Permits in Hillsborough County
Building, zoning, environmental, and right-of-way permitting across Hillsborough County. Jurisdiction matters, the same project can need a different permit path in different cities.
Find a Florida DEP environmental application
Search official Florida DEP environmental resource or coastal applications by exact application number or published site address. Other local and water-management district permits may not appear here.
For permit documents, full records, current decisions and agency jurisdiction, check the official DEP permit search instructions.
Building & Construction
Commercial and Multifamily Building Permit Routing — Hillsborough County
Route commercial, mixed-use, and multifamily construction to the building authority for the parcel. Unincorporated Hillsborough uses County Development Services/HillsGovHub; Tampa uses City Construction Services/Tampa Accela; Plant City uses its Building Division/MaintStar; Temple Terrace uses City Building & Permitting. Site, zoning, fire, utilities, floodplain, natural-resources, accessibility, right-of-way, and outside-agency reviews are project- and jurisdiction-dependent rather than a single County-wide checklist.
Demolition Permit Routing — Unincorporated Hillsborough County
Route whole-structure demolition in unincorporated Hillsborough through the County's residential or commercial HillsGovHub intake. Utility releases, asbestos review or notification, septic abandonment, historic review, tree or natural-resource approval, floodplain review, site-development approval, and debris handling are conditional companion requirements; no one sign-off substitutes for the demolition permit.
Fence and Wall Approval Routing — Hillsborough County
Route a proposed fence, wall, screen, or gate to the parcel's zoning and building authority. Zoning placement review and building-permit review are separate determinations, and the responsible jurisdiction must confirm the current rules for the actual location, height, material, design, and related work.
Residential Building Permit Routing — Hillsborough County
Route residential construction to the building authority for the parcel before preparing an application. This workflow covers a new house, single-family home, home construction, deck, covered porch, room addition, accessory structure, roofing, pool, or trade work. Hillsborough County, Tampa, Plant City, and Temple Terrace operate separate permit processes and portals. This is an intake and routing workflow; the responsible authority's current permit-type instructions govern submittal documents, review, fees, and inspections.
Roofing Permit Routing — Hillsborough County
Route roof replacement, reroofing, roof repair, recover, and roof-related structural or trade work to the building authority for the parcel. The four Hillsborough jurisdictions use separate intake systems and may classify scope differently; this workflow does not assert a universal permit exemption, document list, fee, or review time.
Solar Photovoltaic Permit Routing — Unincorporated Hillsborough County
Route residential solar photovoltaic work in unincorporated Hillsborough through County Development Services and HillsGovHub, using an Electrical Trade permit for roof-mounted systems or a Residential Miscellaneous permit for ground-mounted systems under the current County checklist. Structural, electrical, zoning, tree, floodplain, battery, fire, and other companion reviews are scope-dependent. Tampa Electric interconnection, net metering, utility inspection, meter work, and permission to operate are separate from County permit issuance and inspections.
Swimming Pool and Spa Permit Routing — Hillsborough County
Route new and altered pools, spas, and related decks/equipment through the building authority for the parcel. Private residential and public swimming pools have different approval paths; public pools also require the applicable Florida Department of Health review. Zoning, barrier, electrical, plumbing, mechanical, structural, drainage, environmental, and safety requirements depend on the project.
Environmental & Coastal
Dock, Seawall, Dredge/Fill and Water-Dependent Approval Routing — Hillsborough County
Route docks, boat lifts, seawalls, shoreline stabilization, dredging, filling, and other water-dependent work through every applicable local, EPC, state, submerged-lands, and federal review. Project location, ownership, wetlands and surface-water impacts, navigation, scope, and authorization type determine which approvals apply; no one approval is represented as satisfying the others.
Onsite Sewage / Septic System Permit
Florida DEP's Onsite Sewage Program governs onsite sewage treatment and disposal systems (OSTDS), commonly called septic systems. The permit path is separate from County or city building and land-development approval. Confirm the current Hillsborough processing office and application route through DEP's official onsite-sewage resources before construction, repair, modification, or abandonment.
Tree Removal, Pruning and Protection Routing — Hillsborough County
Route tree removal, pruning, relocation, protection, and development impacts to the authority for the parcel and tree location. Protected status, permit need, mitigation, emergency handling, right-of-way or utility control, and natural-resource review are project- and jurisdiction-specific; this workflow does not publish one countywide tree rule.
Water Well Construction, Repair, Modification, or Abandonment
The Southwest Florida Water Management District states that a Well Construction Permit is required before installing a water well in the District. Its well-construction page also publishes the state application for construction, repair, modification, or abandonment and licensed-contractor resources. Local land-development, utility, environmental, and building approvals remain separate.
Property
Zoning & Land Use
Rezoning and Comprehensive-Plan Amendment Routing — Unincorporated Hillsborough County
Route an unincorporated Hillsborough land-use change to the correct process. A standard-district rezoning, planned-development rezoning, modification to an existing planned development, and amendment to the adopted Comprehensive Plan or Future Land Use Map are distinct actions. A project may need both a plan amendment and rezoning, but one approval does not replace the other.
Zoning Variance and Special-Use Routing — Unincorporated Hillsborough County
Route an unincorporated Hillsborough zoning request to the correct current County action. A variance, special-use hearing, administrative action, rezoning, appeal, and other zoning request are distinct procedures with different eligibility, applications, fees, notice, review, hearing, and appeal consequences.