Florida HB 803: What Palm Beach County Homeowners and HOA Communities Need to Know Before July 1
Starting July 1, 2026, work under $7,500 on your single-family home no longer requires a permit. HOAs can no longer block your architectural review by requiring a government permit first. And commercial permit timelines just got cut in half.
HB 803 takes effect July 1, 2026. It exempts single-family residential work valued under $7,500 from building permit requirements — excluding electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, and gas work regardless of cost. It prohibits HOAs from requiring a government-issued building permit as a prerequisite for architectural review. It cuts commercial permit fees 50% when a private provider is used, and gives building departments 10 business days to approve or the permit is deemed approved automatically.
Most homeowners won’t hear about HB 803 until they try to pull a permit and find out the rules changed. If you own a home in Palm Beach County — or you’re planning to buy one — here’s what’s different starting July 1st.
The $7,500 No-Permit Rule: What It Covers
Starting July 1, local governments that issue building permits must exempt single-family homeowners and their contractors from the permit requirement for work valued under $7,500.
What qualifies: Fences, decking, minor exterior improvements, smaller landscaping structures, non-structural cosmetic work.
What is specifically excluded from the exemption — permits still required regardless of cost:
- Electrical work
- Plumbing
- Structural modifications
- Mechanical systems
- Gas work
Also excluded: properties in flood hazard areas. If your home is in an SFHA or AE flood zone, the exemption does not apply.
This matters for sellers and buyers alike. Unpermitted work has always been a disclosure issue in Florida real estate transactions. The threshold for what requires a permit just changed, but the documentation advice doesn’t: keep records of all work done on your home regardless of whether a permit was required.
The HOA Rule: The Change That Affects Most Palm Beach County Homeowners
This is the provision that matters most to buyers in Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Palm Beach Gardens, and any other HOA-governed community — which is most of Palm Beach County.
Before HB 803: HOAs could require you to obtain a government-issued building permit before they would even review your architectural modification request. This created a months-long chicken-and-egg problem. You couldn’t get HOA approval without a permit. But spending money on a permit for something the HOA might later reject made no sense.
After HB 803 (July 1, 2026): HOAs, architectural review committees, and similar bodies are prohibited from requiring a government-issued building permit as a prerequisite for their review. You can submit your architectural request to the HOA first, get approval, then pull the permit if required.
This eliminates one of the most common renovation delays in HOA communities. For buyers factoring renovation costs and timelines into their purchase decision, this is a material change.
The Private Provider and Commercial Changes
HB 803 also significantly updates how Florida’s private provider system works for commercial and larger residential projects:
- 50% fee reduction on commercial permit fees when a licensed private provider handles all qualifying plans review and inspections
- 25% reduction for partial private provider scope
- 10 business day shot clock for building departments to review plans. For single-trade work on SFR/two-family dwellings, the deadline drops to 5 business days.
- If the building department misses the deadline: permit deemed approved as a matter of law
- Local governments cannot charge plan review or inspection fees when a private provider is performing those services
- Statewide commercial and residential building permit applications must be standardized by July 2027
For investors, developers, and anyone pulling permits on income-producing property in Palm Beach County, the combination of fee reduction and mandatory shot clock is a real operational change.
What This Means for Real Estate Transactions in Palm Beach County
Three practical implications for buyers, sellers, and agents:
For sellers: The no-permit threshold changing from effectively $0 to $7,500 means some work done between now and July 1 that would have required a permit may not going forward. Document everything regardless. Buyers ask about unpermitted work on every transaction.
For buyers: Due diligence on recent improvements still matters. Ask when work was done, what it cost, and whether permits were pulled. HB 803 changes the threshold but doesn’t change the disclosure obligation. And it doesn’t change the fact that unpermitted electrical, plumbing, or structural work is still a problem regardless of cost.
For HOA community buyers: Renovation timelines just got shorter. The HOA architectural review no longer gets stuck waiting behind a government permit. If you’re buying in Wellington, Avenir, Westlake, or any gated community with an ARC, this is worth noting in your planning.
⚠ Insurance note: Work done without a permit — even if now legally exempt under HB 803 — may still create insurance documentation issues. Keep contractor documentation for all work regardless of permit status.
Frequently Asked Questions About HB 803
Does the $7,500 no-permit rule apply to roofing or electrical work? +
My HOA previously required a building permit before reviewing my fence application. Has that changed? +
If I do work under $7,500 without a permit, can it hurt my home sale? +
Does HB 803 apply to condo units? +
What's the 10-day auto-approval rule for commercial permits? +
Questions About How HB 803 Affects Your Home or Purchase?
If you’re renovating before selling, planning improvements on a new purchase, or trying to understand how the HOA rule change affects your community — I can help you think through it.
Call 561-201-4717 or request a free home valuation.
Brian Wilder
The Wilder Real Estate Group at Keller Williams Wellington
In business since 1996 — over 1,500 homes sold across Palm Beach County
561-201-4717 — palmbeachcountyhomeforsale.com