Plain-English glossary
The permitting vocabulary, translated.
Reviewers, codes, and county portals all assume you speak the language. Here’s every term that decides whether your Florida project moves — defined straight, with the stakes attached, by the person who does the work.
Zoning & land use
Setback
A setback is the minimum distance a structure must be kept from a property line, street, water body, or other boundary, measured per the lo…
Read the full definition →Lot coverage
Lot coverage is the percentage of a parcel's area that structures may occupy under the zoning code. Depending on the jurisdiction it counts…
Read the full definition →Impervious surface ratio (ISR)
Impervious surface ratio is the share of a lot covered by surfaces that don't absorb water — roofs, driveways, patios, pool decks. Florida…
Read the full definition →Living Area Ratio (LAR)
Living Area Ratio (LAR) is a zoning limit used by some Florida coastal jurisdictions — including the City of Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Isl…
Read the full definition →Floor Area Ratio (FAR)
Floor Area Ratio (FAR) is total building floor area divided by parcel area — the density dial of commercial and mixed-use zoning. A FAR of…
Read the full definition →Variance
A variance is formal permission to deviate from a specific zoning standard — a setback, height, or coverage limit — granted when a property…
Read the full definition →Conditional use permit
A conditional use permit (in some Florida codes, a special exception) authorizes a use the zoning district allows only under conditions — a…
Read the full definition →Rezoning
Rezoning changes a property's zoning district — and with it the entire set of permitted uses and dimensional standards. It's a legislative…
Read the full definition →Site plan approval
Site plan approval is the jurisdiction's review of how a development sits on its parcel — buildings, parking, access, drainage, landscaping…
Read the full definition →Permitting & process
Plan review
Plan review is the jurisdiction's examination of permit drawings against the Florida Building Code, zoning standards, and local amendments.…
Read the full definition →Permit expediter
A permit expediter is a professional who manages building-permit applications on behalf of builders, developers, and owners — assembling th…
Read the full definition →Private provider (PP)
A private provider is a licensed engineer or architect that Florida law (F.S. 553.791) allows an owner to hire in place of the county for b…
Read the full definition →Notice of Commencement (NOC)
A Notice of Commencement is a document recorded with the county clerk before construction starts on most Florida projects above a value thr…
Read the full definition →Notice of Acceptance (NOA)
A Notice of Acceptance is Miami-Dade County's product-approval document certifying that a building component — windows, doors, roofing, sid…
Read the full definition →Certificate of Occupancy (CO)
A Certificate of Occupancy is the jurisdiction's final sign-off that a building complies with the approved plans and code and is legal to o…
Read the full definition →Accela
Accela is the permitting software platform many Florida jurisdictions — including Sarasota County — use to run applications, plan review, i…
Read the full definition →Flood & coastal
Base Flood Elevation (BFE)
Base Flood Elevation is the height, on FEMA's flood maps, that floodwater is expected to reach in a flood with a 1% annual chance — the "10…
Read the full definition →Elevation certificate
An elevation certificate is a surveyor-prepared FEMA document recording a building's elevations relative to Base Flood Elevation. Flood-zon…
Read the full definition →Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL)
The Coastal Construction Control Line is a state-established boundary along Florida's beaches. Construction seaward of the CCCL requires a…
Read the full definition →Land & entitlements
Land entitlement
Land entitlement is the process of securing the government approvals — zoning, land-use amendments, site plans, subdivision plats, utility…
Read the full definition →Impact fee
Impact fees are one-time charges Florida counties and cities levy on new construction to fund the infrastructure it demands — roads, school…
Read the full definition →Concurrency
Concurrency is Florida's growth-management principle that public infrastructure — roads, water, sewer, schools — must have capacity for a d…
Read the full definition →Free checklist
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