Permits
Open and expired building permits when you buy a Florida home
A new roof, a converted garage, a replaced water heater: in Florida, much of that work needs a permit, and the permit needs a final inspection. When it never gets one, the permit stays open, and the question becomes whose problem it is.
What "open" and "expired" mean
A permit is open when the work was permitted but never passed its final inspection. It is expired when the time limit ran out first. Either way, the official record doesn't show the work was finished and approved.
What Florida law says
- Buyers are protected from the previous owner's open permits. A local building department may not deny a permit to, cite, fine or charge fees to "an arms-length purchaser of a property for value solely because a building permit applied for by a previous owner of the property was not closed" (s. 553.79(17)(a)). The department keeps its remedies against the previous owner and the contractor.
- Old permits can be closed. A building department may close a permit six years after it was issued, even without a final inspection, if it finds no apparent safety hazard (s. 553.79(16)(c)).
- Owners can close their own permits. An owner can close an open or expired permit using the original contractor, a new one (who is responsible only for their own work), or as an owner-builder (s. 553.79(16)).
The protection has limits. It keeps the city from penalizing the buyer for the open permit itself. It doesn't make uninspected work safe or to code, and it doesn't pay to fix it.
How open permits come to light
Usually through a municipal lien and permit search, ordered by the title agent or the buyer during closing. That's often after the contract is signed. Permit records are also searchable in the online portals run by the City of Tampa and Hillsborough County, so you can check before the offer.
What to do before closing
- Search the permit history as soon as the home is on your list.
- Compare it with what the listing claims: "new roof," "updated electrical," "converted garage."
- Ask the seller to close open permits before closing, or negotiate a credit.
- Have your home inspector look closely at any work with no permit or an unfinished one.
Buyer's agent in Tampa Bay?
Send us one address you're showing. We'll send back a one-page report under your name: what the home will really cost, and what's not in the listing. Free.
Request a free reportSources
This guide explains Florida law and public records in plain English. It is not legal, tax or insurance advice, and laws change. Check important details with the county property appraiser, the tax collector or a Florida attorney.