Town of Wausau

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? No. The Town of Wausau is not the AHJ for residential solar. Building permits, electrical (trade) permits, plan review, inspections and certificates of occupancy inside the Wausau town limits are issued and performed by the WASHINGTON COUNTY Building Department, 1331 South Blvd. Suite 900, Chipley FL 32428, 850-638-6195, Building Official Charles Vannatter. Land-development review sits with the Washington County Planning Department, same address, 850-415-5093. Wausau retains ONE step of its own: the County's residential planning instructions state 'A letter from the Town of Wausau, Ebro, and Caryville is required for any new development within the City limits', attached to the County Land Use Application. Town of Wausau contact per the County Directory: (850) 638-1781, 1607 2nd Ave., Wausau, FL 32463. 92% · county planning instruction sheet
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Delegated. Wausau permits nothing itself -- no building permit, no electrical permit, no plan review, no inspection, no fee schedule, no adopted construction code of its own, and its own audited books show no revenue stream or expense function consistent with running one. Building and electrical sit with the Washington County Building Department; land use/zoning sits with the Washington County Planning Department; addressing with the County E-911 Addressing Department (850-638-6325); driveways with County Public Works (850-638-6280). The one thing Wausau holds is a mandatory town letter that must accompany the County Land Use Application for new development inside the town limits. 90% · state surcharge jurisdiction registry
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes. A residential rooftop PV system needs a Washington County building permit. The County's Application for Building Permit (rev. 02/2025) carries an explicit 'Solar System' tick box, and the County Construction Permit Fees 'Schedule A' carries a line item 'Solar System Installation -- Based on Building Valuation Table'. An electrical (trade) permit is required in addition. There is no separate Wausau permit of any kind. 92% · permit application form
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Separate. The County issues a separate Trade Permit for electrical work, on its own form and at its own fee. The Application for Building Permit states a separate permit must be secured for 'ELECTRICAL WORK, PLUMBING, SIGNS, WELLS, POOLS, FURNACES, BOILERS, HEATERS, TANKS, AIR CONDITIONERS, and etc.' The fee schedule lists 'Electrical Permit: Single Family Residential $125' separately from 'Solar System Installation'. 93% · permit application form
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? Not by the authority in the general case -- but Washington County's OWN fee schedule contains a line that names Wausau's exact situation more directly than it did for Ebro. Neither Wausau nor Washington County requires HOA or architectural approval for rooftop PV as a general rule, and F.S. 163.04(2) voids any deed restriction or covenant that prohibits solar collectors (leaving such a body only the power to choose the roof location within south +/-45 degrees). But the fee schedule's SIGN PERMIT line reads: 'ARC Approval if in Sunny Hills or Leisure Lakes Subdivision or inside any city limits.' Wausau IS a city/town with its own limits -- so on the sign-permit line at least, this note reaches Wausau directly rather than ambiguously. Whether the County means the same thing for a solar permit is not stated anywhere. 62% · fee schedule
• Is there a historic-district review? No historic-district review is required. Washington County has no historic district or historic preservation ordinance reaching rooftop PV; the only historic touchpoints in the Land Development Code are a plot-plan requirement to show 'any historical or environmentally sensitive areas' (LDC 10.01.03.C) and adoption by reference of the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation and the Florida Division of Historical Resources Master Site File (LDC 1.03.01), neither of which creates a review step for a house. Wausau publishes nothing of its own. 62% · land development code
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? Yes, in the form of the county wind speed line -- and for Wausau specifically it resolves cleanly rather than ambiguously. Washington County Code Sec. 14-37 sets State Road 20, which runs through the SOUTHERN part of the county (past Ebro), as the wind speed line: 130 mph south of it, 120 mph north of it. Wausau sits in the northern part of the county, so a Wausau roof is unambiguously in the 120 mph zone. Separately the County's Trade Permit Application requires a 'FL. PRODUCT APPROVAL CODE' for roof work, which is the Florida Product Approval route by which wind resistance is demonstrated. There is no separate windstorm certificate as such. 80% · county code chapter
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No Special Use Permit or Council approval is required for a rooftop PV system as such. The one Council-level step that does exist is the Town of Wausau letter: the County's residential planning instructions require 'A letter from the Town of Wausau, Ebro, and Caryville ... for any new development within the City limits', attached to the County Land Use Application. That is written for NEW DEVELOPMENT, and a rooftop retrofit on an existing house is probably not caught: LDC 10.01.03 lists the things needing a Land Use Certificate (single-family residence, mobile home, modular home, swimming pool, accessory structure, utility (power, well, septic), lot split, temporary structures, plus a catch-all for anything 'deemed by the Development Administrator to be similar') and rooftop PV is not among them, while LDC 10.01.04.D separately exempts 'The alteration of an existing building or structure so long as no change is made to its gross floor area, its use, or the amount of impervious surface on the site.' A GROUND mount inside the town limits would be a different matter -- it adds a structure and would likely re-trigger 10.01.03.A.5/A.6 and the Wausau letter. At the commercial end, 'Solar Farms' are a Special Exception use in a small number of land use districts, with a 100-foot residential setback and a 100-foot buffer from named named waterways. 72% · county planning instruction sheet
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No cap in the Land Development Code on residential rooftop generation -- proved absent with the same controls as q11. Any binding capacity cap would be the serving utility's own net-metering tariff, but which utility serves Wausau is not fully resolved in this run (see q22), so the specific kW figure cannot be stated with confidence; it should NOT be assumed to be Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative's 25 kW / 10 kW figures, since GCEC does not serve Wausau (see q2, q22). 68% · land development code

