How long is a building permit good for in Manatee County?

The 180-day rule

The county's permitting FAQ says: "Permits expire after 180 days if no required inspections have been approved." That is the rule we can quote from an official county page. It is about permits where no required inspection has passed yet.

What the county page does not say is what happens after a first inspection passes. It does not say how long the permit stays active from then on, or how an extension works. We did not find those answers, so do not assume the clock simply resets. Ask the Building Division.

What "complete" means

The county's Permitting Section page says a project is complete only when it "must pass final inspection(s), fees paid, and have all conditions met." An inspection that passes partway through the job does not close the permit. The final inspection does, along with paid fees and any conditions the county set.

A new county notice on permit expiration

On the county's Building Division page, a news item dated June 30, 2026 is titled "Florida House Bill 803 new single-family dwelling permit expiration date." We did not open the article, so we cannot tell you what it says. Its title suggests a state-law change for new single-family homes. If you are building a new home in the county, read that item or call before you rely on 180 days. A remodel is a different case, and the item title does not say it covers remodels.

What Florida law says about closing an old permit

If a permit has expired or sat open, Florida Statutes section 553.79(16) gives owners options.

• You can close a permit by keeping the original contractor, hiring another state-licensed contractor, or becoming an owner-builder, even if you were not the named applicant.
• If a permit expired and the work is substantially complete, the local agency can close it without a new permit. The agency decides what substantially complete means.
• The statute says an agency "may close a building permit 6 years after the issuance of the permit." The summary we read says this can happen without a final inspection if the agency finds no apparent safety hazards.

These are options, not promises. The county decides each case. We did not find any affidavit or fee requirement in the statute, but the county may have its own steps. For the sale side of this, see our guide on open permits when selling a home in Florida.

How to check a permit and who to call

Manatee County uses the Accela Online Services portal for permits. The county's Permitting Section page lists a "Search Permit Records" function there, but it does not give the search steps. For questions, use permitting@mymanatee.org or 941-748-4501 ext. 3800. The office is at 9000 Town Center Parkway, Lakewood Ranch, FL 34202. Our Manatee County permit guide covers the rest of the process.

Ask these questions if your permit is close to 180 days old:

1. Has any required inspection been approved on my permit?
2. What is the permit's current status and expiration?
3. Can it be extended, and what does that take?

How Hildebrand handles permit timing

Hildebrand Construction & Remodeling is a family-owned Florida Certified Building Contractor (license CBC1257253), based in Palmetto. We pull every required permit and meet the Florida Building Code inspections, so we schedule the work around the permit, not the other way around. Plumbing and electrical are done by licensed trade partners that we manage and coordinate under one licensed contractor.

If you have an old permit from a past contractor, we can look at it with you during a free in-home consultation. We give a written estimate with no trip fee. See our process. Call or text (941) 284-2218, Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 5 PM. Calls and forms outside those hours are answered the next business day.

Questions homeowners ask