Town of Lake Park

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. The Town of Lake Park's own Community Development Department is the AHJ for residential rooftop PV (building, electrical and zoning). The Building Official and inspection services are supplied under contract by CAP Government, Inc., but the Town remains the permitting authority and the legal AHJ. Fire protection and fire-code enforcement sit with Palm Beach County Fire Rescue (Station 68) under an interlocal agreement. 93% · department page + FS 553.80(7)(b) utilization report
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both. The Town permits and inspects building and electrical itself; nothing is delegated to Palm Beach County. It is a HYBRID staffing model, not wholesale outsourcing: the FY2025 utilization report's personnel line reads '8 (CAP) & 8 (in-house) - Total: 16' for permit issuance and '9 (CAP) and 6 (in-house) - Total: 15' for inspections, with personnel cost $649,811.65 and only 4 of 3,801 inspections (0.1%) done by an FS 553.791 private provider. So CAP staff are counted as the local government's own personnel, not as private-provider work. Water and sewer are supplied by Seacoast Utility Authority (a separate independent authority, not a Town permitting function); fire is Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. 92% · FS 553.80(7)(b) utilization report
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes. A building/electrical permit is required for residential rooftop PV. The Town's own Roof Permit Checklist states at item 8: 'Existing Solar Systems: The re-installation of an existing roof mounted photovoltaic system requires a separate permit. Permit must be obtained in order to finalize the roofing permit.' The codified permit-exemption list (Code Sec. 54-8, FBC 105.2 as locally amended) exempts no PV work of any kind. 90% · published checklist
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Separate. The Town uses Palm Beach County's Universal County-Wide/Municipal Building Permit Application Form (January 2024 Edition), which is per-trade ('TRADE (CHECK ONE): STRUCTURAL / ROOFING / ELECTRICAL / MECHANICAL / PLUMBING / FIRE / GAS / OTHER') and states on its face 'I understand that a separate permit must be secured for ELECTRICAL WORK'. The Roof Permit Checklist likewise calls the PV permit 'a separate permit'. There is no 'SOLAR' or 'PV' trade box - a PV job is filed under ELECTRICAL and/or OTHER. 80% · permit application form
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No architectural or appearance approval is required, and this is the headline finding for Lake Park. There is NO architectural review board, appearance board or design review board in the Town at all - the Town Clerk's own boards list has only the Library Advisory Board, the Planning & Zoning Board and the Tree Board. The Town's architectural standards live at Code Ch. 78 Art. XII, whose TITLE carries the carve-out: 'ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR NONRESIDENTIAL BUILDINGS', and whose applicability clause (Sec. 78-330(2)(a)) reads 'All new nonresidential buildings or structures shall comply with this article.' Single-family and duplex are outside it entirely. HOA approval is not a Town requirement either: the Town's codified rule (Sec. 54-8, FBC 105.3.3) only obliges the permit to carry the statutory NOTICE that private restrictions such as 'the requirement for Home or Property Owners Association approval' may exist in the county public records. 90% · department page + codified ordinance
• Is there a historic-district review? Yes, but narrowly, and it does not reach an ordinary house. Code Ch. 66 requires a Certificate of Appropriateness before any building, structure or improvement 'which is DESIGNATED pursuant to section 66-9' may be 'erected, altered, restored, renovated, excavated, moved or demolished' (Sec. 66-10(a)), and 'No building permit shall be issued by the community development director which affects any designated property in the town without a certificate of appropriateness' (Sec. 66-10(f)(4)g). The architectural features reached include 'the type, style and color of facades, roofs, windows, doors and APPURTENANCES' - the same word Palm Beach uses to pull rooftop PV in. Three things keep this from being a general solar gate: (i) it bites only on DESIGNATED property; (ii) NONCONSENSUAL DESIGNATION IS ABOLISHED (Sec. 66-14(b)), and the director's duty on a 50-year-old house in the 1998 Lake Park Historical Structure Survey is only to notify the owner of eligibility and 'seek designation WITH THE OWNER'S CONSENT'; (iii) the Historic Preservation Board IS the Planning & Zoning Board (Sec. 66-4), so no separate body sits. 90% · codified ordinance
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate 'windstorm certification' exists. What is required is Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade County Notice of Acceptance for roofing products, and design wind pressures. Code Sec. 54-8.1 establishes the Town's wind-speed lines under FBC 1609.3: Category I buildings 160 mph, Category II 170 mph, Category III and IV 180 mph. Lake Park is NOT in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ is Miami-Dade and Broward only) - but note the Town's own Roof Permit Checklist packet uses the Miami-Dade 'High Velocity Hurricane Zone Uniform Roofing Application Form' and its Hurricane Mitigation Affidavit text cites 'Broward County Amendments' and the Florida Existing Building Code SEVENTH Edition (2020). Those are borrowed-document artefacts on a current Town form, not evidence that Lake Park is HVHZ. 82% · codified ordinance + published checklist
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No. No special exception, conditional use, site plan or Commission approval is triggered by a residential rooftop PV array. The Code contains no solar use listing in any district. The Town's expedited-permitting article (Ch. 67 Art. VII) is an economic-development programme confined to targeted industry clusters (aviation/aerospace, bioscience, communications/IT, corporate HQ etc.) that create 30 new full-time positions - it is not available for residential solar. 72% · codified ordinance
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No system-size cap in the Town's code or any Town instrument. The only caps that apply are FPL's interconnection tiers: Tier 1 up to 10 kW, Tier 2 over 10 kW to 100 kW, Tier 3 over 100 kW to 2,000 kW, and FPL's guidance that a net-metered system be sized to offset the customer's annual energy use. 78% · utility DG guidelines + controlled code search

