Florida AG Opinion: Owner-Signed NTBO Is Enough, No Notary, No City Forms Under 553.791

On November 9, 2026, the Florida Attorney General's Office, Opinions Division, issued a letter opinion to Representative Mike Giallombardo (Florida House of Representatives, District 79) answering seven questions about the requirements for using private providers under Florida Statute 553.791. The letter is signed by Greg Slemp, Deputy Attorney General, Legal Counsel, and responds to the Representative's September 14, 2026 request. It covers the Notice to Building Official (NTBO), the fee owner's written authorization, signatures and notarization, and what a department may ask for at registration. Download the full opinion (PDF).

It follows the office's July 16, 2026 letter opinion to Representative Chip LaMarca, which addressed private provider administrative fees and duplicate inspections. This new opinion does not address fees.

What a Florida AG Letter Opinion Is

A letter opinion is the Attorney General's Office's reading of a statute, written in response to a question from a legislator or public official. It is persuasive, not binding: it is not a court judgment and it does not change the statute. What it gives contractors and owners is the state's own lawyers' answer to the questions departments keep raising, in writing, that anyone can read.

The Six Answers in Plain English

The Representative asked seven questions. The opinion answers them in six sections; the first section covers the first two questions together.

1. The Commission NTBO Satisfies the “Explicit” Owner Authorization

Section 553.791(2)(a) lets the fee owner's contractor choose a private provider “upon explicit written authorization from the fee owner.” Some departments read the word “explicit” as a demand for a new, separate document on every permit. The Attorney General's Office concluded that the word does not affect whether the Florida Building Commission's NTBO form may still be used, and that the form satisfies the statute.

From the opinion (page 2): “No additional fee owner authorization is required if the fee owner signs the NTBO Form.”

• Owner signs the NTBO: no additional owner authorization is needed.
• Contractor signs the NTBO: a separate letter from the owner authorizing the contractor to sign the NTBO on the owner's behalf is enough.
• No city form: the opinion says “the statute does not require that a city-specific form be signed as explicit authorization.” (page 2)

2. An NTBO May List All of a Provider's Qualifiers

A department may not reject an NTBO because the private provider lists all of its qualifiers (the licensed professionals named on the form) instead of one. The opinion says an NTBO may include one, several, or all qualifiers.

From the opinion (page 2): “The statute contains no prohibition on listing all qualifiers.”

3. The Owner Authorization Does Not Need to Recite the Scope of Work

The owner's authorization acknowledges that a private provider is being used for plan review or inspections. It is not a restatement of the construction contract. The opinion also reads the NTBO's “services to be performed” as whether the private provider is doing inspections or plan review, not the full scope of work, and says any requirement beyond s. 553.791(2)(a) would be a prohibited “more stringent requirement.”

From the opinion (page 2): “Section 553.791(2)(a) does not require the fee owner authorization to include the scope of the contractor’s work to be performed.”

4. No Notarization, No Wet-Ink Signatures, and Electronic Submission Is Fine

The Legislature did not set any method of execution for the owner's authorization. The opinion concludes that a local government requiring notarization or wet-ink signatures is adopting a requirement more stringent than the statute, which s. 553.791(19)(a) prohibits.

From the opinion (page 3): “there is no requirement that the NTBO contain original wet-ink signatures, be signed under oath, or be notarized.” “Further, the NTBO may be submitted electronically.”

5. Registration Takes Contact Information, Licensure, and Insurance. Nothing More.

Under s. 553.791(4), a private provider or private provider firm registers with a department by giving its contact information and proof of licensure and insurance. That is the whole list. The opinion reads the statute the same way: the provider or firm supplies “contact information and proof of compliance with licensure and insurance requirements.” (page 3)

For the provider's licensed inspectors and plans examiners (its duly authorized representatives, or DARs), the opinion says it outright. From the opinion (page 4): “When registering, a DAR is not required to submit photo identification, residential address, date of birth, or payroll details to demonstrate employment status.”

The same goes for the private provider itself. A driver's license, home address, date of birth, or pay stub is not contact information, licensure, or insurance, and s. 553.791(19)(a) bars any requirement more stringent than the statute.

6. A Registered Provider Does Not Resubmit DAR Information and Its Certificate of Insurance With Each NTBO

The opinion explains that a private provider gives the department a certificate of insurance and verification of licensure when it registers, and the department keeps that information in its private provider registry. It found no requirement to reproduce it with every NTBO or permit application, and points to s. 553.791(11), which provides that “[a] local enforcement agency may not require additional verification of licensure or insurance requirements beyond that which is required at registration.”

From the opinion (page 4): “a private provider is not required to resubmit copies of the DAR information and the certificate of insurance with each NTBO if the private provider is already registered with the building department.”

What This Means for Contractors and Owners

• Owner-signed NTBO: the Commission NTBO signed by the fee owner is enough. No separate owner letter.
• Contractor-signed NTBO: include a simple letter from the owner authorizing you to sign the NTBO on the owner's behalf. FCC's owner authorization template is on our forms page.
• Signatures: no notarization and no wet-ink signature requirement, and the NTBO may be submitted electronically.
• Forms: no city-specific form in place of the Commission NTBO.
• Scope of work: the owner's authorization does not need to recite it.
• Registration: the provider gives contact information and proof of licensure and insurance. No driver's licenses, home addresses, dates of birth, or payroll records.
• Registration paperwork: under the opinion, once FCC is registered with a department, the department should not ask for DAR information or FCC's certificate of insurance with every NTBO.

What does not change: the fee owner or contractor still prepares and submits the NTBO to the building department, and the permit still comes from the department. FCC provides plan review and inspections as the private provider. Our NTBO guide covers who signs and who submits.

What to Do If a Department Still Asks

1. Send the department the opinion first. Share the Attorney General's letter so the staff member sees what the state's chief legal office concluded.
2. If you're an FCC client and that doesn't clear it, submit it through our normal ticketing process and we will address it.

This is not legal advice. If a department refuses on your own permit, talk to your attorney.

What This Opinion Does Not Cover

• Fees and duplicate inspections: not addressed here. See the July 16, 2026 opinion.
• Inspections and certificates of compliance: not addressed.

Download the Full Opinion

Download the Florida AG letter opinion to Rep. Mike Giallombardo (PDF), dated November 9, 2026, signed by Greg Slemp, Deputy Attorney General, Legal Counsel, Office of the Attorney General, Opinions Division. The letter does not carry an opinion number; cite it by date and recipient. Read the statute itself at flsenate.gov: 2026 Florida Statutes, s. 553.791.

Related reading: Florida AG opinion on admin fees and duplicate inspections (July 16, 2026) and our Notice to Building Official guide.

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