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 state-certified or registered electrical contractor licensed under F.S. ch. 489 who has first registered with the Washington County Building Department may pull it; a property owner may pull it himself under the F.S. 489.103 owner-builder exemption, on the County's Owner Builder Disclosure Statement. The Trade Permit Application is signed by 'OWNER / CONTRACTOR'. 82% · contractor registration packet
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes -- but with Washington County, not with Wausau. A certified contractor must file the County's Contractor's License Registration form with a current copy of the state licence and driver's licence, certificates of general liability and workers' compensation insurance naming 'Washington County Building Department' as certificate holder, and a letter of authorization if anyone other than the licence holder will pull permits. Certified contractors pay a $35.00 administration fee; registered (non-certified) contractors pay a licence fee by class -- electrical is $75 in county, $125-$150 out of county, $200-$300 out of state. 90% · contractor registration packet
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes. Washington County publishes an Owner Builder Disclosure Statement (2024) for the F.S. 489.103 exemption. The owner may build or improve a one-family or two-family residence for his own use or occupancy, must provide direct onsite supervision, may not hire an unlicensed person to act as contractor or supervisor, and becomes the responsible party of record on the permit. Sale or lease within 1 year is presumed to violate the exemption. 88% · owner-builder disclosure form

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? No solar-specific submittal checklist is published. What the County's general forms require: a completed and NOTARIZED Application for Building Permit (owner and contractor signatures, state licence number, valuation of work, parcel ID); a completed Trade Permit Application for the electrical work naming the serving power company (GCE / FPL / WFECA-G); a certified copy of the Notice of Commencement for work of $2,500 or more, posted on site before the first inspection; plans and the $35 non-refundable Plan Submittal fee; Florida Product Approval numbers where called for; and a letter of authorization if the applicant is not the licence holder. Prior County approvals (Land Use Certificate, E-911 address, driveway where applicable) must already be in hand. 70% · permit application form
• How many copies, and in what format? Not published as a copy count. Format: the County accepts applications by email to permits@washingtonfl.com for contractors already registered with the Building Department, and warns 'Emailed and faxed permits processing time may take up to 3 business days. All other permits should be brought into the office for processing.' The live iWorq register shows digital plan sets in routine use elsewhere in the county (stamped 'DIGITAL PLANS'/'PLANS UPLOADED'), though none of the 315 most recent permits pulled in this run is at a Wausau address, so that specific corroboration could not be repeated for Wausau. 60% · department page
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? For the Planning Department's Land Use Certificate step, yes: LDC 10.01.03.C requires 'a plot plan drawn to scale showing the actual dimensions of the lot to be built upon, the size, shape, height, and location of the buildings to be erected, dimensions and location of existing buildings, and width of front, side, and rear yards, and any historical or environmentally sensitive areas located on the site.' For the Building Department step no separate site plan is specified. Whether a rooftop PV retrofit triggers the Land Use Certificate at all is unsettled -- see q27. 65% · land development code
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Not published. Neither the County building permit application, the trade permit application, the building inspection procedures, the fee schedule, nor the Land Development Code mentions a one-line or three-line diagram, and no solar plan-submittal handout exists. 72% · department document library
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Not published. No string sizing, conductor or voltage-drop calculation specific to solar is called for by any County form or by the adopted code text at local level. What Washington County DOES specify locally on conductors generically: Sec. 14-80 requires no service conductor smaller than no. 8 AWG copper or aluminium equivalent, with all service conductors for services of 400 amps or less the same size and insulation type. 72% · county code chapter
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No local structural PE threshold is published. What binds instead is the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), and the County's own wind speed line: Sec. 14-37 sets State Road 20 as the wind speed line for Washington County. Wausau sits well north of SR 20 (SR 20 runs through the SOUTHERN part of the county, past Ebro and Vernon; Wausau is a northern county town near Chipley), so unlike Ebro's split parcels, a Wausau roof is unambiguously in the 120 mph zone rather than straddling a boundary. Florida Product Approval numbers are called for on the County's trade permit form for roof work. 75% · county code chapter
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No local electrical PE stamp requirement is published. At state level F.S. 471.003(2)(h) exempts an electrical contractor licensed under ch. 489 from engineering licensure when the project 'Requires an electrical or plumbing or air-conditioning and refrigeration system with a value of $125,000 or less' and 'Requires an aggregate service capacity of 600 amperes (240 volts) or less on a residential electrical system' -- which covers essentially every residential rooftop PV job. 70% · state statute