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? A licensed electrical contractor, or the property owner acting as owner-builder under FS 489.103(7). The current application carries both an 'OWNER BUILDER PER FL. ST. 489' box and a 'CONTRACTOR (CERT. HOLDER)' box with a licence-number field. 82% · permit application form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes. Contractors must register with the Town and with CAP before applying: the Town publishes a 'Contractor's Registration Form', the Master Fee Schedule carries CONTRACTOR REGISTRATION FEES of $2.00 for a contractor holding Palm Beach County registration with a 'W' designation and $10.00 for all other contractors, and the Community Development page states 'All applicants (owners, builders and contractors) are required to register through CAP... at www.capfla.com.' 90% · fee schedule + department page
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes. Owner-builder self-permitting is available under FS 489.103(7) and the Town publishes an 'Owner-Builder Affidavit & Disclosure Statement Form'. IMPORTANT for the owner-builder-omission question: the line is RETAINED, not silently dropped - both the Electrical Service Permit Checklist and the Required Permit Applications Checklist carry the full disclosure text ('Property owners must reside at the residence and shall NOT list the property for sale, lease or rent within a year'), and the CAP registration flyer says registration applies to 'owner/builder or contractor initiated' applications. Condo-unit owners must use licensed contractors for all scopes of work. 88% · published checklist

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? There is NO PV-specific submittal checklist. The nearest applicable published checklist is the Electrical Service Permit Checklist, which requires: (1) one digital submittal of Palm Beach County's Uniform Permit Application per discipline; (2) one digital submittal of dedicated electrical plans; (3) load calculations; (4) a riser diagram; plus a certified copy of the Notice of Commencement if job cost exceeds $2,500 and, where applicable, the Owner/Builder Affidavit. The checklist states on its face that it 'is not intended to be all-inclusive'. 70% · published checklist (nearest applicable, not PV-specific)
• How many copies, and in what format? One (1) digital copy of each item. Submittal is ELECTRONIC only, uploaded through the CAP portal (or emailed to permit@lakeparkflorida.gov); Code Sec. 54-8 (FBC 107.1 as locally amended) requires submittal documents 'in electronic format in accordance with Florida Statute 553.79 unless otherwise approved by the building official'. 85% · codified ordinance + department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Not required by the Electrical Service Permit Checklist, which asks only for dedicated electrical plans, load calculations and a riser diagram. The Town's generic Required Permit Applications Checklist does ask for 'One (1) digital submittal of a Site Plan showing all property lines and setbacks', omissible where the same information appears on a submitted survey - but that checklist is written around ground-disturbing/driveway work, not rooftop equipment. 50% · published checklist (scope ambiguous)
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? A RISER DIAGRAM is required by the Electrical Service Permit Checklist. A 'one-line' or 'three-line' diagram is not named as such anywhere in the Town's published material. 70% · published checklist
• Are string and conductor calculations required? 'Load Calculations' are required by the Electrical Service Permit Checklist. String and conductor calculations are not separately named; the checklist's service-change sheet requires 'ALL CONDUCTORS SIZED PER NEC ARTICLE 220' and service-entrance conduit/wire sizes, grounding-electrode conductor size per NEC Table 250.66, and bonding per NEC 250.94. 68% · published checklist
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No PV-specific structural PE threshold is published. The codified rule is generic: Code Sec. 54-8 (FBC 107.1) requires construction documents prepared by a registered design professional 'where required by Chapter 471, F.S. & 61G-15 F.A.C. or Chapter 481, F.S.', and authorises the Building Official to require a sealed design 'where special conditions exist'. For roof work the Town accepts the Palm Beach County BCAB proprietary wind-load chart for one- and two-family dwellings with mean roof height 30 ft or less; above that, 'the designer of record must supply the wind pressures'. 60% · published checklist + codified ordinance
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Codified, and it matches the state threshold: Code Sec. 54-8 (FBC 105.3.1.2(5)) requires design by a Florida Registered Engineer where the electrical system has a value of over $125,000 AND requires an aggregate service capacity of over 600 amperes (240 volts) on a residential electrical system (over 800 amperes on commercial/industrial), citing FS 471.003(2)(h) expressly. 92% · codified ordinance

