Washington County

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

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? Yes for unincorporated Washington County. Also yes (for land-use/zoning purposes, confirmed) in Caryville, Ebro, Vernon and Wausau. Chipley is a genuine open question — see jurisdiction block. 78% · department page
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Building + Electrical permitting, plan review and inspection are performed in-house by the County Building Department (named Building Official and inspection staff) for unincorporated Washington County. Contractor licensing (Certificate of Competency) is also county-level. Zoning/LDC review is delegated by Caryville, Ebro, Vernon and Wausau to the County Planning Department; fire is delegated by any municipality that 'by official act... elect[s]' to join the County fire authority (Sec. 30-33) — confirmed for Wausau (Oct 2025). Chipley retains its own Planning & Zoning office and its own volunteer Fire Department (which reviews building plans for new construction in the city), and charges its own 'Construction Permit' fee, but names no in-house building/electrical inspector. 75% · department page + code of ordinances + municipal site
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes. The County's own Application for Building Permit lists 'Solar System' as a distinct building-type checkbox, and the current fee schedule carries a dedicated line: 'Solar System Installation — Based on Building Valuation Table.' 95% · building permit application
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? Separate. Both the Building Permit Application and the Trade Permit Application state verbatim that 'a separate permit must be secured for ELECTRICAL WORK... in addition to' the building permit. A residential PV job takes a Building permit (fee: 'Solar System Installation — Based on Building Valuation Table') plus a separate Electrical permit (fee: 'Electrical Permit: Single Family Residential — $125'). 90% · permit application + fee schedule
• Is there a historic-district review? No dedicated historic-district design-review process was found. The LDC does define a 'Historical and Archaeological land use overlay' (Sec. 2.03.03) that limits density in a mapped 'Historical Land Use District,' and a floodplain-ordinance variance provision references buildings 'listed on... a local register of historic places' — but neither is a solar/PV-triggered design-review board of the kind seen in some Florida cities' downtown historic districts. 50% · code search
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate 'windstorm certification' beyond the standard statewide Florida Product Approval system. The County has, however, locally mapped 'wind speed lines... pursuant to the requirements of the Florida Building Code' (Sec. 14-37), and the Trade Permit Application's Roofing section requires a 'FL. PRODUCT APPROVAL CODE' field, which is how wind-load compliance is actually demonstrated for roof-attached work including PV racking. 65% · code section + permit application
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? Only for utility-scale 'Solar Farms,' which the LDC lists as requiring approval as a special exception (Sec. 2.02.03/2.02.04, with additional standards at 2.02.04(L)). No SUP or Council-approval requirement was found for an accessory, residential rooftop PV system. 80% · code search
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No AHJ-imposed cap on residential rooftop generation size was found in the County's code (the only size-related solar text in the LDC concerns utility-scale 'Solar Farms', a different land use). At the UTILITY level, WFECA's Member-Owned Generation program is capped at 25 kW AC output per system — a co-op program cap, not a County zoning limit. 70% · code search + utility interconnection agreement

