When is a Certificate of Occupancy required? A Certificate of Occupancy is issued after you complete a building pursuant to all of the building code requirements, and is necessary in order for the power company to turn on the electricity. Without a certificate of occupancy, the power company will not turn on the power.
After a house or a building has been built out and a Certificate of Occupancy has been issued and if the property is later resold, Florida does not have a requirement to obtain another Certificate of Occupancy like some other states, such as New York, is concerned.
The Certificate of Occupancy is issued as a result of obtaining a building permit, usually to construct a new residence or if you had any construction done that requires a building permit that has to do with a the electrical system or the occupancy of the property. Then you would need a Certificate of Occupancy before being able to obtain power and before you are legally able to occupy the property. But, they are not issued if you don’t have construction involved and it is simply a resale. They are required if there is a build-out of a commercial office and they go and get a building permit to build it out. They would get a Certificate of Occupancy which would allow the tenant to occupy the property and start doing business.
If you have any other questions about Certificates of Occupancy, give me a call at 727-847-2288.