Permits and rules for commercial painting in Martin County

Painting is not a licensed trade in Florida. Section 489.117 names painting and pressure washing among the scopes a county or city may not license, and it bars them from asking for a state or local license before issuing a permit for that work. Under s. 163.211, local occupational licenses adopted before 2021 ran out on July 1, 2025.

The one exception: a county or city that already required a license before January 1, 2021 for painting, coating or cleaning roofs above three stories may keep that requirement. With buildings here held mostly to four stories, that rarely comes up, but we check it on the tallest jobs.

Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor. Under s. 489.105, a general contractor's license is not limited by type of work, which matters when a repaint sits inside larger repair work.

In the unincorporated county, the Building Department's guide puts "painting, papering, flooring, and similar finishing work" among typical projects that do not need a permit. The same guide puts siding and stucco on the list of projects that do. So the repair work found during prep, not the paint, is what may need a permit.

The Village of Indiantown says the same thing more directly. Its list of work needing no building permit includes painting and pressure washing, residential and commercial, and stucco repair under 25 square feet.

Stuart, Jupiter Island, Sewall's Point and Ocean Breeze run their own building departments. We did not find a published painting rule for any of them, so we ask the city or town before scheduling.

Martin County's Division 20 design rules cover commercial buildings in its commercial land use categories, multifamily buildings outside the redevelopment areas, and industrial or institutional buildings near major roads. They bar black or fluorescent colors on any primary facade, and side walls must match the front in finish and colors. Existing buildings come under the rules on a change of use, a substantial improvement or a substantial exterior renovation, and the code excludes painting or cleaning that simply restores the previous look.

In the six county redevelopment areas, Jensen Beach, Rio, Old Palm City, Hobe Sound, Port Salerno and Golden Gate, the Redevelopment Code bars black or fluorescent as a main exterior color on structures over 450 square feet. Black trim, window frames, doors and accents are allowed. On a county-designated historic property, maintenance is exempt from review only when color, design, appearance and material stay the same.

Stuart restricts commercial wall colors to muted pastels and earth tones and bars black or fluorescent as the main color. In its Urban Code and Creek districts, the development director approves exterior colors. East Stuart allows neutral, white or Bahamian pastel exteriors for new work and substantial renovation, and the South Ocean Boulevard overlay applies the Urban Code colors. A locally designated Stuart building loses its maintenance exemption once the color changes.

Indiantown asks new or substantially redeveloped commercial buildings in its Downtown and mixed-use districts for one light main color, no dark or bold colors and no more than three in all. Its green building standards also require low-VOC or no-VOC paints and coatings on new nonresidential and multifamily construction.

Federal lead rules turn on the building's age and who uses it. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting rule applies when a contractor is paid to disturb painted surfaces in housing built before 1978, or in a child-occupied facility, meaning places where the same child under six visits regularly, such as a day care or kindergarten room, even inside a commercial building.

Covered work must be done by an EPA-certified firm following lead-safe work practices. Minor jobs are excluded: under 6 square feet per interior room or 20 square feet on the exterior, provided no prohibited practices are used. EPA administers the program directly in Florida.

Workers have their own rule: OSHA's lead standard for construction, 29 CFR 1926.62, reaches any job where lead exposure may occur, and it counts painting and decorating as construction work. Lead abatement itself is coordinated with licensed firms.

Most Martin County repaints are reached by lift or scaffold. On a scaffold, OSHA's fall protection duty begins once a worker stands over 10 feet above the level below, and a competent person directs erecting, moving and dismantling it. On an aerial lift, the worker wears a body belt or harness with a lanyard tied to the boom or basket.

Swing stages on four-story condos are suspension scaffolds, and each worker on a single-point or two-point stage must be protected by a guardrail as well as a personal fall arrest system. Away from scaffolds and lifts, OSHA's general rule applies at an unprotected edge of 6 feet or more.

With rope descent, part of the safety burden sits with the owner. Under 29 CFR 1910.27, the owner gives the employer written confirmation that the anchorages are identified, tested, certified and maintained, backed by an annual inspection and recertification at least every 10 years. Romco requests that document during scoping.

Condo and co-op buildings at least three habitable stories tall need a milestone inspection by December 31 of the year they turn 30, and again each 10 years after. The local enforcement agency may set 25 years where local conditions, such as closeness to salt water, call for it.

For those buildings, s. 718.112 lists exterior painting and waterproofing among the items a structural integrity reserve study must cover, and it requires condominium budgets to carry reserves for painting the building. On Hutchinson Island and along the river, boards often plan the repaint from those documents.

Martin County's code calls any discharge to its storm sewer that is not made up entirely of stormwater an illicit discharge, apart from a short list of exceptions such as individual residential car washing. Construction sites must manage waste with best practices so it does not reach the system or regulated waters. Building wash water is planned to that standard, with drains protected and debris bagged.

At Witham Field, the county airport's Rules and Regulations allow entry to the aircraft operations area and other restricted areas only under the airport's security program. Visitors are escorted, the airport runs a badging program, and vehicles on runways and taxiways keep radio contact with the tower or travel with an escort while the tower is open. Construction waste and stockpiles follow the airport's wildlife hazard plan.

Florida sets no VOC limits of its own for architectural paint; its emission rules target industrial coating operations. The federal limits in 40 CFR Part 59 bind paint manufacturers and importers, which shapes what reaches the job.