Private Provider Plan Review and Inspection Guidelines

Do you want to use a private provider for your plan review or inspections?

Florida Statute 553.791 allows for a property owner to use private providers for plan review and/or inspections in lieu of the municipal building department personnel. All private provider agencies must be vetted and approved by the City of Lakeland, and their information on file with the Building Division. This approval and registration process ensures that Private Providers are qualified to perform plan review and inspection activities.

Private Providers may only review and inspect for compliance with the Florida Building Code. Planning & Zoning, Fire, Floodplain, Stormwater, Transportation, and any local municipal codes cannot be done by a Private Provider. These are conducted by City of Lakeland staff only.

Turn around times for City of Lakeland-conducted plan review & inspections:

• Plan Review (each cycle): Approximately 7 days
• Inspections: Can generally be scheduled as early as the next business day.

Private Providers are third-party companies. Property owners that opt for Private Provider services must pay for those services independently.

For each permit that will be using a Private Provider, a completed Notice to Building Official form (Notice to Building Official for Use of Private Provider) and the supporting document listed must be uploaded with your building plans to the ePlan ProjectDox system, or uploaded to the Files section of the permit in IMS, depending on the permit type.

Notice must be given to the Building Division of Private Provider-conducted inspections no later than the business day prior to the inspection by scheduling it in the IMS system. Inspection result reports must be uploaded to the permit in IMS with two days of completion.

Please note:

• The Private Provider option can be chosen as long as the City of Lakeland has not commenced any plan review and/or inspection activity on the project.
• If Plan Review will be done by a Private Provider, inspections must also be done by the same Private Provider.
• Permits for signs are not eligible Private Provider plan review. However, Private Provider inspections can be chosen for signs.
• Early Start permits are not available for building permits that have plan review/inspections done by a Private Provider.
• A Temporary Certificate of Occupancy (TCO) is not available for Private Provider permits.

Information regarding permit fees associated with Private Providers can be found at Permit Fees | City of Lakeland (lakelandgov.net) under the Private Provider section.