Demolition and clearing
in Seminole County.

Demolition permits in Seminole County

Permitting is where residential demolition actually stalls, and every city inside the county runs its own building department with its own forms and its own clock. Here is where each one submits. We pull these ourselves on jobs where we are the contractor of record.

Checked against official county and city pages on 2026-10-13. Fees and turnaround change without notice, so confirm with the building department before relying on any line of this. We publish it because nobody else does, not as a substitute for the county.

Historic review in Seminole County

A structure inside a historic district or overlay cannot be permitted for demolition on the building permit alone. It goes to a review board first, and that board meets on its own calendar. This is the most common reason a teardown slips a month.

• City of Sanford. Reviewed by the Sanford Historic Preservation Board (HPB). A COA is required for exterior work on landmarks and in the Downtown Commercial, Sanford Avenue and Residential Historic Districts, and for demolition in the Georgetown Residential Historic District. If demolition is approved, a mandatory 180-day waiting…
• City of Lake Mary. Reviewed by the Lake Mary Historical Commission (Code Secs. 30.80-30.85). The Commission exists (7 members, meets every other month), but no demolition review authority was verified.
• City of Longwood. Longwood Historic District: about 190 acres, 37 contributing structures, National Register listed Oct 1990. The demolition application says the city may require a historic-specialist architect review at the applicant's cost. No board or COA requirement for…

What is required on nearly every job

• Notice of commencement, recorded, not just signed
• Owner authorization to permit, notarized
• Survey or site plan marking the structure
• Asbestos survey and the FDEP notice, at least 10 working days before demolition
• Utility disconnect letters for electric, gas and water or sewer
• Septic abandonment through the Health Department where the lot is on septic

Permitting, asbestos abatement, septic and well abandonment and tree mitigation are quoted separately or handled by others. That is printed on every proposal rather than turning up later as a change order.