Town of Worthington Springs

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 Worthington Springs is not the AHJ for residential solar. Building and electrical permits, plan review and inspections for property inside the Town are performed by the UNION COUNTY Building Department, 15 NE 1st Street, Lake Butler FL 32054, (386) 496-2676 / (386) 496-4241, Building Inspector Wilson Whidden (also spelled 'Whiddon' on a neighbouring page - see jurisdiction.why). The Town retains one narrow step of its own: Union County's own 'Items Required to Obtain a Building or Addition Permit' and 'Items Required for a Swimming Pool Permit' checklists both require, as a condition of the COUNTY issuing the permit, a 'Letter of Compliance' that comes 'from Union County Building Dept.' only 'If in the unincorporated area' and otherwise 'from Town of Raiford, City of Lake Butler or Town of Worthington Springs' by name. Worthington Springs Town Hall: 11933 SW 36th Drive, Worthington Springs FL 32697, (386) 496-1006, Town Clerk Patricia Harrell. 90% · county permit checklist
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Delegated. Worthington Springs permits nothing itself - no building department, no building official, no electrical inspector, no permit portal, no fee schedule, and no adopted construction code of its own were found anywhere. Building and electrical sit with the Union County Building Department; land development regulation (zoning) is explicitly NOT the County's inside municipal limits (Union County LDR Section 1.3: 'These land development regulations shall apply to the entire unincorporated area of the County'), so the Town's own zoning status is unpublished and unresolved (see q25, q27, q47). The one function the Town does retain is signing the 'Letter of Compliance/Flood Data' that the County's own checklists require before it will issue a building, addition or pool permit on Town-limits property. 85% · county land development regulations
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes, in substance. Nothing published exempts rooftop PV from the general Florida Building Code/NEC permit requirement, and the County's own Electrical Permit Application requires a permit for any described electrical work with an affidavit that work 'will be done in compliance with the current edition of the FBC and NEC.' No solar-specific carve-out or solar-specific permit type was found in the County's 13-form permit-application library (enumerated in full in this run). 75% · permit application form
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Separate as the default: the County issues its own standalone Electrical Permit Application distinct from the Building Permit Application, and the Mechanical/Plumbing/Sign form's own affidavit states 'I understand that a separate permit must be secured for electrical work, plumbing, signs, wells, pools, furnaces, boilers, heaters, tanks, and air cond. etc.' But the County ALSO operates a combination-permit option for a single job site: 'Union County issues combination permits where one permit covers all trades doing work at one site,' with a Subcontractor Verification page naming the Electrical Contractor specifically as one of the trades folded into the General Contractor's single permit. 85% · permit application form
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? Not by the authority. Neither Worthington Springs nor Union County was found to require HOA or architectural review for rooftop PV, and F.S. 163.04(2) voids any deed restriction or covenant that prohibits solar collectors, limiting such a body to fixing 'the specific location where solar collectors may be installed on the roof within an orientation to the south or within 45 degrees east or west of due south if such determination does not impair the effective operation of the solar collectors.' 62% · state statute
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? Yes, in the form of a minimum design wind speed rather than a separate certificate: the County's own 'State Minimum Plan Requirements', bound into both the Residential and Commercial Building Applications, requires 'Wind Load Calculations, for a minimum of 130 mph (Signed & Sealed)' and separately 'Truss Layout & Truss Details (Signed & Sealed).' No stand-alone windstorm certificate document was found. 75% · county permit checklist
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Not for a residential rooftop retrofit. The only Special Exception process found anywhere in the County's Land Development Regulations that touches solar is Section 4.2.38 SOLAR FARMS, which requires Special Exception approval only within the 'A' Agricultural and 'I' Industrial zoning districts - a commercial/utility-scale use, not a residential accessory system, and in any case the LDR governs unincorporated land only (see q2), not property inside Worthington Springs. 60% · county land development regulations
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No residential generation cap was found. Union County's LDR has no kW or system-size limit for residential rooftop PV; its only size-shaped solar provision is the Section 4.2.38 Solar Farms height table (panels/modules capped at 15 feet), which is scoped to the commercial Special Exception use described in q27, not a residential accessory system, and does not apply inside Worthington Springs in any event. 60% · county land development regulations

