Sarasota County energy calcs & Manual J.
Four cities, four portals, and a square-footage table the county reads twice.
Sarasota County's residential plan review asks for a square-footage breakdown by storey and by air-conditioned versus non-air-conditioned area, including lanai, porch, garage and storage. Your energy calc's conditioned area should match that table. The City of Sarasota, North Port, Venice and Longboat Key each run separate building departments. Sarasota is climate zone 2A.
- Department
- City of Sarasota, Building & PermittingOnline permit submission; CityPermits@sarasotafl.gov1
- Code edition
- FBC Energy Conservation, 8th Ed. (2023)9th Ed. (2026) scheduled for Dec 31, 2026 · what changes2
- Climate zone
- Zone 2A1% cooling 92°F · 99% heating 43°F3
- Price
- $195 · $445 · $595Energy calc from · full package · sealed. Same in all 67 counties · price list
- Ready by
- 2–3 business daysExpedited: within 24 business hours, +$150. Clock starts when complete plans pass intake (3:00 PM ET cutoff) · how it works
- Evidence
- 10 primary sourcesEvery number on this page links to its source · references
What Sarasota reviewers ask for
The county's residential plan-review requirements open the floor-plan section with a square-footage breakdown of every area by storey and by air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned space, including open lanai, porch, garage and storage, cited to the energy code.4 When the conditioned area on the R405 disagrees with that table, the reviewer sees two different houses.
The rest of the Sarasota submittal notes2 more paragraphs
The same list wants every room labeled and dimensioned with ceiling heights, and every window and door located, sized and described, with solid-core or insulated doors noted where they open to unconditioned space.4 Those are exactly the inputs a Manual J reads, so a complete floor plan shortens our intake too.
Our note: the version of the county checklist we found is a mirrored copy, not a county-hosted PDF, so check the county's current version before you rely on the exact wording.
Building departments
4 departments · addresses, phones, portals
Sarasota has more separate building departments than most mid-size counties: the City of Sarasota, North Port, Venice and the Town of Longboat Key each run their own.1567 Longboat Key moved to Accela on April 22, 2025, and requires contractors to be registered with its Building Division.7 North Port's page also explains the HB 803 exemption, effective July 1, 2026, for some single-family work under $7,500.5 Use the county's building page for its office address and phone.
| Department | Address | Phone | Portal |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Sarasota, Building & Permitting | See official page | Official page | Online permit submission; CityPermits@sarasotafl.gov1 |
| City of North Port, Development Services (Building) | 4970 City Hall Blvd, North Port, FL 34286 | 941-429-7044 | Accela Citizen Application5 |
| City of Venice, Building and Code Enforcement | See official page | 941-882-7547 | Online Permitting service6 |
| Town of Longboat Key, Building Division | 501 Bay Isles Road, Longboat Key, FL 34228 | 941-316-1966 | Accela (since April 22, 2025)7 |
Design conditions
92°F cooling · 43°F heating · zone 2A · weather stations
Cooling station: Sarasota/Bradenton (Manual J). Heating station: Sarasota/Bradenton (Manual J).3
Sarasota/Bradenton is the station behind both Sarasota limits: 92°F at 1% cooling and 43°F at 99% heating.3 Sarasota is zone 2A, which matters because the R405 reference house is built to zone 2A values here.2 Our view: a Siesta Key house and a North Port house sit 30 miles apart under one design temperature, so the difference in their loads comes from glass, orientation and duct location, not climate.
