Building

At the Polk County Building Division’s offices in the County Administration Building you will find:

• Drop off service for hard copy plans (County Administration Building location only)
• Same day residential walk-through permitting. See below for hours of operation and other details
• Building and Land Development application assistance using of one of Polk’s four kiosk systems available to the public

Additional Online and Remote Services:

• Access to schedule onsite, offline and virtual inspections
• Performing approved virtual/offline inspections as listed at polk-county.net/building/inspections
• Performing onsite inspections scheduled through the Accela permitting system
• Permitting online through the Accela Citizen Portal.
• Submittal of digitally-signed and sealed plans uploaded through the Accela permitting system
• Customer assistance with permitting questions by phone at (863) 534-6080 or by email at BuildingDivision@polk-county.net
• For land use and planning-related questions, the Planner-on-Call is available in person, by phone (863) 534-6084 or at planneroncall@polk-county.net.

Same Day Residential Walk-Through Permitting

The Polk County Building Division is experiencing high permitting volume. We are limiting the number of owner/builder applicants seen by permitting and plans examiner staff to eight owner/builder permits per day.

We recommend that you are at the Building Division to sign in before 8:00 a.m. The sign in list will be available in the main lobby of the County Administration Building, 330 W. Church St., Bartow. Support staff is available to answer general questions and to assist you with applying online for permits using our lobby kiosks.

Walk-Through Residential Permitting Business Hours: 8:00 a.m. to 12 p.m.

Permit applications must be complete prior to entering the permit lobby queue by 12 p.m.

• Residential With Plans: Noon
• Mobile Home Set-up: Noon
• Residential Without Plans: Noon

Cut-off times may be adjusted as needed, depending on volume and staffing levels.

Customers are allowed to:

• Walk-through up to three permits with or without plans per day, or
• Walk-through up to two mobile home set-up permits per day.

We will make every effort to issue walk-through permits by the close of business; however, customers arriving close to the cut-off time when the lobby is full, or with multiple permit applications, may be asked to return the next business day to finish the permitting process.

Anyone seeking to walk-through a permit will not be allowed to drop it off and return later in the day.

Applicants needing help navigating Accela’s registration, or any other assistance, should call (863) 534-6080.

Affordable Housing Expedited Permitting Process

Pursuant to Section 420.9076, Florida Statutes, Polk County offers an expedited permitting process for qualified affordable housing projects. This expedited permitting process moves these projects ahead in the permitting queue to fast track the process. Please click on the link below to access the application and review the process. Once a building permit has been submitted for the qualified project, please submitted the expedited process request by email to buildingdivision@polk-county.net.

Affordable Housing Expedited Permit Application

Permitting Tools

Develop Polk – Permitting and Land Analysis Tool

Develop Polk will help guide residents embarking on simple or complex projects, such as building or renovating a home and evaluating property for feasibility of residential or nonresidential development. This tool will assist customers in navigating through the county’s building and land development regulations while estimating permitting and project fees.

Visit Develop Polk for:

• Land Use Portal: Learn where you can locate your project in Polk County
• Commercial Portal: This tool calculates the permits and project reviews you need for your commercial project
• Residential Portal: This tool calculates the permits and project reviews you need for your residential project

VuSpex – Virtual Inspections Tool

Polk County has partnered with VuSpex to provide our customers with the ability to conduct building inspections virtually. For details visit our VuSpex information page.

Using the Accela Portal

Things You Can Do in the Accela Citizen Access Portal

Building

• Apply for permits
• View permit status
• Apply for temporary use permits (special events, produce/food stands, fireworks sales, etc.)
• Pay fees
• Trust account deposits
• Schedule inspections
• Search for application by address, owner, contractor or parcel number
• Print reports (Permit cards, certificate of occupancy, trust account transactions, etc.)
• Download building forms. For Accela Citizen Access Portal assistance with building applications, please contact (863) 534-6080.

Land Development

• Apply for application (plats, conditional uses, planned developments, land use amendments, text amendments, development agreements, variances, special exceptions, engineered site plans, waivers, non-conforming use determinations, land use verification letters and more)
• Pay application fees
• Search for applications by address, owner or parcel number. For Accela Citizen Access Portal assistance with land development applications, please contact (863) 534-6449.

Code Enforcement

• File an alleged complaint/violation
• Search for violations/complaints by address, owner or parcel number. For Accela Citizen Access Portal assistance with code enforcement cases, please contact (863) 534-6054.

Online Training Videos

Accela How-To: Registration

Accela How-To: Submit a Permit

Accela How-To: Get Additional Permit Information

Accela How-To: Print Permit & Schedule Inspection

Accela How-To: Make a Payment

Accela How-To: Building Division Reports

Accela How-To: Submit Digital Plans

Accela How-To: Revise Digital Plans