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? iWorq. The County's public permit portal is at portal.iworq.net/WASHINGTONFL/permits/601, linked from the Building Department page as 'Permit Searches ... For Searches between 11/06/2014 to Current Date'. It exposes a permit register, per-permit detail pages, an inspection-request form and an inspection scheduler, and this is the same single portal Washington County runs for every jurisdiction in the county including Wausau. 75% · permit portal
• Can the whole application be completed online? No. The portal is read-only plus inspection requests. Applications are submitted by email to permits@washingtonfl.com for contractors already registered with the Building Department, or brought into the office. Payment is taken at the counter or by card with a 3.5% convenience fee; the portal exposes no application or payment flow. 80% · permit portal
• What does a residential solar permit cost? No flat solar fee. A residential PV job is priced as the sum of: (a) the building permit for 'Solar System Installation - Based on Building Valuation Table', landing on the County's valuation ladder -- $100 for work valued at $10,000 or less; $252 for the first $10,000 plus $6 per additional $1,000 up to $50,000; $492 for the first $50,000 plus $5 per additional $1,000 up to $100,000; (b) the electrical trade permit, 'Electrical Permit: Single Family Residential $125'; (c) a $35.00 non-refundable Plan Submittal fee, charged again on every re-submittal; (d) a plan review fee 'assessed at a minimum of $35 or 15%, whichever is greater'; (e) a State radon surcharge of 3% or $4.00, whichever is greater; and (f) a 3.5% convenience fee on credit card transactions (effective 17 March 2025). A typical $20,000 system runs roughly $312 building + $125 electrical + $35 submittal + plan review + surcharge -- before any Planning-Department step, which does not apply to Wausau for a bare rooftop retrofit (see q27). 80% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation. The building-permit half is 'Based on Building Valuation Table' for solar and on contract/valuation price for rehabilitation, renovation or remodelling; the plan review fee is a percentage (15%) with a $35 floor. The electrical half is flat at $125 for single family residential. 82% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes, and there are two of them. A $35.00 NON-REFUNDABLE Plan Submittal fee is collected at time of submittal and charged again on every re-submittal and addendum. A separate plan review fee is then 'assessed at a minimum of $35 or 15%, whichever is greater', collected at permit issuance along with the permit fee and radon surcharge. 85% · 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? The County publishes no plan-review turnaround of its own. What binds is F.S. 553.792(1)(a): 5 business days after a complete and sufficient application for an electrical or structural permit on an EXISTING single-family residential dwelling valued under $15,000; 30 business days for a residential unit or electrical permit where the structure is less than 7,500 square feet. The County must give written notice within 5 business days of anything missing, or the application is automatically deemed complete. Separately, emailed/faxed permits may take up to 3 business days to process per the Building Department's own page. 70% · state statute
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? Three different answers are in force and they do not agree. The County's Application for Building Permit says the permit 'is valid as long as there is construction progress and an approved inspection is recorded within each 180 days (6 months) period.' The County's Trade Permit Application says 'This permit is VOID after six (6) months from issuance unless the work it covers has been commenced and has had ongoing inspections.' F.S. 553.79(1)(c) says 'A building permit issued by a local government for a single-family dwelling expires 1 year after the issuance of the permit or on the effective date of the next edition of the Florida Building Code, whichever is later.' Reported as a conflict, not resolved here -- same conflict found and re-verified independently for Wausau's own authority. 72% · permit application form
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Most likely West Florida Electric Cooperative Association (WFECA), headquartered at 905 St. John's Rd., Bonifay, FL, (800) 342-7400 -- but this is genuinely less certain than a typical answer in this survey. Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative (Ebro's utility) is ruled OUT: its own 'About' page names its served municipalities as 'Wewahitchka, Ebro, Lynn Haven, White City, Fountain, and Southport', with no Wausau. The Washington County Directory lists only two power companies for the whole county -- 'Florida Power [&] Lights' and 'West Florida Electric' -- and the County's own Trade Permit Application offers exactly three utility checkboxes: 'GCE / FPL / WFECA - G'. West Florida Electric's own homepage (fetched once successfully in this run before the domain became persistently unreachable) describes itself as 'a member-owned, non-profit cooperative providing reliable electricity in Calhoun, Holmes, Jackson and Washington Counties' -- geographically the co-op whose territory reaches the interior/northern part of the county where Wausau sits, next to Holmes and Jackson Counties. Florida Power & Light remains a live alternative and cannot be ruled out from what was reachable in this run. 50% · utility own page

