Florida Senate - 2022                                     SB 976
       
       
        
       By Senator Perry
       
       
       
       
       
       8-01056-22                                             2022976__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to construction; amending s. 255.0525,
    3         F.S.; prohibiting specified governmental entities from
    4         requiring participation in a paid subscription service
    5         to access solicitations of competitive bids or
    6         proposals which must be publicly advertised; requiring
    7         that such solicitations be available on the publicly
    8         accessible website of the applicable governmental
    9         entity after the solicitation has been advertised;
   10         amending s. 553.79, F.S.; prohibiting the local
   11         enforcing agency from requiring a substantive change
   12         to plans and specifications once they have been found
   13         to be in compliance and a permit is issued, if such
   14         change would result in more than a de minimis increase
   15         in the overall cost of the project; providing an
   16         effective date.
   17          
   18  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   19  
   20         Section 1. Present subsection (5) of section 255.0525,
   21  Florida Statutes, is redesignated as subsection (6), and a new
   22  subsection (5) is added to that section, to read:
   23         255.0525 Advertising for competitive bids or proposals.—
   24         (5) The state and any county, municipality, or other
   25  political subdivision may not require participation in a paid
   26  subscription service to access a solicitation of competitive
   27  bids or proposals which is required to be publicly advertised
   28  under this section. Once a solicitation of competitive bids or
   29  proposals has been advertised, it must be accessible by the
   30  public on the website of the applicable department of the state,
   31  county, municipality, or other political subdivision.
   32         Section 2. Subsection (2) of section 553.79, Florida
   33  Statutes, is amended to read:
   34         553.79 Permits; applications; issuance; inspections.—
   35         (2) Except as provided in subsection (8), an enforcing
   36  agency may not issue any permit for construction, erection,
   37  alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of any building
   38  or structure until the local building code administrator or
   39  inspector has reviewed the plans and specifications required by
   40  the Florida Building Code, or local amendment thereto, for such
   41  proposal and found the plans to be in compliance with the
   42  Florida Building Code. If the local building code administrator
   43  or inspector finds that the plans are not in compliance with the
   44  Florida Building Code, the local building code administrator or
   45  inspector shall identify the specific plan features that do not
   46  comply with the applicable codes, identify the specific code
   47  chapters and sections upon which the finding is based, and
   48  provide this information to the local enforcing agency. The
   49  local enforcing agency shall provide this information to the
   50  permit applicant. Once the local building code administrator or
   51  inspector finds that the plans and specifications for the
   52  construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or
   53  demolition of any building or structure are found to be in
   54  compliance with the Florida Building Code and a permit is
   55  issued, the local enforcing agency, or any department thereof,
   56  may not make or require substantive changes to the plans or
   57  specifications which would result in more than a de minimis
   58  increase in the overall cost of the project. In addition, an
   59  enforcing agency may not issue any permit for construction,
   60  erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of any
   61  building until the appropriate firesafety inspector certified
   62  pursuant to s. 633.216 has reviewed the plans and specifications
   63  required by the Florida Building Code, or local amendment
   64  thereto, for such proposal and found that the plans comply with
   65  the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code. Any
   66  building or structure which is not subject to a firesafety code
   67  shall not be required to have its plans reviewed by the
   68  firesafety inspector. Any building or structure that is exempt
   69  from the local building permit process may not be required to
   70  have its plans reviewed by the local building code
   71  administrator. Industrial construction on sites where design,
   72  construction, and firesafety are supervised by appropriate
   73  design and inspection professionals and which contain adequate
   74  in-house fire departments and rescue squads is exempt, subject
   75  to local government option, from review of plans and
   76  inspections, providing owners certify that applicable codes and
   77  standards have been met and supply appropriate approved drawings
   78  to local building and firesafety inspectors. The enforcing
   79  agency shall issue a permit to construct, erect, alter, modify,
   80  repair, or demolish any building or structure when the plans and
   81  specifications for such proposal comply with the Florida
   82  Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life
   83  Safety Code as determined by the local authority in accordance
   84  with this chapter and chapter 633.
   85         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2022.