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? CAP Government, Inc.'s EPR portal - www.capfla.com, which resolves to https://cap.idtplans.com/secure/ (IDTPlans). Applicants register, then 'Submit a Project for Review' with County: Palm Beach, Jurisdiction: Lake Park, Application Category: Building Code Review. An email route also exists: permit@lakeparkflorida.gov. 90% · department instruction sheet + live portal
• Can the whole application be completed online? Substantially, but not entirely. Registration, application, document upload, submission and inspection scheduling are all online through CAP. Payment is not: 'Applicants will be contacted following receipt in order to make payment, which is required to initiate review.' Inspection results arrive by email but applicants are told to telephone (561) 486-0477 on the morning of a scheduled inspection. 85% · department page + CAP flyer
• What does a residential solar permit cost? Valuation-based, with no solar line. Master Fee Schedule 2025: minimum permit fee $100.00 up to $2,499.00 in value; $2,500.00-$999,999.00 = $100.00 plus 2.0% of valuation; $1,000,000 and up = $100.00 plus 1.25%. Required inspections are included in the permit fee. So a typical $20,000 residential PV system prices at roughly $500 plus state surcharges. Re-inspection $75.00; permit revision administrative fee $50.00; sub-permit administrative fee $50.00; permit renewal/reissuance $60.00. 85% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation. 92% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No separate plan-check fee line. The schedule states 'All permit applications will include required inspections in the permit fee.' Two conditional extras exist: a $40.00 inspection fee per inspection for inspections that are NOT permit-related (zoning certificate, structural code compliance, fire damage, courtesy), and, 'If a building permit requires Engineering review, this will be assessed at an additional fee per the Town's Engineering contract, with a minimum one (1)-hour charge.' Additional plan review and Building Official/Plans Examiner/Building Inspector services outside a permit are billed per hour at the Town contract rate, half-hour minimum. 80% · fee schedule

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? Codified: 'A building permit for a single-family residential dwelling must be issued within 30 working days of application therefore unless unusual circumstances require a longer time for processing the application or unless the permit application fails to satisfy the Florida Building Code or the Town's laws or ordinances' (Code Sec. 54-8, FBC 105.3.4). Separately, the Town's 'How to Apply' sheet promises that 'A staff member will respond using the email address you provided within 24 to 48 hours' of submittal - that is an intake acknowledgement, not a review decision. The Town also codifies the FS 553.79 three-requests-for-additional-information limit and a 10-day decision clock after a third request is answered. 85% · codified ordinance + department instruction sheet
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? 180 days. Code Sec. 54-8 (FBC 105.4.1): a permit 'shall become invalid (inactive or expired) unless the work authorized by such permit is commenced within 180 days after its issuance, or if the work authorized by such permit is suspended or abandoned for a period of 180 days after the time the work is commenced.' Work counts as in active progress when the permit 'has received an approved inspection within 180 days'. The Building Official may grant one or more written extensions of not more than 90 days each, requested before expiry. Separately, an APPLICATION is abandoned if fees are unpaid within 10 calendar days of filing, or 180 days after filing. 90% · codified ordinance
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Florida Power & Light Company (FPL). Lake Park has no municipal electric utility and no electric co-op. 88% · adopted budget revenue schedule + ACFR
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel, with a utility approval BEFORE installation and a utility step AFTER inspection. FPL: 'All interconnection applications must be approved prior to installation and operation of the renewable energy system.' The customer must complete an application and interconnection agreement AND obtain a building permit; then, once construction is complete, supply FPL a copy of the approved permit (or a screen print from the local authority's website) showing the electrical and mechanical inspection signed off by the local inspector, the description of work, address, permit number and building department name. Operation before the bi-directional meter is installed is 'strictly prohibited' except for testing and inspection. The Town imposes no utility-sequencing rule of its own. 90% · utility DG guidelines

