Florida
Do you need a permit for an EV charger here?
Short answer: if we are adding a dedicated 240-volt circuit, yes. The long answer is which window, whose portal, and why the HOA is a different problem.
A Level 2 charger is not a lamp. It is a new branch circuit, usually 40 or 48 amps, on a two-pole breaker. Florida building departments treat that as electrical work. We have not found a city in our territory that waves it because “it is just a car charger.”
Level 1 on an existing 120-volt receptacle sometimes skips a permit. A new dedicated 20-amp circuit usually does not. If you are asking us to open the panel, assume paper is involved.
The three South Florida versions
Miami-Dade runs through their ePermits system. Broward has its own portal. Palm Beach County and the coastal cities (Boca, Delray, West Palm) do not share a queue. A load calculation that sails in Hollywood can bounce in Coral Gables because they want the charger off the street elevation. We file in the jurisdiction that actually owns the parcel, not “South Florida” as a blob.
Typical residential turnaround, when the calc is clean, is a few business days to a couple of weeks. Historic overlays and design review add a week. We meet the inspector. You should not have to.
What they look at
- Load calculation on the existing service
- Breaker size, wire size, and disconnect if it is outdoor
- GFCI / wet-location rating if it lives outside
- Working clearance at the panel
They do not care which brand of wall unit you liked on Instagram. They care that the circuit will not cook the garage.
HOA is not the city
The association can take longer than the permit. Golf communities and Miami Beach buildings want a cut sheet and a photo of the wall. We put the charger on a side elevation when we can. That packet goes out before we order hardware if the board is known to be slow.
What happens if you skip it
The charger works. Then you sell the house, or a claim happens, and someone asks for the closed permit. Unpermitted electrical work is a punch list item. Pulling it after the fact is possible and annoying. Cheaper to do it once.
We include the permit in the job. It is not a surprise line on the invoice.