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 (NFPA 70, 2020 edition), by the same statewide chain that applies to every Florida jurisdiction: Washington County Code Sec. 14-68 adopts 'The National Electric Code, as it adopted by the State of Florida, as it may be amended and updated from time to time', and the state's own edition is NFPA 70, 2020, via FAC 69A-60.005(2)(qq). 55% · county code chapter
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023). Confirmed directly from the County's OWN current building permit application, which is the actual document a Wausau applicant fills out: it is stamped 'Code in effect 8th Edition Florida Building Code'. Washington County Code Sec. 14-36 adopts 'The Florida Building Code, as it may be amended and updated from time to time ... for use in Washington County, Florida.' A 9th Edition (2026) exists in draft only. 85% · permit application form
• Which fire code edition is in force? Almost certainly the Florida Fire Prevention Code -- NFPA 1, Florida 2021 Edition, and NFPA 101, Florida 2021 Edition -- by the same statewide mechanism as every other Florida authority, since Washington County Code Sec. 30-32 adopts 'F.S. ch. 633, Fire Prevention and Control, and F.A.C. ch. 4A, Florida Fire Prevention Code' by reference without naming a current edition (the 'ch. 4A' and 'Standard Fire Prevention Code' citations in the county code are stale, retired designations, not a different code in force). 50% · county code chapter
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes. Washington County has real local amendments in Chapter 14, and they reach residential electrical work identically to how they reach Ebro's, since it is the same county-wide chapter. Article III (Electrical Code) is a local ordinance code of its own dating from Ord. No. 80-2 (1980); Sec. 14-67 makes its priority explicit ('The National Electrical Code standards and regulations shall apply to the extent they are not in conflict with this article'). Article II adds the SR 20 wind speed line (Sec. 14-37), which for Wausau resolves to a flat 120 mph figure (see q13, q26) rather than a split-parcel question. Wausau itself has no amendments of its own. 80% · county code chapter
• What is the installation judged against? The installation is judged against the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023) and NFPA 70 (NEC) 2020 as adopted by the state, plus Washington County Code Chapter 14 Article III, a live local electrical ordinance with its own prescriptive rules on services, meters, disconnects, grounding and conductor sizes. Chapter 14 Article II sets the county wind speed line at SR 20, which resolves for Wausau to a flat 120 mph (see q13). The Florida Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1 and NFPA 101, Florida 2021 Editions) applies by operation of state rule. The Land Development Code is the county's, co-adopted by the Wausau Town Council effective 14 December 2023. 78% · county code chapter