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 registered with the County (State License # and county Certificate of Competency required on the Trade Permit Application's contractor fields). 82% · contractor registration instructions + fee list
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? Yes. The County's Contractor's License Registration process must be completed (state license copy, driver's license, insurance certificates naming the County as certificate holder, $35 admin fee) before that contractor can pull permits. 88% · county instruction sheet
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes, in principle, via the statewide FS 489.103 owner-builder exemption — the County publishes its own 'Owner Builder Disclosure Statement' implementing it for a one- or two-family residence the owner occupies. The form does not separately address whether the owner may personally perform or self-permit the ELECTRICAL sub-trade versus needing a licensed electrical contractor for that portion. 62% · county 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 PV-specific checklist is published. For any building permit the County requires: a signed/notarized Application for Building Permit (naming 'Solar System' if applicable); a separate Trade Permit Application for the Electrical sub-permit (with the serving utility checked — GCE / FPL / WFECA-G); a Notice of Commencement for work valued >=$2,500; and, per the About page, a Planning Department Land Use Application and a valid E-911 address BEFORE the building permit can be requested. 65% · department page + permit applications
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Not stated for a PV retrofit specifically. The About page states that BEFORE a building permit can even be requested, the applicant must already hold 'an approved Land Use Application through the Planning Department' and 'a valid address through the E-911 Addressing Department' — the Land Use Application is the closest analog to a site-plan gate, but the County publishes no PV-specific site-plan content requirement. 50% · department page
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? Statewide floor only: FS 471.003(2)(h) exempts electrical work performed by a licensed electrical contractor from a PE-stamp requirement where the electrical system value is <=$125,000 and aggregate service capacity is <=600A (240V) on a residential system. No Washington County document imposes a stricter or different local threshold. 62% · Florida 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 (portal.iworq.net/WASHINGTONFL/permits/601) — confirmed live: a public permit search tool showing real, current permit records (e.g., electrical permits dated 09/11/2026) searchable by permit #, date, type, parcel, and applicant. 85% · permit portal (live)
• Can the whole application be completed online? Only partially — the public iWorQ portal supports permit SEARCH/status lookups without login. Full application submission is described on the County's About page as being done by EMAIL ('Permits may be emailed to permits@washingtonfl.com given you are currently registered...') or in person, not as a self-service online application form; it is unclear whether registered contractors have a login-gated application function inside the same iWorQ instance. 55% · department page + permit portal
• What does a residential solar permit cost? No PV-specific total is published, but it is computable from the County's own current fee schedule: Building permit — 'Solar System Installation, Based on Building Valuation Table' (county's tiered schedule starts '$10,000 and less = $100 standard fee', rising by $3-6/$1,000 thereafter) + a $35 non-refundable Plan Submittal fee + a Plan Review fee of 15% of the permit fee or $35, whichever is greater + a 3% (or $4 minimum) state Radon surcharge; PLUS a separate Electrical Permit — 'Single Family Residential: $125' flat. 75% · fee schedule
• How is the fee calculated? Mixed: the Building-permit portion of a solar job is valuation-based (against the Building Valuation Table / ICC square-foot cost table); the Electrical-permit portion is a flat fee ($125 for single-family residential), not valuation-based. 78% · fee schedule
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? Yes. A non-refundable $35 Plan Submittal fee is collected at submittal (and again on any resubmittal/addendum requiring re-review), and a separate Plan Review fee of 15% of the permit fee (minimum $35) is collected at permit issuance. 90% · 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.

• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? Six months (180 days). The Building Permit Application states 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 Trade (electrical) Permit Application states it 'is VOID after six (6) months from issuance unless the work it covers has been commenced and has had ongoing inspections.' 92% · permit applications
• Which utility handles interconnection here? Three confirmed electric-utility franchises inside Washington County, from the County's own codified Code of Ordinances, Appendix A — List of Franchises: (1) Gulf Power Company, Electric Transmission and Distribution, granted by Ord. No. 17-06 (8-24-17), 30-yr term — Gulf Power was absorbed into Florida Power & Light (FPL) in the 2019-2022 NextEra rebrand, so this franchise is now held by FPL; (2) West Florida Electric Cooperative Association, Inc. (WFECA), Electric Transmission and Distribution, Ord. No. 17-07 (8-24-17), 30 yrs; (3) 'Gulf Coast Cooperation, Inc.' [sic; Gulf Coast Electric Cooperative, Inc. (GCEC)], Electric Transmission and Distribution System, Ord. No. 2017-12 (12-13-17), 20 yrs. This matches the County's own current Trade Permit Application, which offers exactly three checkboxes under 'ELECTRIC': 'GCE', 'FPL', 'WFECA - G'. 95% · codified franchises appendix
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? For WFECA (co-op) members: the AHJ's inspection comes first. WFECA's own Interconnection Agreement requires the member to submit, at least 10 business days before beginning parallel operation, 'documentation showing the [generation system] has been inspected and approved by local code officials prior to its operation' along with IEEE-1547/UL-1741 certifications; WFECA then evaluates and approves the application within 10 business days. FPL (PSC-regulated, successor to the Gulf Power franchise) and GCEC were not independently reproven this run, but the general Florida pattern (FL PSC Rule 25-6.065(5)(a), the state floor for investor-owned utilities) is the same: AHJ inspection/approval precedes parallel operation. 78% · utility interconnection agreement