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? NEC 2020 - the statewide adoption, effective 31 December 2023 under the Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023). RECORD THE LOCAL TEXT TOO: Code Sec. 54-8.2 adopts 'The most current edition of the National Electrical Code, of which copies have been and are now filed in the office of the building official' - a floating local adoption whose literal words would point at a later edition than the one the state has actually adopted. The section was last amended in 2015 (Ord. No. 09-2015). 85% · codified ordinance (with state adoption noted)
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023), adopted by floating reference: Code Sec. 54-7 adopts 'the Florida Building Code, AS AMENDED FROM TIME TO TIME, as the minimum construction standards for the town'. So the base edition is always current; no local fixed-year fossil sits underneath it. 90% · codified ordinance
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code 8th Edition (2023), as amended by Palm Beach County's Local Amendments. Code Sec. 12-31 adopts by reference 'Palm Beach County's Local Amendments to the Florida Fire Prevention Code, as adopted by Palm Beach County in Ordinance No. 2001-101, as it may be amended from time to time... such codes to be designated as the fire code of the town.' Fire service and fire-code enforcement are Palm Beach County Fire Rescue's (Station 68, District Chief Bill Rowley) under an interlocal agreement. 85% · codified ordinance + department page
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes, and they are substantial. Code Sec. 54-8 'Chapter One amendments adopted' is a full local rewrite of the FBC administrative chapter (roughly 3,200 lines covering permits, exemptions, fees, construction documents, inspections, threshold buildings and unsafe structures). Sec. 54-8.1 sets local wind-speed lines. Sec. 54-8.2 adopts the NEC. Sec. 54-5 adopts Palm Beach County's alarm ordinance. Sec. 12-31 adopts Palm Beach County's fire-code amendments. NONE of them mentions photovoltaics, solar electric generation, rapid shutdown, inverters or energy storage. 90% · codified ordinance
• What is the installation judged against? The Florida Building Code 8th Ed. (2023) and NEC 2020 as adopted, plus the Town's codified Chapter One administrative amendments (Sec. 54-8) and Palm Beach County's fire-code amendments. There is no PV-specific installation standard at any level of Lake Park's regulation - a rooftop array is judged against the same generic electrical, roofing and structural requirements as any other work. 80% · codified ordinance

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.

• What ridge setback and access pathways are required? No local rule. The Town's code contains no fire-access pathway or ridge-setback provision for solar (controlled search: 'photovoltaic' 0, 'rapid shutdown' 0, 'solar' 3 hits, all irrelevant). The governing document is the Florida Fire Prevention Code 8th Ed. (2023) as amended by Palm Beach County (Ord. 2001-101), enforced by Palm Beach County Fire Rescue. NOTE that residential submittals do not route to a fire review stop at all: the Town's Required Permit Applications Checklist lists the review stops as Building / Zoning / Electrical (if applicable) / Flood / Public Works / 'Fire (COMMERCIAL SUBMITTALS ONLY)', and the Roof Permit Checklist lists no fire stop. 50% · published checklist + controlled code search

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.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Required by the NEC edition in force, not by anything local. NEC 2020 Article 690.12 applies through the statewide adoption. Lake Park's own code says nothing: a controlled search of the full codified text returned ZERO hits for 'rapid shutdown' and zero for 'photovoltaic' and 'inverter', against a positive control of 54 hits for 'electrical' and 308 for 'building', and a fabricated control ('zzqqxfoo') of zero. 78% · controlled code search + state adoption

