New home permit in Orlando: what the City needs, review deadlines, permit and impact fees

What the City requires

From the City's Residential Permitting Requirements (read 23 October 2026): a building permit, with "Trade permits ... also required for electrical, plumbing, gas or other applicable work", and a recorded Notice of Commencement when construction value exceeds $5,000. All plans must "Be dimensioned and drawn to scale" and include "a third-party verified signature of a Florida-registered architect or engineer".

The City lists the most common reasons for disapproval: no site plan or survey, an undimensioned one, an application not signed or notarized, the AC unit not shown on the site plan, plans not signed and sealed, and contractor information not current.

Review deadlines and who can apply

The City's Building Permit Guidelines apply Florida Statutes § 553.792:

The clock starts only on a complete application: permit number assigned, upfront fees paid, all documents submitted and prescreen approved. Miss the 10-day window and the application is denied, "requiring resubmittal of the permit application, plans, and any associated fees".

A licensed contractor normally applies, and must have its Florida license, business tax receipt and workers' comp proof current with the City. An owner can build their own home under § 489.103(7), signing the City's Owner/Builder Declaration in person; it says the home "may not be built or substantially improved for sale or lease", and a sale or lease within a year of completion is presumed to break that rule.

Inspections run from footer (100) and slab (405) through framing (130), insulation (140) and zoning final (170) to final (600), plus each trade's own (Inspection Codes Guide).

What it costs

The permit fee, from the 2026 residential fee schedule, is $66.24 for the first $1,000 of construction cost plus $4.41 per additional $1,000, where cost is the ICC Building Valuation Data figure or the contract price, "whichever is greater", then surcharges of 1.5%, 1%, 5% and 3%. On $262,000 that is $1,217.25 before surcharges, about $1,345 with them. Trade permits, the $50 temporary power pole added to the electrical permit, and an address fee of $50 are on top.

Impact fees are the bigger number. From the City's Impact Fee Guide, for a single-family house:

So a 2,500 sq ft house in the "City Other" transportation area pays about $12,587 in City impact fees before the school fee. Transportation fees vary by location in the city, and park fees are on conditioned square feet.

What 3,107 Orlando new-home permits show

Orlando's new homes are mostly production housing: the five busiest builders pulled 59.3% of the permits. If you are building one custom house, the useful comparison is the 152 builders with a single permit, since a custom builder's three-year Orlando record is often only a few houses long. The usual 203 days from issue to final is a fair yardstick for a schedule; add plan review on top. Filed values by size are on the Orlando new home cost page, and a filed value is not a sale price.

See every Orlando home builder by days to final →

Next steps

Compare builders on the Orlando new-home list and check licenses in the Orlando contractor license lookup. Monthly counts: Orlando permit statistics. National guides: new home construction cost and do I need a permit to build a house.

What this does not tell you

City of Orlando only; a lot in unincorporated Orange County or a neighbouring city is permitted there, not here. The filed value is the builder's declaration, often well below the sale price. Almost every Orlando permit is eventually closed, so we show speed to final rather than a finished share.