AROUND FLORIDA CONSTRUCTION NEWS BRIEFS THE STATE Florida Construction News staff writer ere are some news briefs origi- nally reported in floridaconstruc- tionnews.com. The website is updated several times a week, and news is shared through a weekly e-letter. H Master building permits: New law streamlines tract permit process The Florida Green Building Coalition’s Green Trends newsletter reports the Florida legislature earlier this year passed a law (HB 115) creating the Master Building Permit Program. If a local building code administrator re- ceives a written request from a builder to establish a master building permit program, the applicable local govern- ment must create the program within six months. “The Master Building Permit pro- gram is intended for use by builders who expect to construct identical sin- gle-family or two-family dwellings or townhomes on a repetitive basis,” Green Trends reports. “In order to ob- tain a master building permit, builders must submit certain documents and a general construction plan to the local building department for review and approval. (A complete list of required documents is contained in the Florida Statutes.)” 24 – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2015 — Florida Construction News To build to the master building per- mit, the builder must apply for a site- specific building permit and include the master building permit number with the application. The master build- ing permit number may be submitted an unlimited number of times with the site-specific building permit applica- tions so long as the builder uses the model design contained in the master building permit and the permit is valid. Approved master building permits are valid until the Florida Building Code is updated. A builder or design professional who willfully violates the program re- quirements will be fined $10,000 for each dwelling or townhome built under the master building permit that does not conform to the master build- ing permit on file with the local build- ing department. Orlando apartment developer adds $102-million project to its schedule Jefferson Apartment Group, based in McLean, VA, has expanded its con- cept and proposed investment for a massive complex in Orlando’s South Eola neighborhood. Earlier, the developer displayed pre- liminary plans for a $102 million proj- ect with twin 12-story towers, 586 apartments, 5,500 sq. ft. in office space and 18,000 sq. ft of shops and restaurants. The Orlando Business Journal reports the company plans to go before the city’s municipal plan- ning board on Aug. 18 to seek its first approval for the new complex. Meanwhile, the Orlando Sentinal reports that Thornton Commons LLC owns the land, including Altamont Springs dentist James Katsur, and that the project architect is Baker Barrios. The developer has nearly com- pleted construction of the neighbour- ing $42.7 Artisan 420 apartment com- plex, which it says is the first phase of the overall project. Modeling discipline leader Robert Schiffer joins Stantec Tallahassee Robert Schiffer has joined Stantec as modeling discipline leader for the transportation group in the south. Schiffer brings 31 years of experi- ence as a leading transportation plan- ner, Stantec said in a news release. “He is considered a thought leader in the transportation modeling industry, having most recently served as the di- rector of professional services at Citil- abs, a worldwide leader in the development of software for trans- portation planning. Although he will serve the Gulf and Southeast Regions, Schiffer will be located in the firm’s Tallahassee, Florida office.” Schiffer will focus on expanding Stantec’s travel demand modeling practice throughout the Gulf and Southeast Regions within the U.S, the news release said. His background in developing urban and rural travel de- mand models, travel demand fore- casting for highway and transit, multi-modal long-range transportation planning, and site impact studies will enhance Stantec’s core transportation practice. Stantec has a large transportation practice in the Gulf and Southeast, to- taling nearly 425 staff.