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? None of the Town's own. The only placard requirement reaching a Lake Park job comes from FPL: battery storage installed behind the customer's meter must be NRTL-certified to UL 1741 and 'A placard must be permanently affixed to the meter enclosure stating “Battery storage utilized in this facility.”' Beyond that, the NEC 2020 labelling requirements (690/705) apply through the code adoption. A controlled search of the Town's code for 'placard' returned four hits - a parade-permit sign, a marina parking placard, the unsafe-building placard, and a sign-code definition - none PV. 80% · utility service standards + controlled code search
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No. The Town specifies no placard wording of its own. 85% · controlled code search
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No letter height, colour or material is specified by the Town for any PV or ESS label. 82% · controlled code search
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Not specified by the Town. No site-plan or facility-map placard requirement appears in the Code, on the permit application, or on any published checklist; NEC 2020 (690.56 / 705.10, per the edition in force) is what an inspector would apply. 60% · controlled code search
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes - FPL requires one placard the Town does not: 'Battery storage utilized in this facility', permanently affixed to the METER ENCLOSURE, for any battery storage installed behind the customer's meter, which must also be NRTL-certified to the current UL 1741 standard (battery storage that is not UL 1741 certified must be DC coupled behind a UL 1741 listed device). 90% · utility DG guidelines
• Where must the labels be placed? Town: nowhere - it specifies no label locations. FPL: the battery-storage placard goes on the METER ENCLOSURE. For Tier 2 and Tier 3 systems FPL's manual disconnect must be 'mounted separate from' the meter socket, which is a placement rule for hardware rather than labels. 80% · utility DG guidelines

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? Depends on FPL tier, and for a normal residential system the answer is NO DISCONNECT. FPL: 'Tier 2 and tier 3 renewable generation systems require a manual disconnect switch of the visible load break type to provide a separation point between the AC power output of the customer-owned renewable generation and any customer wiring connected to FPL's system. The manual disconnect switch shall be mounted separate from [the meter socket].' Tier 1 (up to 10 kW) carries no such requirement. The Town imposes no disconnect rule of its own. 90% · utility DG guidelines
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Partly. FPL requires 'a utility-interactive inverter, or other device certified pursuant to FPL's net-metering agreement', and UL 1741 NRTL certification for behind-the-meter battery storage. The Town requires Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade County Notice of Acceptance for ROOFING products (obtained at point of purchase). The Town imposes no approved-list requirement on PV modules, racking or inverters. 75% · utility DG guidelines + published checklist
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Permitted, with no local conditions. The Town's code contains no energy-storage or battery provision of any kind (controlled search), no ESS fee line, and no ESS checklist. Batteries are therefore governed by the Florida Building Code 8th Ed. (2023) and the Florida Fire Prevention Code 8th Ed. (2023) as amended by Palm Beach County, plus FPL's behind-the-meter conditions: NRTL certification to UL 1741, the meter-enclosure placard, and - where the battery is integrated with renewable generation - inclusion in the interconnection application. 65% · controlled code search + utility DG guidelines
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No separate ESS permit type or ESS inspection is published. Batteries would be permitted under the same generic electrical/building permit; the Master Fee Schedule has no ESS line and the Required Permit Applications list has no ESS entry. 60% · fee schedule + forms library
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing. The Town's Electrical Service Permit Checklist points straight at the NEC: 'ALL CONDUCTORS SIZED PER NEC ARTICLE 220', overhead service conductors per NEC 230 Part II, grounding-electrode conductor per NEC Table 250.66, an external means for intersystem bonding per NEC 250.94, and underground service conductors with a warning ribbon 12 inches above conduit per NEC 300.5(D)(3). 72% · published checklist
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? No PV-specific mounting system or attachment spacing is required. For roof work generally the Town requires Florida Product Approval or a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance obtained at point of purchase, and design wind pressures per the Palm Beach County BCAB proprietary wind-load chart for one- and two-family dwellings with mean roof height 30 ft or less. 60% · published checklist

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. Through CAP's EPR portal: sign in at www.capfla.com, click the 'cloud' EPR icon, then the yellow 'Schedule Inspection' tab at the bottom of the page, and complete the form. A permit number is required and the requester must state the inspection type in a box at the bottom of the form (the flyer's examples are 'tin tag, sheathing, AC changeout, electric rough'). Telephone follow-up is (561) 486-0477. 90% · department instruction sheet
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No AM/PM window or same-day service is published. What the Town publishes instead is: 'Please call (561) 486-0477 the morning of your scheduled inspection', and 'Once your inspection is completed, you will receive an email with the details on the outcome of your inspection.' 55% · department instruction sheet

