Permits & licenses in Pinellas County.
Permitting in Pinellas County runs on the Florida Building Code — one code, adopted statewide by the Florida Building Commission — enforced by the local building official. Inside a municipal line the city's building department holds the file; outside it the county's does. The code does not change at the boundary. The counter, the portal, and the submittal do.
- BDRS issues building permits and inspections for unincorporated Pinellas County and for Belleair Beach, Belleair Shore, Indian Rocks Beach, Kenneth City, Oldsmar and Safety Harbor; county filings and plan uploads run through the Pinellas County Access Portal.
- St. Petersburg keeps its own counter: the Construction Services and Permitting Division sits inside the city's Planning and Development Services Department, alongside Development Review Services and Urban Planning & Historic Preservation.
- Clearwater keeps its own: the Construction Services Division sits inside the city's Planning & Development Department and administers the Florida Building Code, the Clearwater Housing Code and the Unsafe Code.
Talk to a permit specialist — for your Pinellas County project.
county seat: Clearwater
Pinellas County · drawn from Census boundaries
What we clear here
- Building permits — new construction, fit-outs, renovations
- Trade permits — electrical, plumbing, gas, mechanical
- Use & occupancy and the inspections behind it
- Business & contractor licensing
- Signs, site work, and right-of-way
How it moves
Your package is reviewed against the current Pinellas County submission requirements before it's filed — forms, editions, scales, signatures. Then it's tracked in the queue and carried through comments. A resubmittal means the back of the line; the pre-filing review is there to help keep you out of it. The habit comes from volume: the team has processed 400+ permits annually across Maryland, D.C., and Virginia counters.
Straight answers
Who issues building permits in Pinellas County?
Pinellas County Building and Development Review Services (BDRS) and City of St. Petersburg Construction Services and Permitting Division and City of Clearwater Construction Services Division — with the trade, health, and fire reviews that attach depending on the project.
Does DaKa work in Pinellas County?
Yes — Pinellas County is one of the Florida markets we serve. Call (240) 344-5075, or send the project over, and we'll lay out your project's permits and licenses, in order, with what each review will take.
Talk to a permit specialist
Ten minutes on your project. You leave knowing the approvals it needs, in what order, and what each review will take. Or send the address, scope, and plans and we start from there.