Florida - Virtual NOC Process | Palmetto Knowledge Center

Background: All Florida sales have always required a notarized Notice of Commencement (NOC) in order to submit for a permit and install. This entails a wet signature in the presence of a certified notary and is historically taken care of after the initial sale, often via an appointment with the homeowner. Without this NOC, permits cannot be submitted and installation cannot take place.

PLEASE NOTE: If a customer prefers to complete the NOC via an in-person visit, please contact our partner Ember Permitting at the below email:

[email protected]

When sending emails to Ember Permitting for a physical NOC appointment, please use Subject Line "Mobile Notary Request - Customer Name" and CC: [email protected]

The following jurisdictions require physical (wet signed) NOCs, North Miami Beach, Lauderhill, Hialeah, Sunrise, Plantation.

Introducing the Virtual NOC: Virtual notaries have become increasingly popular across the US, and the recent passage of Florida HB-409 now allows for the electronic signing of this crucial document.

What Sales Members can expect: The NOC is a required document to achieve milestone 1 and ultimately acquire permits to install a customer's system. The Virtual NOC provides sales members with a new level of empowerment to expedite systems toward installation. All Florida sales members should prepare in advance of any upcoming appointments. However, while the virtual NOC is available for the majority of Florida jurisdictions, not all jurisdictions will be available. In such cases, Palmetto's operations teams will execute the NOC during the operations process directly with the customer. Milestone 1 will not be delayed in those particular jurisdictions.

A brief walkthrough:

What homeowners can expect: The virtual NOC process requires homeowners to complete a sequence of validation items in order to proceed with the virtual notary call and signature:

Personalized background/security questions
Last 4 of social verification (secure)
Drivers license photo verification
Total time to completion: 1-3 minutes

Once verified, the virtual notary call will automatically proceed. The homeowner will need to verbally confirm administrative questions (verifying they understand they wish to proceed, etc) as they complete the call. Click here for a notarize.com preview video.

A) Request a login to notarize.com	CLICK HERE TO REQUEST
B) What to expect	Logins typically granted within 24-48 business hours Sent to your email Invitation subject line: "You've been invited to join Palmetto Solar LLC on Notarize!"
C) What to do with your login prompt	Set your password Save your password Bookmark the site

D) Preview the process from a homeowner's perspective:	CLICK HERE FOR A NOTARIZE PREVIEW VIDEO This video will help you understand what to expect during the signing process
E) Bookmark and practice searching on the AHJ Registry site:	CLICK HERE FOR AHJ REGISTRY SITE This site will be used to help identify the appropriate AHJ (authority having jurisdiction) for the home. AHJ may also be available in the Alchemy "Local Requirements" tab in the custome's file.
F) Preferred Device to Complete the Process:	Be aware the process requires a modicum of copy/paste actions Therefore, completing on a tablet or laptop/computer is preferred vs mobile phone, when possible.

G) Identify the AHJ and start a new notarization request via notarize.com

Identify the correct AHJ via the AHJ REGISTRY SITE (for example, Seminole County, St. Petersburg, Sumter County, etc)
Login to your notarize.com account
Click Send New: Notarization Request

H) Configure the e-signature package	Transaction Name = Input customer name and address (example: Bobby Jones 123 Solar Lane) Input signer details. Signer is the customer completing the solar purchase. Pay special attention to email and phone contact details, as the package cannot be edited once sent Select NO on the "additional signers" buttons
I) Document Upload: Select the appropriate document template for your customer's AHJ	Click ADD DOCUMENTS Select TEMPLATE UPLOAD Select the appropriate AHJ applicable for your customer's home

J) Set the notary requirement and fill out the document

Click the "N" icon to ensure a notary is required on the form.
Click, FILL OUT DOCUMENT

K) Identify the property in the AHJ's GIS or property search site. This will provide all necessary information needed for the NOC form, before it can be sent, signed, and notarized.

Every AHJ has their own property site with necessary details on the property, such as the tax folio (parcel/property ID), legal description, owner, etc.
Identify the appropriate site via the AHJ search, or via the AHJ information in the customer's Alchemy file.
Typically, the site can be found by googling "(AHJ Name) Property Search"
A list of major AHJ sites are linked at the bottom of this guide

L) Fill out the document fields based on the home's GIS information

Most fields will be pre-mapped, but some may require you to input TEXT and manually type in
In most cases, this includes 3-4 total inputs
1) Tax Folio: Equivalent to Parcel or Property ID number
2) Property legal description, as taken from the property GIS
3) Property owner information, as taken from the property GIS

M) Customize the email package, so the customer can more easily identify and understand it.