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 Town performs its own final inspection, through its contracted Building Official and inspectors (CAP Government, Inc.). It is not delegated to Palm Beach County. Code Sec. 54-8 (FBC 110.1.2) also authorises the Building Official to 'make, or cause to be made by others, the inspections required by Section 110', and FS 553.791 owner-elected private providers are available (a checkbox for 'PRIVATE PROVIDER: PLAN REVIEW / INSPECTIONS' sits on the current application, and the Town publishes a 'Notice to Building Official of Use of Private Provider' form) - but that route was used for only 4 of 3,801 inspections in FY2025. 88% · FS 553.80(7)(b) utilization report + codified ordinance
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated to another government. The work is performed by CAP GOVERNMENT, INC. under contract to the Town, alongside in-house staff: the FY2025 personnel line splits inspections '9 (CAP) and 6 (in-house) - Total: 15'. This is the third authority in this survey running through CAP Government. Owner-elected FS 553.791 private providers are a separate, per-job route available to the applicant. 88% · department instruction sheet + utilization report

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 the electrical scope the codified sequence (Code Sec. 54-8, FBC 110.3.F) is: 1. Underground inspection including bonding and ground (after trenching, before backfill); 2. Rough-in (after dry-in, framing, fire-blocking and bracing, before insulation or membranes); 3. Low voltage (security, alarm, elevator, special uses); 4. POWER RELEASE (after the electrical system is substantially complete, all circuitry installed and fixtures in place or properly tagged and safed-off); 5. Final (after the building is complete and ready for occupancy). The Building Official 'shall determine the timing and sequencing of when inspections occur and what elements are inspected at each inspection'. No PV-specific stage is named. 75% · codified ordinance
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? A rough-in inspection is codified for electrical work generally, but it is defined around new construction ('to be made after the building is dried-in, framing, fire-blocking and bracing is in place, and prior to the installation of insulation or wall or ceiling membranes'), so it does not obviously apply to a rooftop retrofit. No mid-roof inspection for PV is published. The Building Official has express discretion over sequencing and 'any other such inspections as deemed necessary'. 55% · codified ordinance

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. The Town publishes SUBMITTAL checklists (Air Conditioning, Asbestos, Demolition, Driveway/Walkway/Patio/Pool Deck, Electrical Service, Fence, Roof, Water Heater, Window and Door, Required Permit Applications) but no INSPECTION checklist, and none of the submittal checklists is for solar. The full 79-document forms library was enumerated. 75% · forms library
• What must be on site at inspection? Not published for a PV job specifically. What is codified (Code Sec. 54-8, FBC 110.1) is the general duty: 'Construction or work for which a permit is required shall be subject to inspection by the building official and such construction or work shall remain accessible and exposed for inspection purposes until approved... It shall be the duty of the permit applicant to cause the work to remain accessible and exposed.' Where an inspection affidavit is used in place of a site inspection, the affidavit plus 'extensive photographic evidence of sufficient detail to demonstrate code compliance' must be provided to the inspector on site at the next scheduled inspection. 55% · codified ordinance

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? For work that does not create a new occupancy - which is what a rooftop PV permit is - the sign-off is the approved FINAL inspection, and the Town publishes a 'Checklist for Certificate of Occupancy & Completion' covering Certificates of Occupancy and Certificates of Completion. No green tag or PV-specific certificate is published. 58% · forms library + codified ordinance
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Installer/customer. FPL requires the customer to supply it, once construction is complete, with 'a copy of the approved permit or a screen print from the local authority's website indicating the permit has been approved' and including the electrical and mechanical inspection signed off / approved by the local inspector, the description of work (e.g. solar, solar panels, PV), the installation address, the permit number and the building department name. FPL then sets the bi-directional meter; operating the system before that meter is installed is 'strictly prohibited' except for testing and inspection. The Town has no codified duty to notify the utility. 88% · utility DG guidelines
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $75.00 per re-inspection. 92% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? On a failed inspection 'the assigned inspector will provide details onsite using an Inspection Report Form, along with their name and contact number', and the outcome is emailed to the applicant. Re-inspection fees are paid to the Building Division on (561) 881-3318 and the re-inspection is re-booked through the CAP portal. Codified backstop (Sec. 54-8, FBC 110.6): work may not proceed past the point of a failed inspection, and non-complying portions 'shall not be covered or concealed until authorized by the building official'. Post-issuance, the Town may not require substantive plan changes except for code compliance, and must identify the specific plan features and code sections in writing (FBC 105.4.1.5). 85% · department instruction sheet + codified ordinance