Surcharge

553.721 Surcharge.—In order for the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to administer and carry out the purposes of this part and related activities, there is created a surcharge assessed at the rate of 1 percent of the permit fees associated with enforcement of the Florida Building Code as defined by the uniform account criteria and specifically the uniform account code for building permits adopted for local government financial reporting pursuant to s. 218.32. The minimum amount collected on any permit issued shall be $2. The unit of government responsible for collecting a permit fee pursuant to s. 125.56(4) or s. 166.201 shall collect the surcharge and electronically remit the funds collected to the department on a quarterly calendar basis for the preceding quarter and continuing each third month thereafter. The unit of government shall retain 10 percent of the surcharge collected to fund the participation of building departments in the national and state building code adoption processes and to provide education related to enforcement of the Florida Building Code. All funds remitted to the department pursuant to this section shall be deposited in the Professional Regulation Trust Fund. Funds collected from the surcharge shall be allocated to fund the Florida Building Commission and the Florida Building Code Compliance and Mitigation Program under s. 553.841. Funds allocated to the Florida Building Code Compliance and Mitigation Program shall be $925,000 each fiscal year. The Florida Building Code Compliance and Mitigation Program shall fund the recommendations made by the Building Code System Uniform Implementation Evaluation Workgroup, dated April 8, 2013, from existing resources, not to exceed $30,000 in the 2016-2017 fiscal year. Funds collected from the surcharge shall also be used to fund Florida Fire Prevention Code informal interpretations managed by the State Fire Marshal and shall be limited to $15,000 each fiscal year. The State Fire Marshal shall adopt rules to address the implementation and expenditure of the funds allocated to fund the Florida Fire Prevention Code informal interpretations under this section. The funds collected from the surcharge may not be used to fund research on techniques for mitigation of radon in existing buildings. Funds used by the department as well as funds to be transferred to the Department of Health and the State Fire Marshal shall be as prescribed in the annual General Appropriations Act. The department shall adopt rules governing the collection and remittance of surcharges pursuant to chapter 120.History.—s. 1, ch. 88-285; s. 4, ch. 91-429; s. 28, ch. 92-173; s. 19, ch. 93-120; s. 33, ch. 93-166; s. 2, ch. 94-284; s. 1, ch. 95-339; s. 2, ch. 98-145; s. 32, ch. 2008-153; s. 31, ch. 2010-176; s. 414, ch. 2011-142; s. 13, ch. 2012-13; s. 17, ch. 2014-154; s. 16, ch. 2016-129; s. 2, ch. 2017-29.Note.—Former s. 404.056(3).