Private Providers in Lee County, Florida
Lee County is not one building department. It is seven. Which one has your job changes who you file with and which private providers can work it.
By Devon Hutcherson, Easy Build FL. Last updated August 2026.
Short answer. A private provider is a licensed engineer, architect, or building code administrator who performs your plan review and inspections instead of the building department, under Florida Statute 553.791. In Lee County the complication is jurisdictional. Six cities run their own building departments and the county permits only unincorporated land, so the first question is not which provider to hire. It is which department has your job.
New to this? Start with What Is a Private Provider.
Seven building departments, one county
If you build across Lee County, you are not dealing with one building department. You are dealing with up to seven, and each one is its own relationship.
Lee County Department of Community Development permits unincorporated Lee County only. That covers Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers, Pine Island, Alva, Captiva, and everything else outside a city limit.
These six municipalities run their own building departments:
- City of Cape Coral
- City of Fort Myers
- City of Bonita Springs
- Village of Estero
- Town of Fort Myers Beach
- City of Sanibel
Seven departments means seven separate registrations. A private provider registers with a department, not with a county, so the provider who handled your last job in Cape Coral may not be able to touch your next one in Fort Myers. Neither registration covers a job in Lehigh Acres.
The mistake that costs the most time
A Fort Myers mailing address is often not the City of Fort Myers.
Large stretches of what people call Fort Myers are unincorporated Lee County. Same postal address, different building department, different permit portal, different people. Lee County's own permit page tells applicants to check whether their project falls inside Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero, Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, or Sanibel before applying.
Settle this before you call anyone. It decides whether your provider is registered to work your job, where the Notice to Building Official gets filed, and which portal your permit lives in. Get it wrong and you find out after you have already lost the time.
If you are unsure, the parcel is the source of truth, not the address. Lee County publishes a city limits map, and the property appraiser's record will tell you what jurisdiction a parcel sits in.
One Lee County rule worth knowing before you decide
In unincorporated Lee County, if you use a private provider for plan review, you must also use one for inspections.
The county states this in its published private provider process. You cannot split it and keep county inspections while a private provider handles the plans.
That is a real decision, not a formality. Statewide you can elect plan review, inspections, or both, and plenty of contractors start with just one to see how it goes. In unincorporated Lee, electing plan review commits you to the whole path. If you wanted to try this on one permit without changing how your inspections run, that is not an option here.
Lee also requires a one-time registration of the private provider firm, and there is no fee for it. Licensure and insurance are verified once at registration rather than on every job. So a provider who is not yet registered in Lee is a scheduling question, not an expensive obstacle. Ask what their timeline looks like.
The six cities set their own local practice. Confirm the rules for your specific department rather than assuming the county's apply.
What works the same everywhere in Florida
Most of this is state law and does not change between Lee County and anywhere else:
- Any Florida jurisdiction must accept qualifying private provider work, and locals cannot impose requirements more stringent than 553.791
- The building official's clocks are short and self executing. Miss the deadline and the permit is deemed approved by operation of law
- Fire safety codes, zoning, floodplain, and site review stay with the local agencies that have authority over them
- As of HB 803, effective July 1, 2026, a local government cannot prohibit or limit virtual inspections by a private provider
- On commercial projects the fee reduction is a mandatory minimum of 25 percent, or 50 percent when a private provider handles all plan review and inspections
The full explanation of how the process runs, who qualifies, and what changed under HB 803 is on our main page, What Is a Private Provider in Florida.
Is this worth it on a Lee County job?
This is worth a look if your start date is waiting on plan review, if you are losing days to inspection scheduling, if you pull permits in several of these seven departments and want one process instead of seven, or if you are on a commercial job where the mandatory fee reduction is real money.
It is worth less if your department already turns permits around fast and shows up when you call. Some of these seven are better than others.
Either way, the number that decides it is not the permit fee. It is what a week of delay costs you in interest, supervision, and crews you scheduled and had to push.
Two Lee-specific things to ask on a first call with any provider:
- Are you registered with my department specifically, and if not, how long does that take
- If my job is in unincorporated Lee, are you handling both plan review and inspections, since the county requires them together
Where Easy Build fits
Easy Build FL is not a private provider. We do not perform plan review and we do not perform inspections.
We match Florida contractors with the private providers who fit their work, and registration is one of the first things we check. A provider can be excellent and still be wrong for your job, because they are not registered where you are building. We would rather tell you that now than let you find out on the phone.
Tell us about your project and which part of Lee County it is in. Free for contractors.
Lee County FAQs
Which building department issues my permit in Lee County?
It depends on the parcel, not the mailing address. Lee County Department of Community Development permits unincorporated areas including Lehigh Acres, North Fort Myers, Pine Island, Alva, and Captiva. Cape Coral, Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Estero, Fort Myers Beach, and Sanibel each run their own building departments. Check the parcel against the county's city limits map before applying.
Can I use a private provider in Lee County?
Yes. Florida Statute 553.791 applies statewide and local governments cannot adopt requirements more stringent than it. In practice, the provider needs to be registered with the specific department that has your job.
Does Lee County charge to register a private provider?
No. Lee County requires a one-time firm registration with no fee, verifying professional licensure and insurance once rather than on every permit. As of HB 803, no Florida jurisdiction may charge for private provider registration or updates.
Can I use a private provider for plan review only in Lee County?
Not in unincorporated Lee County. The county requires private provider inspections if private provider plan review is used. The six municipalities set their own local practice, so confirm with the department that has your job.
Is a provider registered in Cape Coral also registered in Fort Myers?
No. Registration is with an individual building department. A provider working across Lee County needs to be registered with each department separately.
What is a Notice to Building Official?
The written notice electing to use a private provider, filed with the building department that has your job, on a form adopted by the Florida Building Commission. It names the provider, states the scope of services, and includes a signed owner acknowledgment.
Sources and further reading
This page is general information about Florida law and Lee County practice, not legal advice. Local requirements change. Confirm current rules with the building department that has your project.