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

• Which NEC edition is in force? NEC 2020 (statewide floor), effective 31 Dec 2023 under Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) — corroborated from floridabuilding.org, the Florida Building Commission's own site (per this dataset's baseline, not independently re-verified this run). Locally, Sec. 14-68 of the Code of Ordinances adopts 'The National Electric Code, as it is adopted by the State of Florida, as it may be amended and updated from time to time' — a FLOATING reference that tracks whatever the state currently has in force, rather than naming a year itself. 80% · code section (floating adoption)
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023). Sec. 14-36 of the Code of Ordinances floating-adopts 'The Florida Building Code, as it may be amended and updated from time to time,' and the County's own current Application for Building Permit states plainly on its face: 'Code in effect 8th Edition Florida Building Code.' 93% · permit application masthead + code section
• Which fire code edition is in force? Florida Fire Prevention Code (current edition, i.e. 8th Ed. 2023 under the statewide baseline) — floating adoption. Sec. 30-32 adopts, without naming a year: F.S. ch. 633 and F.A.C. ch. 4A ('Florida Fire Prevention Code') for both 'uniform' and 'minimum' fire safety standards; 'the minimum mandatory edition of the Standard Fire Prevention Code as adopted by the state' (a legacy SBCCI-era term, still worded as floating to whatever the state currently adopts); and NFPA 101 Life Safety Code 'as adopted by the state fire marshal.' Unlike several other Florida jurisdictions in this dataset (Dania Beach, Crestview, Riviera Beach), Washington County's own codified fire chapter does NOT name a frozen pre-2017 edition anywhere in Sec. 30-32 — no contradiction to flag here. 75% · code section (floating adoption)
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes. Sec. 14-37 locally maps wind-speed lines under the FBC. More significantly, Chapter 14, Article III (the 'Electrical Code') retains a large body of ORIGINAL, locally-authored electrical rules dating to Ord. No. 80-2 (1980)/Code 1986 — distribution-system standards, minimum conductor sizes, a prohibition on using dynamite to install electrical equipment, etc. — layered alongside the floating NEC reference in Sec. 14-68. One of those original sections, Sec. 14-75 ('Wiring in commercial, industrial, public buildings'), still cites 'article 250, "Grounding," 1993 National Electrical Code' verbatim — a stale, frozen-year reference sitting inside a code whose Sec. 14-68 otherwise floats to the current, state-adopted NEC. Both are true at once and are recorded as a contradiction, not resolved by picking one. 82% · code sections
• What is the installation judged against? Florida Building Code 8th Ed. (2023, floating) for structural/general construction; the 'currently adopted' NEC (floating per Sec. 14-68) PLUS the County's own original 1980s-vintage local Electrical Code provisions (Ch. 14, Art. III) for electrical work; Florida Fire Prevention Code (floating per Sec. 30-32) where fire-code items apply. 78% · code sections

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 Washington County on this step yet — 1 question checked and found unpublished. The guidance above is general.

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

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

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

• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Not confirmed for the County's own utilities this run. WFECA's current Interconnection Agreement and its 'Member-Owned Generation' solar handout specify a disconnect switch (see Q48) but no placard/label wording. GCEC's site (gcec.com) was checked (Solar Calculator page, a 404'd 'solar-energy' page, Rates & Fees, and a site search for 'interconnection') and no interconnection agreement or placard spec could be located. FPL's own net-metering/Electric Service Standards material (which carries FPL's well-documented battery-storage placard requirement elsewhere in this dataset) was not independently re-pulled for Washington County specifically this run. 40% · utility documents (partial coverage)

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 which of the three franchised utilities serves the parcel — confirmed varies inside the county: WFECA (co-op, outside FL PSC Rule 25-6.065 under Fla. Stat. 366.91) requires, per its own current Interconnection Agreement, a manual disconnect switch of the 'visible load break type,' mounted SEPARATE from the meter socket, readily accessible and capable of being locked open with a utility padlock — required on every interconnected Member-Owned Generation system up to the program's 25 kW cap; no size exemption is stated. NOTE: this WFECA document, though currently linked from the co-op's own live Solar page, is itself internally dated 'Revised 06/2021' despite the filename/page presenting it as 2025 material — read and cited for its content, not its filename, per this dataset's standing rule. For FPL (successor to the Gulf Power franchise, PSC-regulated): not independently reproven this run; falling back to the FL PSC Rule 25-6.065(6)(a) state floor (Tier 1 <=10kW exempt from a disconnect switch; Tier 2/3 required, mounted separate from but adjacent to the meter) at reduced confidence, explicitly labeled as the floor rather than FPL's own document. GCEC's own interconnection terms could not be reached this run (see not_found). 75% · utility interconnection agreement
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? No County-wide 'approved equipment list' exists. At the utility level, WFECA's Interconnection Agreement requires certification that the system complies with IEEE-1547 (2003), IEEE-1547.1 (2005), and UL 1741 (2005) before interconnection — a listing/certification requirement, but scoped to WFECA members' generation equipment, not an AHJ list. 60% · utility interconnection agreement
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Not addressed for a residential accessory installation. The LDC's only ground-mounted-solar provisions are for utility-scale 'Solar Farms' (Sec. 2.02.03/2.02.04, a distinct special-exception land use with its own definition), with no equivalent definition or standard found for a small residential ground-mount PV array. 55% · code search (absence)
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? Yes, at least one locally-authored minimum: Sec. 14-80 ('Service conductor capacity; height of main service switch') requires service-conductor capacity to be computed per NEC tables/examples, but adds a LOCAL floor: 'no service conductors shall be smaller than no. 8 AWG copper.' This is general-service text, not solar-specific, but would apply to any service-side work associated with a PV interconnection. 70% · code section

