Permits in Lee County.
The highest-volume jurisdiction we file into, and the one still carrying the most rebuild activity. Unincorporated Lee is its own authority: an address inside a city boundary does not come here.
What is different about Lee County
- Contractors must register their state certification with the county before pulling a permit here.
- The county also issues its own local Certificate of Competency, valid in unincorporated Lee only, for contractors who are not state-certified.
- Lee is not a High Velocity Hurricane Zone; that designation covers Miami-Dade and Broward. It does sit within the Florida Building Code's Wind-Borne Debris Region, so exterior openings need impact-rated products or shutters.
- The city-versus-county question matters more here than anywhere else in the region, because Lee contains five municipalities that each run their own intake.
Review times
Lee County does not publish an official plan-review turnaround we are willing to quote. Figures circulating on aggregator sites are not sourced from the department, and we will not repeat them as if they were. We will tell you what we are currently seeing on live files here, and the department will confirm its own position.
Review times, fee schedules, forms and portals change, sometimes on a specific effective date. Everything on this page was verified on September 1, 2026. Confirm anything load-bearing with the department before you rely on it.