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-licensed electrical contractor who has first registered with the Union County Building Department may pull it, OR the property owner may act as his own electrical contractor under the F.S. 489.503(6) exemption quoted verbatim on the County's own Electrical Permit Application: 'You may install electrical wiring... for a single-family or duplex residence... The home or building must be for your own use and occupancy.' 85% · permit application form
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes - with Union County, not with the Town. A contractor must file either the combined Contractor Registration Form ($50.00 fee) or, on the County's newer split forms, the Florida Certified Contractor Application ($50.00; mobile-home installers $50.00 one-time) or the Florida Registered Contractor Application ($90.00 one-time plus a $40.00 annual renewal), each requiring a current state license, proof of general liability and workers' compensation insurance (or exemption) made out to 'Union County Building Department', and a copy of the applicant's driver's licence. The County states elsewhere that it 'does not currently issue or require Occupational Licenses or Business Tax Receipts to do business inside the County' - registration is a Building Department requirement, not a county business-licence requirement. 88% · contractor registration form
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes, for electrical work specifically: the County's own Electrical Permit Application reproduces the F.S. 489.503(6) owner disclosure in full, allowing the owner to 'act as your own electrical contractor even though you do not have a license' for wiring in 'a single-family or duplex residence... for your own use and occupancy.' A parallel owner/builder path for the building side is implied by F.S. 489.103 (the general contracting exemption) but no Union County-specific owner-builder disclosure form was found among the 13 forms in the Building Department's document library - the Residential and Commercial checklists instead just say 'For owner/builder acting as his/her own contractor and claiming exemption, Owner must complete and sign a disclosure statement with this office,' without attaching that statement. 75% · permit application 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. For a building/addition permit generally, the County's own 'Items Required to Obtain a Building or Addition Permit' lists: survey & legal description; 911 address; proof of special-assessment-tax payment; septic/sewer confirmation; culvert permit or non-requirement letter; the Letter of Compliance/Flood Data described in q1 (from the Town, for Worthington Springs property); Subcontractor Verification Form; owner-builder disclosure if applicable; Notice of Commencement (recorded); two sets of plans meeting the 'State Minimum Plan Requirements' (site plan, elevations, floor plan, foundation plan, wall sections, electrical layout, energy calculations, wind load calculations sealed for a minimum of 130 mph, truss details); and receipt for payment of all fees. For a stand-alone electrical permit (the more likely route for a bare PV retrofit), only the Electrical Permit Application itself, naming the contractor/owner, service size, utility (FPL or Clay Electric) and base job value, was found. 75% · county permit checklist
• How many copies, and in what format? Two (2) sets of plans is the stated paper requirement: both the Residential and Commercial 'State Minimum Plan Requirements' pages say 'Two sets of drawings... provided to the Building Department.' That requirement sits awkwardly against the County's 2024-2025 move to Cloudpermit, whose own description says applicants can 'complete the entire building permit process online on any mobile device' - the two-sets paper instruction was not found removed or updated on the version of the checklist captured after that rollout. 62% · county permit checklist
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes. The 'State Minimum Plan Requirements' bound into both the Residential and Commercial checklists requires a 'Site plan: Dimensions of lot, building setbacks, location of well & septic and all other buildings on the lot.' The separate 911 Address Application also asks for an accurate, to-scale site plan showing the point of entry/driveway and distances to roads and parcel lines. 80% · county permit checklist
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No solar-specific structural PE threshold is published. What IS required generally, per the County's own 'State Minimum Plan Requirements': 'Wind Load Calculations, for a minimum of 130 mph (Signed & Sealed)' and 'Truss Layout & Truss Details (Signed & Sealed)' - both written for new construction/additions, with no stated kW, weight, or attachment-count threshold that would trigger the same sign-off for a rooftop PV array. 65% · county permit checklist
• 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 a ch. 489-licensed electrical contractor from engineering licensure for a residential electrical system with an aggregate service capacity of 600 amperes (240V) or less - which covers essentially every residential PV interconnection. 68% · 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? Cloudpermit. The Union County Building Department's own page states: 'Union County has partnered with Cloudpermit, a cloud-based software, so you can complete the entire building permit process online on any mobile device,' with applicants creating an account at us.cloudpermit.com/login. This replaced whatever process the County ran before it; the rollout is recent enough that a 'Cloudpermit_logo' image first appears in the County's own upload history in September 2024. 90% · department page
• Can the whole application be completed online? Yes, per the County's own description: 'Apply for building permits at any time, from anywhere... Check the status of your building permit or building inspection... Schedule or cancel building inspections... Pay for your building permit with a credit card.' This sits in tension with the Residential/Commercial checklists' still-current instruction to provide 'Two (2) sets of plans... provided to the Building Department' (see q9), which reads as a paper-counter holdover from before the Cloudpermit rollout. 75% · department page
• What does a residential solar permit cost? No general building or electrical permit fee schedule is published anywhere in the County's 171-file upload history (enumerated in full, 2016-2026). What IS documented: contractor registration/licensing fees ($50 combined form; $50 state-certified / $90 initial + $40 annual state-registered on the newer split forms - see q6); and the Letter of Compliance fee that applies ONLY in the unincorporated area - and even that single line conflicts between two of the County's own current documents: the Residential/Commercial 'Items Required' checklist prices it at $60.00, while the separate 'Items Required for a Swimming Pool Permit' checklist prices the identical line at $50.00. Inside Worthington Springs neither figure applies - the Town, not the County, sets whatever it charges for its own compliance letter, and the Town publishes no fee information of any kind. 55% · county permit checklist

