Florida’s HB 803 took effect July 1, 2026, changing how local building departments handle private provider registration, permit fees, and review timelines. Building officials often raised one question: what exactly constitutes written authorization when an owner permits a contractor to use a private provider?
The Building Officials Association of Florida (BOAF) addressed it directly by publishing guidance under F.S. 553.791 that favors simple, flexible paperwork over locally invented forms.
What HB 803 Requires for Private Provider Authorization
HB 803 requires written authorization from the fee owner, explicitly naming the permit applicant’s right to use a private provider or firm, submitted to the building official. BOAF confirmed that this authorization can take one of two forms: a simple letter from the owner, or the Notice to Building Official (NTBO), Form 61G20-2.005-2002-01, adopted by the Florida Building Commission under Rule 61G20-2.005, Florida Administrative Code.
Either format satisfies the requirement on its own; a building department cannot demand both. BOAF recommends that the authorization list the project name, project address, scope of work, permit applicant name, and private provider name. Notarization is not required.
Authorization for Trusts, Corporations, and Other Legal Entities
Properties held in a trust, under a corporate name, or through another legal entity need one additional piece: a statement establishing that the signer is authorized to act for that entity on the specific project. BOAF points to the agent authorization language already used on payment and performance bonds: a short form stating that a named person represents the entity for the noted scope.
Building officials are advised to check the signer’s name against the county Property Appraiser’s ownership record before accepting the authorization. BOAF does not ask for anything more elaborate than that.
What Building Departments Cannot Require?
Two more questions in BOAF’s guidance address how far a local jurisdiction can go in adding its own paperwork rules on top of the statute. BOAF’s answer to both is no.
Notarization has been phased out for nearly every permitting form under current law, and some jurisdictions now accept virtual signing, so requiring it locally risks conflicting with the statute and should go through legal counsel first. The same limit applies to locally created authorization forms.
HB 803 specifies the information a building department needs, not the form it has to arrive on. A jurisdiction with its own standard authorization form cannot make that form mandatory in place of a letter or the NTBO. If a submission is missing a required detail, BOAF’s guidance is to flag what’s missing and request a correction, not reject the format outright.
Why This Points Toward Statewide Standardization
Private providers handle a growing share of Florida’s plan review and inspection work, and the paperwork behind that shift needs to hold up the same way everywhere it’s filed. BOAF’s guidance sets one baseline: the same required information, accepted in more than one format, reviewed the same way regardless of jurisdiction.
That reduces rejected submissions over form technicalities and speeds up review for building departments and contractors alike. Contractors already juggling Miami-Dade and Broward’s separate permitting processes get one fewer variable to manage under the new rules.
Inspected advocated for HB 803’s passage, and BOAF’s guidance is a sign the law is working as intended: real questions from building officials answered with practical flexibility instead of new paperwork. Contractors working with a private provider on an active Florida permit can find more background in Inspected’s guide to private provider inspections.
Contact the Inspected Team with any questions regarding how a specific project’s private provider paperwork should be handled.