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 Town of Wausau 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.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Rapid shutdown is very likely required, to NEC 2020 -- i.e. NEC 690.12 as it stands in the 2020 edition -- by the same chain as every other Florida authority: Sec. 14-68 adopts the NEC as adopted by the state, and the state edition is NFPA 70, 2020. Neither Wausau nor Washington County adds or subtracts anything locally. 50% · county code chapter

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? No AHJ-specific placard set. Neither Wausau nor Washington County specifies any placard, marking or label for a PV system at the service equipment. Local marking rules in Chapter 14 that do exist are generic: Sec. 14-79 requires all electrical materials/devices to bear the manufacturer's identification with voltage/current/wattage markings and the underwriter's label, and Sec. 14-78(e) requires the INSPECTOR to place a notice or certificate at the service switch on passing. Whether Wausau's utility adds its own marking spec (as GCEC does for Ebro) could not be determined -- see q22, q42. 55% · county code chapter
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No. Neither the Town of Wausau nor Washington County specifies placard wording of its own. 72% · land development code
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No. No letter height, colour, material or durability specification is set by Wausau or by Washington County. 70% · county code chapter
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Nothing beyond NEC 705.10 as it stands in the 2020 edition. No County or Town requirement for a site plan, facility map or directory placard exists locally, and no local rule specifies what one must show. 48% · county code chapter
• Where must the labels be placed? No local placement rule for PV labels specifically. What is fixed locally is the equipment they attach to: Sec. 14-73 puts all residential meters outside, centre of meter four to six feet above grade; Sec. 14-72 puts the service-disconnecting means at a readily accessible location nearest the point of entrance; Sec. 14-80 caps the main service switch handle at six feet, floors it at 3-1/2 feet; Sec. 14-81 requires all service disconnects/panels readily accessible and never in or behind a bathroom. Where Wausau's own utility would add a label-location requirement (as GCEC does for Ebro) could not be determined in this run. 55% · county code chapter