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 by state law is F.S. 553.792(1)(a): 5 business days after a complete application for an electrical or structural permit on an EXISTING single-family dwelling where the work is valued under $15,000 (the most likely bracket for a rooftop PV retrofit); 30 business days otherwise for a structure under 7,500 sq ft. The County must give written notice within 5 business days of anything missing, or the application is automatically deemed complete. 65% · state statute
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? Not stated locally. Every current Union County permit form checked in this run (Residential, Commercial, Electrical, Mechanical/Plumbing/Sign, Contractor Registration, Swimming Pool) was searched for an expiration/validity clause and none carries one - the only expiration language found anywhere in the form set is the Notice of Commencement's own '1 year from the date of recording' clause, which governs the NOC instrument, not the building permit itself. What binds by default is F.S. 553.79(1)(c): a single-family-dwelling building permit '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.' 62% · state statute
• Which utility handles interconnection here? One of two utilities, and the County's own forms do not resolve which one applies to a given Worthington Springs parcel: every current Union County permit form that asks for the serving utility offers exactly two checkboxes, 'F.P.L' (Florida Power & Light) or 'CLAY' (Clay Electric Cooperative), and no other option. Which of the two actually serves the Town of Worthington Springs specifically was not established in this run. 50% · permit application form

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), adopted statewide. Florida Administrative Code 69A-60.005(2)(qq) reads, verbatim: 'NFPA 70, 2020 edition, National Electrical Code.' No Union County or Worthington Springs amendment to this was found - neither jurisdiction was found to have a codified electrical chapter of its own at all (see q32). 85% · state administrative rule
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), as most recently amended effective 18 March 2026 (FAC 61G20-1.001). No Union County-specific building-code amendment or edition lag was found - the County's own Electrical Permit Application affidavit simply requires compliance 'with the current edition of the FBC and NEC' rather than naming a fixed edition of its own. 85% · state administrative rule
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code: NFPA 1, Fire Code, Florida 2021 Edition (FAC 69A-60.003) and NFPA 101, Life Safety Code, Florida 2021 Edition (FAC 69A-60.004), both effective 31 December 2023. No Union County fire-code chapter or amendment was found (see q32 and q36). 80% · state administrative rule
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Not established either way with confidence. No codified Union County ordinance chapter for building, electrical or fire was found reachable online: the County's own Board of County Commissioners page (2026 capture) contains zero occurrences of the word 'ordinance', Municode and amLegal/eCode360 routes either 403 or return an unconfirmable JS shell, and the County's 171-file upload history contains no 'Code of Ordinances' document. What IS clearly local, though not packaged as a numbered code amendment, is a set of County Building Department PROCESS requirements layered on top of the state code: the 130 mph wind-load minimum (q26), the Letter of Compliance/floodplain sign-off (q1), mandatory 911 addressing before power is authorised, culvert permitting, and County-specific contractor registration (q6). 55% · department page
• What is the installation judged against? The installation is judged against the Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) and NEC 2020 as adopted statewide, plus the Union County Building Department's own process requirements: the State Minimum Plan Requirements (130 mph wind load, sealed truss details, energy calculations), the Subcontractor Verification/combination-permit system, and - for Worthington Springs property specifically - the Town's Letter of Compliance sign-off before the County will issue a building/addition or pool permit. 72% · county permit checklist

