Sarasota County permit search

One lookup: 987 Queen Rd

987 Queen Rd, Venice FL 34293. Unincorporated Sarasota County (South Venice), parcel 0451140057. Every county permit in the Accela export as of September 14, 2026.

The open electrical permit is a 100 amp panel change. No window permit and no plumbing permit are on file.

What you are looking up

A permit is permission. Before someone changes the house, they are supposed to tell Sarasota County and get a yes. The county keeps that yes. It writes down what was asked for, and the date.

You are not looking up a grade. You are looking up whether the county has a record of the work. The record does not say the work was done well. It is not the inspection you pay for before you close. A missing record does not mean the work never happened. It means it was not in the records you searched. An empty result is not an all-clear.

What the county counts as work

Sarasota prints this in its own guide, When is a permit required. A permit is required before the work starts. You apply to the Building Official.

The work that needs a yes is the work that changes the house. Replacing or repairing structural parts, such as beams, joists, trusses, or roof sheathing. New or replaced windows, exterior doors, a garage door, or a skylight. Electrical, plumbing, or air conditioning, when the system is added, changed, or removed. Gas work sits under the same rule.

Walls count. Exterior walls. Interior walls, whether they hold the house up or not. Stairs and guardrails, including a stair lift. Three sheets of drywall or more. A raised deck. Enclosing a carport, porch, or screen room. Soffits or exterior wall covering when you are replacing 25 percent or more.

Waterfront work counts. A dock, a boat lift, a seawall, or a bulkhead, installed or repaired.

So does a motorized gate, hurricane shutters, a storage shed, repairs after a fire, a mobile or manufactured home, stucco over wood framing, and a tiki hut. The exception the county prints is a plastic or rubber storage container under 7 feet tall and under 65 square feet, on a residential lot, that meets the setback rules.

What usually does not need a permit

The same guide lists ordinary jobs. Paint. Tile. Carpet. Wallpaper. A home alarm. Kitchen cabinets, if the layout stays the same and the wiring and plumbing do not change. A fence, if it already meets the county's height and placement rules. A small roof leak, one square and $500 or less. Fascia or soffit repair on a house or duplex, under 25 percent. A deck or patio set directly on the ground, with no footings.

Read the limit under that list. Some of those jobs still need a licensed contractor. If the house is in a flood zone, or the small job is part of a bigger project, a permit is required anyway. A house in a flood zone does not get the casual reading of that list.

The 2026 under-$7,500 exemption

Since July 1, 2026, some work under $7,500 on a single-family home can skip the permit. That is Florida HB 803, which Sarasota County applies through Bulletin 2026-0002. The owner or contractor must ask in writing and show the contract or value. It does not cover electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas, or structural work. It does not apply anywhere in a flood zone. So a small recent job may have no permit on file. State law text: Laws of Florida 2026-63.

Where the record actually is

Sarasota split the file. Older finished permits are on one site. Newer permits are on another. Search only one and the house can look empty.

Permit Search: https://building.scgov.net/

Accela Citizen Access, Sarasota County: https://aca-prod.accela.com/sarasotaco/default.aspx

Use that Accela link. Another county's Accela page is the wrong office.

The older search runs through August 15, 2023. Our county public-records export of Accela records starts September 18, 2023. The days between are not in that export. That is the export, not the day the portal stops.

The City of Sarasota, Venice, North Port, and Longboat Key have their own building offices. A mailing city of Sarasota is not the City of Sarasota. The two links above are unincorporated Sarasota County. Longboat Key also crosses into Manatee County. An empty search there can mean you asked the wrong office.

City of Sarasota addresses use the City of Sarasota permit search.

Questions about applying go to the Permit Center, [email protected], weekdays 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., closing at 3:30 p.m. on Thursdays. Work done with no permit is a different office: 941-861-5000 or [email protected].

What the permit still does not tell you

You can find the permit and still not know when the house was built. You can find it and still not know if the house floods. Those are other records on the same address. The year built is not another permit. Flood and the evacuation zone are not in the permit file. Evacuation means when you would have to leave. This page does not say an insurance company will cover the house.

Sarasota County property appraiser lookup

Flood zone and evacuation zone are a separate check: Sarasota County flood zone and evacuation zone lookup.

Sale data: Sarasota permits vs sale price and Sarasota just value vs sale price.

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Before You Show It covers Sarasota County (except Longboat Key), the City of Sarasota, North Port, Venice, and unincorporated Manatee County (2017 on). Roof, AC, windows, plumbing and electrical come from the permit file; flood and evacuation are on the address. An empty file is not an all-clear. The county search above is still the official file. Longboat Key is not covered.

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