Open permits and code violations: what a property can owe without showing it

Work with no final inspection is a physical unknown: nobody from the county ever verified what is inside the wall.

The open permit. When work that needs a permit is done (an addition, a roof, a pool, a major electrical or plumbing change), the permit opens, the work is inspected in stages, and the process closes with the approved final inspection. It stays open when that closing never happened. The work may be finished, but nobody verified at the end that it meets code, and the pending process stays tied to the property.

The expired permit. The Florida Building Code puts a clock on the permit: it becomes invalid if the work does not start within six months of issuance, or if it is suspended or abandoned for six months (Section 105.4.1). To keep it active, an approved inspection is required within 180 days of issuance or of the previous inspection. Some jurisdictions write these deadlines differently: check your own jurisdiction's rule. If it expires mid-work, what was built has no final inspection, and closing it years later can require a new permit, new fees and, if the code changed, corrections to the current code.

Unpermitted work. It never had paperwork: the work was done without pulling a permit, so it appears in no permit record. It comes to light when the county discovers it (an inspection, a complaint, the sale itself) and turns it into a violation, or when someone notices that the house as built does not match the house on record.

The code violation. It is an order from the county or the city because the property breaks a rule: unpermitted work, a deteriorated structure, a disallowed use, lack of maintenance. It follows Chapter 162 of the Statutes: notice, a chance to comply, a hearing before the code enforcement board or a special magistrate, and an order with a compliance date. If the date passes without compliance, the daily fine starts.

• Default state cap: up to $250 per day for a first violation and $500 per day for a repeat one, plus the cost of any repairs the government performs. If the violation is found irreparable or irreversible, the board may impose up to $5,000 per violation instead of the daily count.
• Higher caps in large jurisdictions: a county or municipality of 50,000 or more may adopt by ordinance (with a majority-plus-one vote of its entire governing body) caps of up to $1,000 per day for a first violation, $5,000 per day for a repeat and $15,000 per irreparable violation. In South Florida you have to look at the property's jurisdiction cap, not assume the state one.
• The fine does not stop on its own: it keeps running until the violator complies or judgment is entered. A daily fine over years can pile up a huge balance without anyone having taken out a loan.
• The lien runs with the land: the certified copy of the order, recorded in the public records, constitutes a lien (a debt recorded against the property) against the land where the violation exists, and against the violator's other property. After 3 months unpaid, the board may authorize enforcing it or collecting by lawsuit.
• Protection for the person living there: no lien under this part of the law may be foreclosed on constitutional homestead property (the protection of a primary residence). The lien exists and complicates selling or refinancing with clean title, but it cannot take the family home this way.
• The board may reduce the fine. It is discretionary and comes after compliance. It is not a right to budget around in advance.

1. 1The jurisdiction's building departmentThe property's real city or the county, which is why the jurisdiction is confirmed first. The permit history lives there: open, expired and closed, with inspections.
2. 2The Clerk of the Court recordsOrders and notices the government decides to record are filed there, like the §162.09 fine order. What is recorded shows up in a title search.
3. 3The city or county lien searchIt is the official letter requested for closing in South Florida. It reports liens, violations and balances that jurisdiction has recorded against the property.

None of them sees everything alone. And a record not showing something does not always mean it does not exist: it means that in that record, on that date, it is not on file.

• You inherit the duty to comply. The order runs against the property: the buyer becomes responsible for fixing the violation, with the fine running if the deadline has passed.
• You inherit the recorded lien. It has to be paid or resolved to sell or refinance later with clean title.
• An open permit holds back your own plans. When you apply for a remodel permit, the department can require you to close the old process first, with its inspections, corrections and fees.
• Before closing you can ask for it to be resolved. An unclosed permit or a violation with a balance are facts with a number: you can ask for the seller to close them, a price reduction or a credit. After closing they are only yours.

This guide describes mechanisms and does not say any property has open permits or violations. Sources: Florida Building Code permit validity rule, Florida Statutes §162.09, the full Chapter 162 and the Miami Beach unsafe structures procedure as an official example of how a notice enters the public record, read on October 18, 2026.