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 Worthington Springs 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 required, to NEC 2020 - i.e. NEC 690.12 as it stands in the 2020 edition - because that is the statewide-adopted edition (q29) and no Union County or Worthington Springs amendment to it was found. 72% · state administrative rule

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 is published by either Worthington Springs or Union County. The only marking-adjacent text found anywhere in the County's forms is the general 911-addressing instruction ('911 address posted at the road and house numbers on home if more than 50 feet from road, number to be 3" minimum height'), which is a site-addressing rule, not a PV/service-equipment placard rule. 55% · department document library
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No. Neither Worthington Springs nor Union County specifies placard wording of its own, on the same 171-file enumeration. 65% · department document library
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? No. No letter height, colour, material or durability specification was found for either jurisdiction. 62% · department document library
• 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 document addresses a site plan/facility map placard. 50% · department document library

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.

• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Batteries are not addressed by Worthington Springs or Union County. No local ESS provision exists in the Land Development Regulations, the Comprehensive Plan, or any of the 171 files enumerated from the Building Department's upload history. 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. 58% · county land development regulations
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No separate ESS permit or inspection is published. The County's own 'combination permit' framing - 'one permit covers all trades doing work at one site' - and the absence of any energy-storage line in the County's form set suggest a battery would ride on the electrical permit (and the building permit, if structural work is involved) rather than triggering a distinct ESS product. 55% · county permit 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? Phone (386-496-2676 / 386-496-4241) and, since the 2024-2025 rollout, the Cloudpermit portal, which the County's own page says lets applicants 'Schedule or cancel building inspections' and 'Communicate with your building department with time-stamped messages.' 80% · department page

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 - Worthington Springs performs no inspections of its own. The Union County Building Department performs the final electrical/building inspection for property inside the Town, the same delegated shape the brief's own Raiford precedent established for this county via the City of Lake Butler's page, corroborated here specifically for Worthington Springs by the County's own 'Letter of Compliance' checklists (q1) which frame the building/addition and pool permit - and by extension its inspection - as something the COUNTY performs, with the Town's role limited to the compliance letter. 78% · county permit checklist
• If delegated, to whom? Union County Building Department, 15 NE 1st Street, Lake Butler FL 32054. Phone (386) 496-2676 (or (386) 496-4241, the number used on the Planning & Development page and by County Coordinator James Williams); fax (386) 496-4240. Building Inspector Wilson Whidden per the County's own 2025 page - spelled 'Wilson Whiddon' on the City of Lake Butler's building-department page, a small first-party inconsistency worth flagging rather than resolving. 82% · 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.

Nothing recorded for Town of Worthington Springs on this step yet — 2 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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. No published inspection checklist of any kind was found in the County's 171-file upload history, unlike neighbouring Washington County's dedicated 'Building Inspection Procedures' document. 70% · department document library
• What must be on site at inspection? Not stated as an inspection-day requirement specifically, but two things are documented as needing to be in place beforehand: the recorded Notice of Commencement (required 'in Clerk's Office' before work begins on jobs of qualifying value), and the 911 address, which must be 'posted at the road and house numbers on home if more than 50 feet from road, number to be 3" minimum height' before power is authorised. 58% · county permit checklist

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.

Nothing recorded for Town of Worthington Springs on this step yet — 4 questions checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.