Worked example
1,700 sq ft house → 36,090 Btu/h, 3.01 tons · illustrative
Illustrative · not a Manual J
This one is an older house on purpose: a 1,700 sq ft 1980s block home with single-pane windows and attic ducts, the kind of job a third of the county's stock invites.9 Single-pane glass at 0.6 SHGC is what pushes the solar term up; the envelope values are our assumptions, not measurements.
| House | 1980s single-storey block home, A/C replacement with new ducts |
|---|---|
| Conditioned area | 1,700 sq ft, 1 storey, 8 ft ceilings |
| Bedrooms / occupants | 3 / 4 |
| Glazing | 13% of floor area (221 sq ft), U 0.75, SHGC 0.6 |
| Walls / ceiling | R-5 walls, R-30 ceiling under a vented attic |
| Air leakage | 8 ACH50 |
| Ducts | in the attic, 15% gain allowance |
| Ventilation | none (existing home) |
| Outdoor design | 92°F cooling / 43°F heating (sourced above) |
| Indoor design | 75°F cooling / 70°F heating |
| Design grains difference | 45 gr/lb (assumption) |
Illustrative only. A simplified block-load estimate with the inputs shown, not an ACCA Manual J, and not for permitting. A real calc goes room by room with your plans, orientation and equipment data. Code ceiling for single-stage cooling at 1.15× total load: 41,510 Btu/h.10
Local housing
Median year built 1989 · 58.2% single-family detached · Census ACS
The median Sarasota home was built in 1989, and 34.2% of units predate 1980, so replacements in older block homes are a real share of the work.9 Single-family detached is 58.2% of units and mobile homes 8.0%; 91.2% of occupied homes heat with electricity.9
Utility rebates
FPL
- FPL. FPL gives a $200 instant credit for a central A/C or heat pump at SEER2 15.2+, both sections replaced, through a participating contractor; mini-splits don't qualify.8
Utility programs change often; check the program page before you count on a rebate.
Sarasota County questions
3 answers · Why does Sarasota County want air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned square footage?
Why does Sarasota County want air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned square footage?
Sarasota's residential plan-review requirements ask for square footage by storey, split between air-conditioned and non-air-conditioned areas, including lanai, porch, garage and storage, citing the energy code. The reviewer compares it with the conditioned area in your energy calc, so both documents need to describe the same floor area.
I'm in North Port. Do I submit to Sarasota County?
No. North Port permits through its own Development Services department, using the Accela Citizen Application, with building questions going to bldginfo@northportfl.gov or 941-429-7044. The City of Sarasota, Venice and Longboat Key also run their own departments, so confirm the parcel's jurisdiction before you upload anything.
Does the HB 803 $7,500 exemption cover an A/C replacement in Sarasota?
Not as the cities describe it. North Port's page explains that HB 803, effective July 1, 2026, exempts some single-family work under $7,500, and Temple Terrace's version limits it to non-structural work not involving electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing. An A/C change-out is mechanical work, so plan on a permit.
Price
One statewide price in all 67 counties. Building departments decide what they accept; we don’t guarantee approval. Revisions for plan-review comments on the same design are free.
Nearby and related
Sources
10 primary references · numbered to match the citations
- 01City of Sarasota, Building & Permittingsarasotafl.gov
- 022023 Florida Building Code, Energy Conservation (8th Ed.), Table R301.1, climate zones by countyup.codes
- 03RESNET / ENERGY STAR, Appendix A: HVAC Design Temperature Limits by State and County (v4, 2019). 1% cooling and 99% heating values drawn from the ASHRAE 2013 Handbook of Fundamentals and ACCA Manual J 8th Ed.resnet.us
- 04Sarasota County Construction & Property Standards, Residential Plan Review Requirements (mirrored PDF copy)cdn.cocodoc.com
- 05City of North Port, Permitting (incl. HB 803 exemptions)northportfl.gov
- 06City of Venice, Building Departmentvenicegov.com
- 07Town of Longboat Key, Building Divisionlongboatkey.org
- 08FPL, Ways to Save: A/C Rebatefpl.com
- 09U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2024 1-year estimates (B25018, B25024, B25034, B25035, B25003, B25040), via Census Reportercensusreporter.org
- 10Florida Building Commission, R405-2026 documentation checklist example (quotes R403.7.1.1 cooling equipment sizing limits)floridabuilding.org