Commercial Buildout Permits in Brevard County: Licensed Contractors, Architects and the Timeline
To plan for commercial buildout permits in Brevard County, start by knowing what you need from the space before you sign the lease.
At Reach Commercial Real Estate, we represent tenants. We help you find locations, compare costs, investigate property questions and negotiate the lease. Reach founder Cassandra Hartford has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years and has closed more than 1,500 sales and leases.
This is our guide to the leasing process, from your first conversation with us through taking possession and preparing to open.
Quick answer: what to know about commercial buildout permits in Brevard County
Melbourne requires building permits for tenant buildouts.
Melbourne requires plans signed and sealed for all commercial work except parking lots and work under $2,500 in value that does not affect structural or means of egress components.
Florida prohibits acting as a contractor without being duly registered or certified.
Melbourne's Building Section says commercial permits typically average 14 to 21 working days on a single review.
Lease terms for the buildout. Ask for a permit contingency, a TI allowance and free rent during the buildout.
1. Bring us these details before we search
Before we send listings, we need to understand your operation. If you run a coffee shop, will you cook with grease or smoke? If you run a salon, will you add shampoo sinks and nail stations?
We start with these details from you:
Your equipment list, with specifications.
The work you expect to build, remove or change.
Your specialty plumbing, ventilation and fire protection needs.
Your seating or capacity goal, busiest hours and expected staffing.
Your preferred areas.
Your opening budget and your monthly occupancy budget.
Your target opening date.
What you will compromise on and what your business needs to function.
You do not need every detail settled. We need enough information to search for your business rather than send every available storefront.
2. Screen each space for the work it needs
We map headcount, parking, power and signage before you tour. A listing gives us a starting point, and we ask for the information needed to evaluate the property.
For each candidate, we request previous use and available floor plans, proposed landlord work, the improvement allowance, and availability and delivery condition. We also compare different starting conditions: a former cafe, another retail space or an unfinished space. Each needs its own cost and construction review.
If a critical answer is missing, we keep the property under investigation.
3. Tour with your contractor to see what the buildout touches
For promising spaces, bring your contractor and design professional into the review. We help gather property information. They evaluate the technical work and cost.
If you run a salon, where would the shampoo sinks and nail stations go? If you run a bakery, where would the ovens and mixers go?
Ask your contractor to compare the existing systems with your equipment and operating needs.
4. Know what triggers commercial buildout permits
The owner or the owner's authorized agent has to get a permit before building, enlarging, altering, repairing, moving, demolishing or changing the occupancy of a building (Florida Building Code, Building, section 105.1). The same goes for installing, altering, repairing, converting or replacing an electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system.
Melbourne's Building Section FAQ lists tenant build-outs, structural changes, plumbing, electrical, gas and HVAC work among the work that requires a permit. In unincorporated Brevard County, an interior alteration without a change of occupancy classification is a Commercial Renovation permit. A new interior build-out, or an alteration with a change of occupancy classification, is a Commercial New Construction permit.
Coffee shop: Type I hoods are required where cooking appliances produce grease or smoke (Florida Building Code, Mechanical, section 507.2). A grease interceptor is required on drains that carry grease from food preparation (Plumbing, section 1003.3.1).
Salon: Beauty and nail salons require mechanical exhaust, and each nail station needs a source capture system that exhausts at least 50 cfm (Mechanical, Table 403.3.1.1).
Music venue that serves food or drink: Group A-2 covers assembly uses intended for food and drink consumption, including nightclubs, taverns and bars (Building, section 303.3). An A-2 fire area needs sprinklers when it exceeds 5,000 square feet or has an occupant load of 100 or more (section 903.2.1.2).
See How to Open in a Space That Used to Be Something Else: Change of Use in Brevard County. See also How to Know If Your Buildout Needs Sprinklers.
5. Find out which plans must be signed and sealed
Melbourne requires plans signed and sealed for all commercial work except parking lots and work under $2,500 in value that does not affect structural or means of egress components, according to its Building Section FAQ.
Construction documents are prepared by a registered design professional where the state's engineer and architect laws require one (Florida Building Code, Building, section 107.1).
Florida exempts some small buildings from the architect requirement. The exemption covers buildings costing less than $25,000, but it excludes a school, auditorium or other building intended for public use (Florida Statutes, section 481.229(1)(c)). The law does not define that phrase, and the architect and engineer laws have no square-footage cutoff (sections 481.229, 471.003 and 481.203).
6. Know what your broker, architect, contractor and attorney each do
Reach handles the search, the cost comparison, the property questions and the business terms of the lease.
