of installation) must be submitted'), and the County's own Electrical permit type calls for 'Engineer Drawings' and 'Shop Drawings' as supporting docs, though the County's own text does not use the phrase 'one-line diagram.' 62% · County Permit Type Summary + Keys Energy Services interconnection application

Most authorities now take the whole application through a portal, and several states cap or constrain what a residential solar permit may cost. Check whether plan check is billed separately before you quote the job.

• Which permit portal does this authority use? Oracle Permitting and Licensing (OPAL) for Public Sector — the County's own online permitting system, branded 'Community Development,' at fa-ettl-saasfaprod1.fa.ocs.oraclecloud.com/fscmUI/publicSector.html. Older, still-open permits remain on the legacy CommunityPLUS system. 85% · department page (Online Permitting Services)
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes, for permits filed under the current system — application submission, document upload, permit-type-specific fee estimation (a separate Oracle 'Fee Estimator' tool is linked from the same page), payment, and inspection scheduling/cancellation are all done through the OPAL portal without an in-person step, per the County's own reference guides ('Public Registered User Sign-In Reference Guide,' 'Document Submittal Reference Guide,' 'Authorized Agent Permit Applications Specific Reference Guide'). 80% · department page + County reference guides
• What does a residential solar permit cost? Valuation-based, not a flat solar fee. Worked mechanism from the County's current Fee Resolution (No. 277-2025, adopted by the BOCC, posted 30 Sep 2025): for a job valued $5,000–$99,999, the maximum 'Building' fee (covering all 5 disciplines: Structural, Electrical, Mechanical, Plumbing, Flood) is billed at $42.79 per $1,000 of value; a PV job needing only Electrical + Flood review (2 of 5 disciplines) is charged 25% (base processing) + 15% x 2 (two disciplines) = 55% of that maximum. Example: a $20,000 residential PV job ≈ 20 x $42.79 x 0.55 ≈ $471, plus the Florida Permit Surcharge (FS 553.721/468.631) and any Planning/Environmental/Fire add-ons if triggered. 55% · Fee Resolution 277-2025 (OCR'd scan, posted 30 Sep 2025)
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation-based / Tiered — fees are charged per $1,000 of declared job value in four value bands ($5,000–$99,999; $100,000–$299,999; $300,000–$999,999; $1,000,000+), with a percentage of the applicable 'Building' maximum charged per building discipline actually involved (25% base + 15% per additional discipline). 85% · Fee Resolution 277-2025 + County Permit Type Summary
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No separate stand-alone plan-check fee — plan review is bundled into the same per-discipline, valuation-based Building fee described in Q15/16, not billed as a distinct line item. 60% · Fee Resolution 277-2025 (OCR'd scan)

Interconnection is a separate process from the permit and usually the longer pole. Where the utility does not depend on the permit being issued, running both at once is the single biggest saving available on a residential job.

• What is the stated plan-review turnaround? 'Fast Track' 5 business days for the first plan-review cycle on a standard Electrical permit, with an explicit EXCEPTION carved out for 'Solar Panels and Generators': 8 business days for first-cycle review. 88% · County Permit Type Summary
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? 180 days to be issued after application; once issued, the permit is valid 6 months (184 days), and then 180 days after each passed inspection, before it lapses. NOTE — this conflicts with Florida HB 803 (2026), which requires a MINIMUM ONE-YEAR validity period for county-issued building/electrical permits (FS 125.56(4)(d); FS 553.79(1)(c)), effective 1 Jul 2026; the County's own published rule has not visibly been updated to match. 75% · County Permit Type Summary, Expiration Rules legend
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Split by geography within the unincorporated county — Keys Energy Services (KEYS), the City of Key West's municipal utility, serves the Lower Keys 'from Key West to the Seven-Mile Bridge'; Florida Keys Electric Cooperative (FKEC) serves the Middle and Upper Keys from its Tavernier and Marathon offices. There is no single utility for 'unincorporated Monroe County' — which utility applies depends on the parcel's location. 80% · utility 'About' page (KEYS) + utility site (FKEC)
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel, but sequenced by the utility to follow the AHJ's own final inspection: the RGS owner applies to the utility, gets 'Approval to Proceed' before installing, then obtains County (or applicable city) permit and inspection independently, then provides the utility a copy of the local inspection approval; the utility (KEYS or FKEC) installs the bi-directional net meter within 5 business days of receiving all required documents (KEYS) or after review (FKEC) — meaning the AHJ's approval does not itself authorize grid connection. 75% · utility Net Metering Customer Checklist (KEYS) + FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement

