Since July 1, 2026, a Florida local enforcement agency may not prohibit or limit a private provider's use of virtual inspections. What used to be something a jurisdiction could allow is now something it may not block.
Virtual inspections are lawful in Florida, and for private providers they are now protected. Section 553.791(9) provides that a private provider's inspection may be performed in person or virtually. Section 553.791(19)(c), new on July 1, 2026, bars a local enforcement agency from prohibiting or limiting that.
Two statutes address virtual inspection and they point in different directions, which is the whole point.
| Who performs it | Governing provision | Status |
|---|---|---|
| State or local enforcement agency | F.S. 553.79(6) | Discretionary. The agency "may" perform virtual inspections. |
| Private provider | F.S. 553.791(19)(c) | Protected. The agency may not prohibit or limit it. |
A local enforcement agency may not prohibit or limit private providers from using virtual inspections if a virtual inspection is not prohibited by any applicable code.
s. 553.791(19)(c), Fla. Stat., effective July 1, 2026Before this provision, a contractor's access to remote inspection depended on whether the local building department had chosen to run a virtual program. It no longer does, where a private provider performs the inspection.
The only statutory definition sits in s. 553.79, not in the private provider statute:
"Virtual inspection" means a form of visual inspection which uses visual or electronic aids to allow a building code administrator or an inspector, or team of inspectors, to perform an inspection without having to be physically present at the job site during the inspection.
s. 553.79(6), Fla. Stat.The definition is deliberately method-neutral. It does not prescribe live video over recorded capture, or one platform over another. What it requires is that a qualified inspector performs a visual inspection using visual or electronic aids, without being on site.
Chapter 2025-140, effective July 1, 2025, added the single-trade inspection and single-trade plans review definitions to the statute, with an enumerated list that covers much of the high-volume specialty trade work in Florida: window and door replacement, reroofing without structural alteration, HVAC changeouts, water heaters, repiping, and solar and energy storage installation. Section 553.791(9) is explicit that a single-trade inspection, like any other, may be performed in person or virtually.
The same 2025 act created the 5 business day expedited plan review track for single-trade plans review on one and two family dwellings, now at s. 553.791(8)(b).
A local agency may not prohibit inspections outside normal operating hours, including after hours, on weekends, or on holidays. For trades that work early, finish late, or run Saturday crews, this pairs directly with the virtual entitlement.
Threshold buildings. Section 553.79(6) bars virtual inspections for structural inspections on a threshold building, but by its terms that sentence is directed at "a state or local enforcement agency." Section 553.791(19)(c) conditions the private provider entitlement on virtual inspection not being "prohibited by any applicable code," and s. 553.79 is a statute rather than a code. Whether a private provider may perform a virtual structural inspection on a threshold building is genuinely unresolved on the face of the two provisions, and we are not aware of authority resolving it. We treat threshold structural work as in-person, and we would be cautious of any provider who tells you the question is settled.
No. Section 553.791(19)(c), effective July 1, 2026, provides that a local enforcement agency may not prohibit or limit private providers from using virtual inspections if a virtual inspection is not prohibited by any applicable code.
Yes. Section 553.791(9) provides that a private provider's inspection, including a single-trade inspection, may be performed in person or virtually, and the same language appears in the definition of building code inspection services at s. 553.791(1)(d). Separately, s. 553.79(6) permits a state or local enforcement agency to perform virtual inspections at its own discretion.
Section 553.79(6) defines a virtual inspection as a form of visual inspection which uses visual or electronic aids to allow a building code administrator or an inspector, or team of inspectors, to perform an inspection without having to be physically present at the job site during the inspection.
Section 553.79(6) bars virtual inspections for structural inspections on a threshold building, but that sentence is directed at a state or local enforcement agency. Whether the bar reaches a private provider acting under s. 553.791(19)(c) is unresolved on the face of the statutes, and we are not aware of authority settling it. Treat threshold structural work as in-person until it is.
Not as a condition of using a virtual inspection where a private provider performs it, under s. 553.791(19)(c). The point of a virtual inspection under the s. 553.79(6) definition is that the inspector need not be physically present; the person capturing the work is on site.
This page summarizes Florida Statutes s. 553.791 as it reads following chapter 2026-63, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2026. Provided for general information by Inspektr, a Florida private provider. Not legal advice. The authoritative text is published by the Florida Legislature at leg.state.fl.us. Last reviewed September 2026.