Everything Florida contractors need to know about virtual inspections.
If you're a Florida contractor, you've experienced the frustration of waiting days for an inspector. Virtual inspections fix this. and they're legally established under Florida law.
A virtual inspection is a building code inspection conducted remotely. Instead of waiting for a municipal inspector to physically visit your site, a licensed inspector reviews your work through video evidence submitted digitally.
In Florida, virtual inspections are conducted through private providers. licensed companies authorized under Florida Statute 553.791. The inspection carries the same legal weight as a municipal inspection.
Two formats exist: live video inspections where your tech connects with an inspector in real time, and offline field reports where your tech records a guided video and submits for asynchronous review.
Florida Statute 553.791 establishes that contractors can choose a licensed private provider. HB 401 (2021) explicitly authorized virtual inspections. HB 667 (2021) required building departments to accept electronic submission.
Virtual inspections by a licensed, registered private provider are legally equivalent to in-person municipal inspections. Every Florida municipality must accept them.
All of them. Florida Statute 553.791 states that a required inspection may be performed in person or virtually, with no trade carve-out, and it defines a single-trade inspection to include door and window replacements, reroofing without structural alteration, HVAC replacements, ductwork and fan replacements, wiring, lighting and service panel work, water heater changeouts, sink replacements, repiping, stucco, and fences and block walls over six feet. That list is stated as non-exhaustive.
In practice that covers HVAC changeouts, new installs and ductwork; roof dry-in, sheathing and final; solar mounting, PV rough and interconnection; pool steel, piping, barrier, bonding and final; electrical rough and final; plumbing top-out and water heaters; impact windows and doors; generators; EV chargers; garage doors; and screen enclosures.
Some inspections require physical presence for reasons that sit in the code rather than the private provider statute, such as inspections requiring physical testing or measurement that cannot be demonstrated on camera. Those are performed in person by a licensed private provider, so the work still stays off the county queue.
File a Notice to Building Official (NTBO) at permit application. Have a smartphone with a camera. Follow guided checklists. Ensure inspection points are visible before covering work.
Tell us about your trade and volume, and we'll get you set up on your first inspection.
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