The NEC edition a jurisdiction enforces is often a cycle behind the newest one published, and local amendments sit on top of it. Rapid shutdown, conductor sizing and labelling all change between editions, so the edition in force is the first thing to establish, not the last.

• Which NEC edition is in force? 'Current Edition' — no year is stated. The County's own low-voltage alarm permit application quotes the state definition verbatim: low voltage is 'as defined in the National Electrical Code Standard 70, Current Edition.' No County document I could reach names a specific NEC year (e.g. 2020 or 2023) for electrical work generally. 60% · County permit form (Alarm System Low Voltage Bulk Application), quoting FS 553.793
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), the current statewide code cycle — adopted by Monroe County via its Building ordinance (LDC/County Code Ch. 6, Building). I could not obtain a Monroe-specific adoption-ordinance citation or effective date because the County's Code of Ordinances/Land Development Code is not reachable (see why). 58% · department page (generic 'current edition' reference) + statewide code-cycle inference
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code (FFPC), 8th edition, effective 31 December 2023 — consisting of NFPA 1, NFPA 101, F.S. 633, and F.A.C. Chapter 69A. 75% · County Fire Rescue brochure (Mobile Food Truck), Code Resources section
• What is the installation judged against? For the standard over-the-counter Electrical/Solar Panels permit, the installation is judged against the current Florida Building Code / Florida Electrical Code (adopted NEC, 'current edition' per Q29) at plan review (Product Approval, Engineer/Shop Drawings, and Electric Utility Approval are the required supporting documents) and then against the approved plans and manufacturer's specifications at final inspection. 62% · County Permit Type Summary

Ridge setbacks and roof access pathways are fire-service requirements and they constrain the array layout. They are the most common cause of a redesign after the fire department comments on a plan set.

Nothing recorded for Monroe County on this step yet — 1 question checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

Which rapid-shutdown rule applies follows directly from the NEC edition in force, and the initiation device has to be at a location the fire service can reach and identify. This is inspected, and it is labelled.

Nothing recorded for Monroe County on this step yet — 1 question checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

The NEC sets a baseline for permanent markings at the service equipment and the disconnecting means. On top of that, an authority may specify its own wording, and the utility may specify more again. Where any of them writes its own text, a generic off-the-shelf label set will not pass — this is the detail most often fixed on a return visit.

• Which placards does this authority require at the service equipment? The County itself specifies no placard wording; it requires NEC-standard marking generically as part of code compliance at inspection. The UTILITY side is where placard/label requirements are actually spelled out: FKEC's Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement requires a permanent weatherproof placard at the meter socket indicating the manual disconnect's location whenever the disconnect cannot be mounted adjacent to the meter; Keys Energy Services' own interconnection application has the utility check off 'Location and Warning Labels installed' as a condition of final approval/bi-directional meter installation. 68% · FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement + KEYS interconnection application
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No — neither the County nor either utility specifies exact placard wording of its own; all three point to generic 'warning/disconnect location' labeling without prescribing text. 60% · County Permit Type Summary + utility interconnection documents
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Not specified by the County. FKEC's own interconnection agreement requires the equivalent of a facility/location placard in one specific circumstance: when the manual disconnect switch cannot be mounted adjacent to the meter socket, the member must install 'a permanent weather-proof placard adjacent to FKEC's meter socket indicating the location of the manual disconnect switch or switches.' 62% · FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement §5.3
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes. FKEC requires a member-installed manual disconnect switch (visible load-break type) at every Tier 1 system that is not a UL 1741-listed inverter-based system, lockable with a single FKEC utility padlock, plus the location placard described in Q41. Keys Energy Services requires, as a condition of final approval, that 'Location and Warning Labels' be installed and verified before it will install the bi-directional net meter — beyond anything the County's own permit conditions ask for. 82% · FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement + KEYS interconnection application
• Where must the labels be placed? Utility-driven, not County-specified: FKEC requires the manual disconnect switch 'mounted separately from, but adjacent to, the FKEC meter socket' (or, if not adjacent, at an agreed alternate location with a placard at the meter socket pointing to it). Keys Energy Services does not state an exact placement in the documents I could reach, only that labels must be present and verified before activation. 68% · FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement §5.2

