Beginning on Monday, March 10th, procedures for obtaining a building permit in the Key West Historic District are being updated. Applicants must obtain a Certificate of Appropriateness for any applicable improvements within the Key West Historic District separately from a building permit application.

Previously, the City of Key West Building Department has acted as the centralized department for all permit applications, which are reviewed by licensed plan examiners and the floodplain manager. These reviewers also sent applicable building permit applications to the Historic Preservation Department (HARC) for review. Applicants may not have noticed that two separate processes were happening simultaneously under the umbrella of a building permit application.

While applicants will continue to interact with and receive exceptional customer service provided by City of Key West Building Department staff, please take note that a Certificate of Appropriateness application must be applied for separately from a building permit application. This may be done in person at the permit technician desk or, after March 17th, online through eTrakit.

A building permit is permission granted by the City of Key West Building Official to perform construction following the review and demonstrated compliance with the Florida Building Code, National Electrical Code, Florida Fire Prevention Code, and other referenced standards. Construction activities are regularly inspected by licensed inspectors for compliance with the state and locally adopted construction standards.

A Certificate of Appropriateness is the document issued by HARC, stating that the proposed work meets the Historic Architectural Guidelines. The HARC inspector confirms compliance with these standards.

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