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? By phone (850-638-6195) or, per the Building Department's own About page, by email/registered-account contact — the same page that describes permit issuance 'without you having to leave your home.' The public iWorQ portal supports permit/status lookup; whether it also supports self-service inspection SCHEDULING (as opposed to search) was not confirmed. 70% · department page
• How much notice is required? At least 24-48 hours' notice, per the County's own About page: 'Due to a high demand in requests for inspections, please contact Building Department staff at least 24-48 hours prior to inspection date.' 85% · 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? Yes, for the areas it serves in-house (unincorporated county and, at minimum for zoning, Caryville/Ebro/Vernon/Wausau) — the County Building Department names its own Building Official (Charles Vannatter) and inspection staff and states on its own About page that it is responsible for 'Performing Electrical & Building Inspections.' This is NOT confirmed for Chipley — see jurisdiction block and Q53. 80% · department page
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated for the County's own in-house area. For Chipley specifically, this is unresolved: Chipley's own site shows its (volunteer) Fire Department reviewing/approving building plans for new construction, and the City charging its own 'Construction Permit' fee, but names no in-house Building Official or electrical inspector — so it could not be determined from either government's published material whether Chipley's actual building/electrical INSPECTIONS are performed by County staff, a third party, or uncredited City staff. 55% · municipal site (absence) + 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? General (not solar-specific) new-construction sequence per the County's published Building Inspection Procedures: (1) Temporary electrical service; (2) Footer; (3) Under-slab (rough plumbing/electrical conduit); (4) Floor slab; (5) Concrete-block building steel/forms; (6) Nailing & strapping; (7) Dry-in (incl. 'Electrical rough in complete with panel set'); (8) Insulation; (9) Temporary-to-permanent power; (10) Final/Certificate of Occupancy. A PV retrofit on an existing home would likely use only the relevant subset (e.g., electrical rough-in and final), which the County does not spell out separately. 60% · county inspection-procedures document
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? Not solar-specific, but the general procedure includes a 'Nailing & Strapping Inspection' (before felt/underlayment) and a 'Dry-In' inspection for roofing work generally — the closest analog to a mid-roof inspection stage. No PV-specific rough-in or mid-roof requirement is stated. 55% · county inspection-procedures document

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? Yes, a general one: the County publishes a 'Building Inspection Procedures' document (rev. 8/2024) listing all required inspection stages and what each covers. It is not solar/PV-specific. 70% · county inspection-procedures document
• What must be on site at inspection? Per the general procedure: the permit's Address must be Posted, Prints (approved plans) on site, the Inspection Card present, and a Notice of Commencement posted (for work valued >=$2,500) — with the permit board 'installed so that it may be viewed from the street.' 85% · county inspection-procedures document
• Does the inspector verify labels and listings? Not explicitly stated for labels/listings. The published procedure does require that a 'Product Approval Sheet must be on file in the Building Department prior to inspection' (at the Floor Slab stage) — evidence the County's inspectors generally check product-approval documentation, but nothing PV- or electrical-listing-specific is named. 45% · county inspection-procedures document

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 generally, a Certificate of Occupancy, per the Inspection Procedures document's final stage ('Final/Certificate of Occupancy... Building will be released for permanent power'). For an existing-home PV-only retrofit (no new occupancy involved), the County does not separately describe what document, if any, is issued on a passed final electrical inspection — likely just an approved final-inspection record rather than a new CO, but this is inference, not a County statement. 55% · county inspection-procedures document (inference for retrofit case)
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? For WFECA members: the Member (owner/installer) notifies the utility directly — WFECA's own Interconnection Agreement requires the Member to submit AHJ inspection-approval documentation to the Cooperative at least 10 business days before beginning parallel operation. Not independently reproven for FPL or GCEC members this run. 70% · utility interconnection agreement
• Is there a re-inspection fee? $75, for both commercial and residential work, assessed 'when this fee will apply' at the Building Official's determination. Confirmed twice in the County's own current material — once in the fee schedule ('Reinspection Fee: Commercial & Residential $75') and once in the Inspection Procedures document ('will be required to pay a $75.00 re-inspection fee'). 92% · fee schedule + inspection-procedures document