Where the AC disconnect must sit relative to the meter is usually the utility's rule, not the building department's. Battery storage frequently carries its own permit, its own inspection and its own fire conditions.

• Where must the AC disconnect be, relative to the meter? Utility-specified, not County-specified: FKEC requires the AC/manual disconnect switch mounted separately from, but immediately adjacent to, the FKEC meter socket, lockable with a single FKEC padlock (or, where impractical, at an agreed alternate location with a placard at the meter pointing to it). Keys Energy Services does not publish an equivalent distance rule in the documents I could reach. 75% · FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement §5.2-5.3
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Equipment must be listed/tested for grid-interactive operation (utility-side requirement: FKEC requires certification to IEEE 1547/1547.1, NEC 690/705/706 and UL 1741; KEYS' contractor certification requires the latest UL 1741 edition including anti-islanding). On the AHJ side, the County requires generic 'Product Approval' for the racking/mounting system but does not publish a specific approved-products list, and does not state whether a statewide Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade NOA is required. 58% · FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement + County Permit Type Summary
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Likely yes, processed under the same ELECTRIC permit type rather than a dedicated battery/ESS category — the County's current Permit Type Summary lists 'Generator' as a named ELECTRIC job-type option alongside 'Solar Panels,' but has no separate 'Battery' or 'Energy Storage System' job-type option anywhere in the full table I read. No County document sets out battery-specific siting, separation-distance, or fire-code conditions. 52% · County Permit Type Summary (full document read)
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No separate ESS-specific permit type or inspection code is published — the County's current Permit Type Summary (all permit types enumerated) contains no 'Battery' or 'Energy Storage System' row, and the current Inspection List/3-digit code sheet has no ESS-specific inspection code (only '325 Solar PV System/Generator' under Electrical). 58% · County Permit Type Summary + Inspection List (full enumeration)
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Likely yes, though not stated in those exact words — a ground-mounted PV array would fall under the County's 'ACCESSORY BUILDING/STRUCTURE' permit type (R-ACCB/C-ACCB), which requires Structural review, Site Plan, Construction Drawings and (per its own job-type list) covers 'Generator Building/Auxiliary' and similar free-standing accessory equipment, distinct from and in addition to the stand-alone Electrical permit used for roof-mount PV. 55% · County Permit Type Summary

Booking is a portal, a phone call or an email depending on the authority, and the notice required is rarely zero. Book before the work is finished rather than after — the lead time, not the work, is usually what sets the date.

• How is an inspection booked? Portal — for permits issued under the current online system, all inspections (Building, Planning, Environmental Resources, Fire) must be scheduled/cancelled/rescheduled through the Online Permitting Service (OPAL) portal itself. Older permits still open under the legacy CommunityPLUS system instead use a telephone IVR line (305-295-5160). 85% · County Permit Inspection List and Scheduling Instructions (current)
• How much notice is required? Effectively same-day: 'Same Day Inspection Scheduling is Allowed Before 5 am of the Inspection Day.' There is no multi-day advance-notice requirement — a request made after 5 a.m. simply falls to the next available day rather than being rejected outright. 85% · County Permit Inspection List and Scheduling Instructions
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No AM/PM window is offered on the current online system — the scheduling instructions state plainly that when booking online you 'Select the date (time is not adhered to) and submit,' i.e. only a date, not a time window, is selected. 80% · County Permit Inspection List and Scheduling Instructions

Some authorities inspect their own solar work; some delegate it, and a few do not inspect the PV equipment itself at all. Who is coming determines what they will look at.

