Permits and rules for commercial painting in Broward County

Florida does not license painting as a trade. Section 489.117 of the Florida Statutes lists painting and pressure washing among the job scopes for which a local government may not require a license, and says a local government may not require a state or local license to obtain a permit for them. Local occupational licenses imposed before 2021 expired on July 1, 2025, under s. 163.211.

There is one narrow exception for tall buildings. A local government may keep a license for rooftop painting, coating and cleaning above three stories if it had one before January 1, 2021. We check that for each high-rise job.

A general contractor's license is unlimited as to the type of work, under s. 489.105. Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, which matters when a repaint is part of larger repair work.

The Florida Building Code's list of work exempt from permit (section 105.2) covers gas, mechanical and plumbing items and does not mention painting. Whether a paint job needs a building permit is left to the local building official, and repairs that cut walls or structural members fall outside the code's minor-repair allowance.

Separately, several Broward cities review the color of commercial buildings through their planning or zoning staff. Weston requires an administrative site plan amendment for a change of paint on commercial and industrial or office developments. Coral Springs requires a paint application before painting commercial and multifamily properties. Sunrise issues a painting permit for multifamily and nonresidential buildings and closes it only after a paint inspection. Miramar's repaint permit asks for color chips and a site plan, sets 180 days to finish, and ends with a final zoning inspection.

Fort Lauderdale's guidance on the 2026 small-job permit exemption, still marked pending approval, says work on commercial properties, multifamily buildings and condominiums continues to require a permit regardless of job cost. We read the current city guidance for every job, because these documents change.

The EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies to paid work that disturbs paint in housing built before 1978 and in child-occupied facilities. A child-occupied facility is a pre-1978 building, or part of one, visited regularly by the same child under six, such as a day care center, preschool or kindergarten classroom, and it can sit inside a commercial building.

Where the rule applies, the work must be done by a firm certified by EPA, using lead-safe practices. Small jobs are carved out: up to 6 square feet of painted surface per room inside, or 20 square feet outside, when no prohibited practices are used. Florida is not an EPA-authorized state, so EPA runs the program here directly.

Workers are covered as well. OSHA's lead standard for construction, 29 CFR 1926.62, applies to construction work where an employee may be exposed to lead, and it defines construction work to include painting and decorating.

OSHA's scaffold rules require fall protection for anyone on a scaffold more than 10 feet above a lower level, and a worker on a single-point or two-point suspension scaffold, the swing stage used on towers, needs both a personal fall arrest system and a guardrail system. Scaffolds are erected, moved and dismantled only under a competent person.

On an aerial lift, a body belt and lanyard attached to the boom or basket are required. On other surfaces, OSHA's general rule protects an unprotected edge 6 feet or more above a lower level.

Rope descent work adds a duty for the building owner. Under 29 CFR 1910.27, before a rope descent system is used, the owner must tell the employer in writing that each anchorage has been identified, tested, certified and maintained, based on an annual inspection and a certification at least every 10 years. That is why we ask for the anchor records early on a tower job.

Under s. 553.899, a condominium or cooperative building three habitable stories or taller needs a milestone inspection by the end of the year it turns 30, and every 10 years after. The local enforcement agency may require it at 25 years where local conditions such as proximity to salt water call for it.

Under s. 718.112, the structural integrity reserve study for those buildings must cover, among other items, waterproofing and exterior painting, and every condominium budget must reserve for building painting. A repaint on a Broward tower is often planned alongside the work those documents call for.

Florida has not adopted its own limits on the VOC content of architectural paint: the state's emission rules cover industrial coating lines, not building paint. The federal limits in 40 CFR Part 59 bind the paint makers and importers, so they apply to the products a contractor buys.

Wash water needs a plan. Broward County's guidance on vehicle washing says wash water cannot be discharged to the ground, a storm drain or any water body, and Florida DEP says discharging wastewater to stormwater systems without an NPDES permit is prohibited. We plan building washing to the same standard.

At an airport, federal security rules decide who works where. Under 49 CFR 1542, unescorted access to secured areas requires a fingerprint-based criminal history check, and each person must display the airport's identification or be under escort. Badging and escorts are arranged with the airport operator before work is scheduled.