This question comes up on every quote, and the answer people usually get is a shrug. So here it is plainly, based on the City of St. Petersburg's published list of exempted work.
One caveat first: this covers work inside the City of St. Petersburg. Unincorporated Pinellas County, Clearwater, Largo and Dunedin each run their own building departments with their own rules. Don't apply this list to a house in Countryside.
What does NOT need a permit
Finish work. Cabinetry, countertops, painting, wallpapering, tiling, carpeting and similar finish work are exempt. This is why a cosmetic bathroom or kitchen refresh often needs no permit at all.
There's a critical exception attached to that exemption: it does not apply if the work affects the structural integrity of a load-bearing wall, or the fire-resistant material of a fire-rated separation. Tiling a wall is fine. Cutting into one to widen a doorway is not.
Small drywall repairs. Interior wall or ceiling finish repair is exempt when the aggregate area of the repair does not exceed 100 square feet — again, provided it doesn't touch structure or a fire-rated assembly.
Replacing plumbing fixtures in place. Repairing or replacing an existing fixture in its present location is exempt, provided the work doesn't require replacing or rearranging valves, pipes or fixtures. Swapping a toilet for a new toilet on the same flange: exempt. Moving that flange: not exempt.
What DOES need a permit
Water heaters. Installing or replacing a water heater requires a plumbing permit specifically. The fixture-replacement exemption above explicitly does not cover it. This catches people out constantly, because a water heater feels like a fixture swap.
Electrical work. There's no blanket residential exemption beyond low-voltage systems (under 25 volts and under 50 watts). Adding a circuit for a bathroom heater, moving a receptacle, adding recessed lighting — permit.
Anything affecting a load-bearing wall. Removing one, cutting an opening in one, or altering it structurally. This needs a permit and generally an engineered beam specification.
Plumbing that moves. Any work that replaces or rearranges valves or pipes, as opposed to swapping the fixture on the end of them.
Windows and doors. No exemption is listed for these, and in a coastal county with wind load requirements, replacement typically requires a permit and product approval documentation.
The rule people miss entirely
Separate from permits: in Florida, work valued at $1,000 or more requires a licensed contractor regardless of whether the work itself is permit-exempt.
Read that twice, because those are two different rules and people collapse them into one. "It doesn't need a permit" does not mean "anyone can do it." A $6,000 tile job needs no permit and still needs a licensed contractor.
Why permits are worth having anyway
Homeowners occasionally ask us to skip a permit to save time. We don't, and here's the practical case rather than the lecture:
- Unpermitted work surfaces at sale. Buyers' inspectors find it, appraisers flag it, and the city can require it be opened up and inspected retroactively — which means removing finished tile to prove what's behind it.
- Insurance claims. If unpermitted work is implicated in a loss, a carrier has a straightforward reason to dispute the claim.
- The inspection is a free second opinion. An inspector looking at a rough-in is another set of eyes on work that's about to be covered up forever.
The short version
Cosmetic remodel with no plumbing moved and no electrical touched: usually no permit. Anything involving a water heater, electrical, a load-bearing wall, or moving pipe: permit. And any job over $1,000 needs a licensed contractor either way.
When we quote, we tell you which of those your job is, and if a permit is needed we file it. If someone quotes you a plumbing relocation and doesn't mention a permit, ask why.
Source: City of St. Petersburg Building Department, published list of exempted permits. Rules change — confirm current requirements with the city before relying on this for your own project.