Scroll to the CUSTOM EMAIL section to update the email subject and body. This will help the customer identify the document
Recommended Subject Line: "Palmetto Solar Notarized Document Required"
Recommended Body (Optional): "This document requires a virtual notary call, and is required for your solar system in order to submit permits."
Click SEND TRANSACTION when ready

N) Locate and Download the completed NOC document

In your notarize.com account, click Send + Manage
Identify the package, which will have status: "Completed"
Click the DOCUMENTS tab
Download the completed PDF
Additional documents such as the audit trail are not necessary. Only the completed NOC is required.

O) Upload the completed NOC to the customer's documents in Alchemy

Upload the completed doc to the designated slot in the CLOSING DOCUMENTS section in the customer's file, alongside all other required docs
You're done!

Q1) I don't see the NOC as a required document in my customer's Alchemy opportunity. Do I need to complete the Virtual NOC?	A) The majority of major AHJs are mapped and available for the virtual NOC process. However, not all AHJs are included. If the upload slot is not displaying in Alchemy, this indicates your AHJ is not applicable, and this step can be skipped. However, sales members should still set expectations with the customer that a follow up notary appointment will be required.
Q2) My customer's AHJ was not available for virtual notary. How will we get the NOC done?	A) Palmetto will contact the customer directly, prior to the permitting stages, and set an appointment to complete the NOC with our mobile notary.
Q3) Myself or my customer are facing issues completing the virtual NOC. What should we do?	A) Preparation is highly encouraged before completing the virtual NOC. However, if you or your customer face technical issues, Palmetto will contact the customer directly to complete the NOC, either virtually or via our mobile notary.
Q4) Will doing the virtual NOC speed up the operations process?	A) Yes, completing a virtual NOC at point of sale eliminates the need for a follow up appointment with the customer for our mobile notary. Completing the process correctly ensures that we can immediately move forward with the permitting process, when ready.

Alachua County	https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?AppID=1081&LayerID=26490&PageTypeID=2&PageID=10768&Q=1429845644
Bay County	https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/application.aspx?app=BayCountyFL&PageType=Search
Brevard County	https://www.bcpao.us/PropertySearch/#/nav/Search
Broward County	https://bcpa.net/RecMenu.asp
Charlotte County	https://www.ccappraiser.com/RPSearchEnter.asp?
Collier County	https://www.collierappraiser.com/
Escambia County	https://www.escpa.org/cama/Search.aspx
Flagler County	https://qpublic.net/fl/flagler/search.html
Highlands County	https://www.hcpao.org/Search
Hillsboro County	https://gis.hcpafl.org/propertysearch/#/nav/Basic%20Search
Indian River County	https://qpublic.schneidercorp.com/Application.aspx?App=IndianRiverCountyFL&PageType=Search
Lake County	https://lakecopropappr.com/property-disclaimer.aspx?to=%2fproperty-search.aspx?
Lee County	https://leepa.org/Search/PropertySearchSelection.aspx
Manatee County	https://www.manateepao.com/search/
Marion County	https://www.pa.marion.fl.us/PropertySearch.aspx
Martin County	https://www.pa.martin.fl.us/-code/property-search/
Miami/Dade	https://www.miamidade.gov/pa/property_search.asp
Orange County	https://ocpaweb.ocpafl.org/dashboard
Osceola County	https://ira.property-appraiser.org/PropertySearch/
Palm Beach County	https://www.pbcgov.org/papa/
Pasco County	https://search.pascopa.com/
Pinellas County	https://www.pcpao.org/?pg=
Polk County	https://www.polkpa.org/CamaDisplay.aspx?OutputMode=Input&searchType=RealEstate&page=FindByAddress
Sarasota County	https://www.sc-pa.com/propertysearch/
Seminole County	https://www.scpafl.org/RealPropertySearch
St. Lucie County	https://www.paslc.gov/property-search/real-estate/basic-site-address
Sumter County	https://www.sumterpa.com/record-search/
Volusia County	https://vcpa.vcgov.org/#gsc.tab=0