Your contractor and design professional evaluate the technical work and cost. The Brevard County Commercial New Construction application, which covers an interior build-out, lists construction documents signed and sealed by a Florida registered architect or engineer. Your Florida commercial leasing attorney reviews the legal language and documents.
7. Hire contractors who hold the right licenses
Acting as a contractor without being registered or certified is prohibited (Florida Statutes, section 489.127(1)(f)). A business tax receipt is not a contractor license (section 489.127(1)).
A contractor must subcontract electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool and air-conditioning work unless the contractor holds a state certificate or registration in that trade (section 489.113(3)).
Fire sprinkler contractors are a separate certified category under Chapter 633 (section 633.102(3)).
8. Plan around the review time
Melbourne's Building Section says commercial construction permits typically average 14 to 21 working days for approval or response on a single review. Fire system permits, such as alarms and sprinklers, typically average 7 to 10 working days.
For signs and nonresidential buildings under 25,000 square feet, section 553.792 of the Florida Statutes gives a local government 60 business days after a complete and sufficient application to approve, approve with conditions or deny a permit. That deadline applies to an applicant using the local government's plans reviewer, unless the applicant waives the timeframe in writing.
The building's fee owner, or the owner's contractor with the owner's written authorization, can choose a private provider for plan review or inspections (Florida Statutes, section 553.791). The permit fee drops by at least 25 percent for the part a private provider replaces, and by at least 50 percent when a private provider handles all required plans review and building inspection services. Melbourne says plan review fee reductions apply only if the Notice to Building Official form is submitted with the permit application, according to its Private Provider Information page.
See How to Find Out How Long a Melbourne Commercial Permit Takes. See also How to Use a Private Provider for Building Permits.
9. Write the buildout into the lease and keep the dates aligned
You can ask for a permit contingency, a TI allowance and free rent during the buildout. We focus on approval contingencies, landlord delivery, the tenant improvement allowance and rent commencement, among other terms.
We compare offers on total occupancy cost: base rent, CAM, taxes, insurance, escalations, buildout and the months of rent you'll pay while contractors are still on site.
After signing, your contractor and design team manage plans, permits and construction. Keep track of possession and delivery dates, landlord work, improvement-allowance submissions, construction deadlines, insurance requirements and rent commencement.
A building cannot be used or occupied until the building official has issued a certificate of occupancy (Florida Building Code, Building, section 111.1). Your reviewing agencies confirm when you have satisfied their opening requirements.
See How to Ask for Free Rent While You Build Out. See also How to Ask for a Tenant Improvement Allowance. See also How to Add a Permit Contingency to Your Lease.
Extra items to add to your buildout checklist
Equipment a former tenant left behind. Before assigning value to a former cafe's sinks, counter and equipment, we ask who owns them, what records exist and whether your team finds them suitable for your operation.
Your sign. Melbourne's Building Section lists signage among the work that requires a permit.
Accessibility. Remodeling and changes to the plan configuration of walls are alterations, and altered portions must be readily accessible to the maximum extent feasible (28 CFR 36.402).
A fire courtesy inspection. Brevard County Fire Rescue's Office of Fire Prevention offers free courtesy inspections for businesses with fire and life safety questions about a potential new location.
County paperwork. In unincorporated Brevard County, a Notice of Commencement is required if job value exceeds $5,000, and impact fees are due before pre-power or final inspection, whichever occurs first.
State licenses. Melbourne's License Requirements for Businesses page lists a state license from the Florida Department of Health for tattoo, a $50,000 bond with the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services for physical fitness facilities, and a DBPR salon license for each location.
Start your search with Reach
You do not need to find the property before calling us. In most deals the landlord pays our fee.
Call 321-514-0876 with your equipment list, budget, preferred area and target opening date, or with the address of a space you have found.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the owner-builder exemption cover a leased space?
Florida's owner-builder exemption covers a property owner improving a commercial building at a cost of up to $75,000, for the owner's own use and not offered for sale or lease (Florida Statutes, section 489.103(7)(a)1.). The owner has to appear in person and sign the building permit application (section 489.103(7)(c)).
What happens if a local government misses the Florida permit deadline?
The local government must reduce the building permit fee by 10 percent for each business day that it fails to meet the deadline, unless the parties agree in writing to a reasonable extension, the delay is caused by the applicant, or the delay is attributable to a force majeure or other extraordinary circumstances (section 553.792(1)(e)).
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Written by Cassandra Hartford, founder and CEO of Reach Commercial Real Estate. She has worked in Brevard County commercial real estate for 17 years, representing buyers, sellers, landlords, and tenants across Florida's Space Coast.
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