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Sarasota
City permits and County permits are not the same office, the same portal, or the same tree rules. We live here. We file here.
Who actually permits the lot
The first question is not style. It is which government owns the parcel. The City of Sarasota runs Building & Permitting through Development Services and the FTG portal. Unincorporated Sarasota County — most of Siesta, Osprey, Nokomis, Casey Key — files with the County at Planning and Development Services. Venice and Longboat Key are their own towns. Nothing in those systems talks to the others.
We will not start a drawing set until the parcel's jurisdiction is confirmed. A downtown office and a Siesta house are not the same submittal. They still get the same field accountability.
What Sarasota work actually is
In-town lots west of Trail, bay lots, older neighborhoods, and new work that has to sit next to houses that have been here longer than the current code cycle. Commercial work is offices, practices, and tenant space that has to open on a date, not a mood.
The Gulf & Key companies — Construction, Remodel, and Estate Management — were built for this coast. Construction is the door for a new house, a significant addition, a whole-house renovation, or a commercial build-out. Kitchens and baths start with Remodel.
Flood, wind, and the 50 percent rule
Sarasota County's flood maps (updated March 2024) and the City's FEMA overlay will tell you whether the first living floor, the mechanicals, and a substantial improvement calculation even belong in the first meeting. If the work is in a special flood hazard area and the cost crosses the substantial-improvement threshold, you are not remodeling a house. You are bringing it to current flood elevation. That is a different job, a different budget, and a different conversation with the owner.
We read the FIRM, the elevation certificate, and the scope together before anyone falls in love with a kitchen. Wind-borne debris and impact openings are Florida Building Code, not a trim upgrade.
Relevant work
Private Project Review
Planning work in Sarasota?
Tell us the property and the intent. We will tell you whether Gulf & Key Construction is the right door — and which government you are actually filing with.