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? Washington County's own rules fix the meter's position rather than any disconnect-to-meter distance: Sec. 14-73 puts residential meters outside with the meter centre four to six feet above grade, and Sec. 14-72 puts the service-disconnecting means at a readily accessible location nearest the point of entrance of the service entrance conductors. No County document states a distance between a PV AC disconnect and the meter. Whether Wausau's serving utility adds a disconnect-to-meter rule of its own (as Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative does for Ebro, requiring a lockable, tagging-accessible grid-side disconnect) could not be confirmed for Wausau's own utility in this run. 55% · county code chapter
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? Yes, in two county-level respects. Florida Product Approval: the Trade Permit Application has a 'FL. PRODUCT APPROVAL CODE' field and the inspection procedures require the Product Approval Sheet be on file before inspection. Listing: Sec. 14-79 requires all electrical materials/apparatus/fittings/appliances/devices to bear the manufacturer's identification, voltage/current/wattage markings, 'and shall bear the underwriter's label.' Whether Wausau's serving utility adds its own listing standard (as GCEC requires UL 1741/IEEE 1547 for Ebro) could not be confirmed. 65% · inspection procedures
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Batteries are not addressed by the Town of Wausau or by Washington County. No local ESS provision exists in Chapter 14, Chapter 30, or the Land Development Code. What governs is the Florida Fire Prevention Code (NFPA 1, Florida 2021 Edition) and the Florida Building Code 8th Edition, both applying by operation of state law regardless of anything the town or county has passed. 55% · county code chapter
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No separate ESS permit or ESS inspection is published. The County's fee schedule has no energy storage or battery line -- its residential electrical products are single family residential, single family rewire, multi-family per unit, addition, service upgrade/temp pole, and mobile homes/power poles/swimming pools -- and the inspection procedures list no ESS stage. In practice a battery would ride on the electrical trade permit and, if structural work is involved, the building permit. 62% · fee schedule
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Yes -- a ground mount is treated as a structure, and this is where being inside the Wausau town limits starts to matter, exactly as it does for Ebro. LDC 10.01.03.A requires a Land Use Certificate 'Before any structure or use listed below shall be added to, erected, reconstructed, structurally altered, moved, or demolished', and the list includes 'Accessory structure' and 'Utility (power, well, septic, etc.)'. The 10.01.04.D alteration exemption that arguably covers a rooftop retrofit does not reach a new ground-mounted structure, because a ground mount adds a structure and changes impervious surface. So for a ground mount inside Wausau the sequence is: Town of Wausau letter, then $50 Land Use Certificate with plot plan (issued or denied within ten working days), then the County building permit and electrical trade permit. 62% · land development code
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No busbar or 120% rule is published locally -- that comes through NEC 2020 705.12. What Washington County DOES set locally, applying identically inside Wausau: Sec. 14-80 -- no service conductor smaller than no. 8 AWG copper or aluminium equivalent, main service switch handle no higher than six feet nor lower than 3-1/2 feet from grade/platform; Sec. 14-72 -- service conductors in metal conduit from the point of attachment to the master disconnect, disconnect at a readily accessible location nearest the point of entrance, no more than 25 feet of unprotected run, and 'New services and relocation of services must be acceptable to the power company and to the county'; Sec. 14-73 -- residential meters mounted outside, centre of meter four to six feet above grade/floor, never in bathrooms, toilet rooms, restaurant kitchens or stairways; Sec. 14-81 -- disconnects/panels 'readily accessible', never in or behind a bathroom, and 'No service shall be considered complete until legibly indexed'; Sec. 14-83 -- copper grounding conductor, not smaller than no. 8 AWG, on the supply side of the service disconnect; Sec. 14-74 -- a new or altered service 'shall not be connected until a local utility company has received an authorized inspection certificate.' 80% · county code chapter
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? Not published. No mounting system, attachment spacing, rail, flashing or standoff requirement appears in any County form, in Chapter 14, or in the Land Development Code. What does apply is Florida Product Approval -- the County's Trade Permit Application requires a 'FL. PRODUCT APPROVAL CODE' for roof work and the inspection procedures require the Product Approval Sheet be on file before inspection. 65% · permit application form

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? Phone, primarily: the Building Inspection Procedures instruct 'YOU MUST HAVE THE PERMIT NUMBER AND TYPE OF INSPECTION WHEN CALLING FOR INSPECTION' -- Washington County Building Department, 850-638-6195, M-F 8-4. The iWorq portal also exposes an inspection-request form and scheduler on each permit's detail page, and F.S. 553.79(1)(d) requires the County to allow inspection requests electronically. 80% · inspection procedures
• How much notice is required? 24 to 48 hours. 'Due to a high demand in requests for inspections, please contact Building Department staff at least 24-48 hours prior to inspection date.' 88% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? Not published. No AM/PM window, same-day option, or arrival window appears in the inspection procedures, on the department page, or in the portal's scheduler description. The portal's inspection-request form collects only a 'requested after' DATE, minimum the following day. 65% · inspection procedures

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? No -- the Town of Wausau performs no inspections at all. The final inspection is performed by the Washington County Building Department, whose page says it performs 'Electrical & Building Inspections'. Florida's private-provider route under F.S. 553.791 is also live in this county (the Ebro run found a live example in the iWorq register), though no Wausau-address example turned up in the current 315-permit window checked in this run. 78% · department page
• If delegated, to whom? Washington County Building Department, 1331 South Blvd. Suite 900, Chipley FL 32428, 850-638-6195, permits@washingtonfl.com. Building Official Charles Vannatter; Office Manager Felicia Brown; Permit Technicians Jennifer Enck and Ann Baker. Hours M-F 8-4. 88% · department page