• Does this AHJ perform its own final solar inspection? Yes — the Monroe County Building Department performs its own final electrical/solar inspection with County staff (inspection code '399 Final Electric,' preceded by code '325 Solar PV System/Generator'), out of its Upper Keys, Middle Keys, Lower Keys and Ocean Reef offices. 88% · County Inspection List (current)
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated by default — the County performs solar inspections directly. Florida's Private Provider law (FS 553.791) gives the applicant the OPTION to hire a licensed private-provider engineer/architect for plan review and/or inspection instead of using the County, and the County publishes its own 'Private Provider Permitting Information/Requirements and Forms Packet' to support that route if chosen. 70% · County Private Provider Permitting Information/Requirements and Forms Packet

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? For a typical residential rooftop PV job: '325 Solar PV System/Generator' (electrical inspection covering the PV-specific work), then '399 Final Electric' (marked REQUIRED on the County's inspection list) to close out the electrical permit. 72% · County Inspection List (current)
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? Effectively yes, in the form of the dedicated '325 Solar PV System/Generator' code, which functions as the rough/technology-specific inspection ahead of the required '399 Final Electric' — the County does not separately label anything 'rough-in' or 'mid-roof' for PV. 58% · County Inspection List (current)

The approved plan set, the permit, and the equipment listings should be on site and reachable. Inspectors routinely verify that installed equipment matches what was approved, and that the labels are the ones the plan set promised.

• Is there a published inspection checklist? No solar-specific inspection checklist is published — the County publishes only the generic 3-digit Inspection Code list (which names the '325 Solar PV System/Generator' and '399 Final Electric' codes) rather than an itemized checklist of what is verified at each. 65% · full enumeration of County Online Permitting Services page + Inspection List
• What must be on site at inspection? A Permit Card/inspection record must be available on site, with each completed inspection posted to it indicating pass or fail; approved plans should likewise be available for the inspector's review. (This is stated in the County's Private Provider packet in the context of that specific route: 'Post each completed inspection record on the Permit Card posted on site, indicating pass or fail'; I could not confirm identical wording exists for the standard County-inspection route.) 55% · County Private Provider Permitting Information/Requirements and Forms Packet

Passing gives you a final or an equivalent sign-off. That is not the same as permission to operate: PTO comes from the utility, and who tells the utility the inspection passed varies. A system left switched off for weeks is usually waiting on this handover.

• What is issued on pass? Final Electric sign-off (inspection code 399, marked REQUIRED) closes out the Electrical/Solar permit; the Permit Type Summary marks the ELECTRIC permit type's closing document as 'CC' (Certificate of Completion), not CO — a Certificate of Occupancy is a separate instrument the County charges for elsewhere and is not what a PV retrofit on an existing, already-occupied structure receives. 60% · County Permit Type Summary
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? The Installer/RGS Owner — both utilities put the burden on the customer to notify them and supply proof of the local inspection before activation. Keys Energy Services: 'RGS Owner must obtain all inspections and approvals as required by applicable jurisdictions [and] must provide KEYS with a copy of the local building code official inspection and certification of installation in writing' — only then does KEYS install the bi-directional meter (within 5 business days of receiving all required documents). FKEC's Tier 1 Agreement likewise requires the Member to 'provide Local Building Code Official inspection and certification of installation' and to notify FKEC at least 10 calendar days before placing the system in service. 80% · KEYS Net Metering Customer Checklist + FKEC Tier 1 Interconnection Agreement