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? The County publishes a ten-stage inspection sequence written for new construction: 1 temporary electrical service; 2 footer; 3 under-slab; 4 floor slab (Product Approval Sheet on file before inspection); 5 concrete block; 6 nailing and strapping; 7 dry-in (electrical rough-in complete with panel set); 8 insulation; 9 temporary/permanent power to certificate of occupancy; 10 final/certificate of occupancy. For a rooftop PV retrofit on an existing Wausau house only the electrical stages are relevant in practice -- an electrical inspection before anything is concealed, and a final -- but no PV-specific sequence is published. 65% · inspection procedures
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? Not for a rooftop PV retrofit, as far as anything published shows. The County's rough-in stages all belong to new construction. What does bind is Sec. 14-78(a): 'It shall be unlawful to conceal any electrical wiring or equipment until it has been inspected', with 14-78(b) authorising the inspector to uncover concealed work. So any conduit/wiring that will be concealed must be inspected first, which is a rough-in requirement in substance even though no PV rough-in stage is named. 55% · inspection procedures

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 published solar inspection checklist. The County publishes one general document, 'Building Inspection Procedures' (revised 8/2024), listing the ten new-construction stages and what is checked at each. There is no PV, ESS or renewable checklist of any kind, for Wausau or any other jurisdiction in the county. 78% · inspection procedures
• What must be on site at inspection? Posted before work starts and present at inspection: the 911 address posted; the approved prints; the inspection card; and the Notice of Commencement ('A certified copy of the Notice of Commencement must be provided to Building Department and posted on the jobsite before the first inspection can be performed' for work of $2,500 or more). The Product Approval Sheet must be on file before the relevant inspection. The E-911 requirement bites before power: 'An address number must be properly posted before the authorization for power may be given.' 82% · inspection procedures
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Yes, as far as the local rules go. Sec. 14-79 requires all electrical materials/devices to bear the manufacturer's identification, voltage/current/wattage markings 'and shall bear the underwriter's label' -- a listing check the inspector is enforcing. Sec. 14-78(e) requires the inspector, on passing, to 'place a notice or certificate at the service switch or other suitable place', and on failing to post that the wiring 'has been condemned'. The Product Approval Sheet must be on file before the relevant inspection. 72% · county code chapter

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 new construction, a Certificate of Occupancy: 'Building will be released for permanent power. Certificate of Occupancy can be picked up at the Building Department ... the next business day.' For a trade permit on an existing house -- which is what a PV retrofit is -- what should be issued is a passed final inspection recorded against the permit with the permit status moving to Completed, by the same pattern the Ebro run found live in the register; this run could not re-confirm that pattern with an actual Wausau-address permit, since none appeared in the current 315-permit window. 60% · inspection procedures
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? Most likely installer or member, to the serving utility -- not the AHJ -- following the general pattern of Florida electric-cooperative and IOU net-metering tariffs (the member/installer applies for interconnection, and the utility requires proof the local AHJ has inspected before it energizes). Sec. 14-74 of the county code independently requires that an altered service 'shall not be connected until a local utility company has received an authorized inspection certificate' -- pointing to a county-to-utility certificate on the service side. The specific utility's own procedure (equivalent to Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative's Schedule NMR-1 for Ebro) could not be confirmed for Wausau because its likely utility's tariff could not be reached in this run -- see q22, q23. 50% · county code chapter
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $75.00. 'Reinspection Fee: Commercial & Residential $75' on Schedule A, and in the inspection procedures: 'Any inspection that is not ready when the inspector gets to the site or inspections that fail will be required to pay a $75.00 re-inspection fee (Building Official will determine when this fee will apply).' 92% · fee schedule
• How are corrections issued and cleared? By posted notice at the job, with concealment blocked until cleared. Sec. 14-78: on a failed electrical inspection 'the inspector shall post a notice or certificate stating that this wiring does not conform to this article, has been condemned, and shall not be covered or connected until approved by the inspector'; 14-78(b)/(c) authorise the inspector to uncover and order uncovered concealed work. The inspection procedures add 'DO NOT PROCEED with work until inspection is made and approved.' Re-inspection is requested by phone on the permit number, $75 where the Building Official applies the fee. Sec. 14-74 closes the loop at the utility end: an altered/repaired service 'shall not be connected until a local utility company has received an authorized inspection certificate.' 70% · county code chapter