Cocoa Beach, FL vacation rental requirements: registration and fire inspection checklist

Updated October 26, 2026 · 7 min read

Cocoa Beach requires every vacation rental to register with the city and pass a fire inspection, and since 2025 the rules apply citywide, including condos. The city publishes a detailed fire checklist, so you can know exactly what the inspector will look for before they arrive.

Register in two steps

Vacation rentals are governed by Chapter 26.5 of the City Code. Registration runs through Development Services:

Vacation rental business tax receipt. Apply first; the city issues a business tax receipt.
Vacation rental registration. Once you have the receipt, apply to register the property. Registration renews every year.

Since April 2025, the registration fee is charged per allowed guest, at a lower rate for condos and other multifamily units, and it includes the fire and building inspections. There are separate fees for a change of owner, a change in bedrooms or parking, and a missed or failed inspection. Advertising a rental without registering is a violation on its own, and fines start at $250 a day.

The fire inspection checklist

The Fire Department’s Fire Prevention Division (321-868-3330) inspects the unit. The city’s transient rental checklist includes:

Smoke alarms in each bedroom and the hallways leading to them, hardwired with battery backup and installed by an electrician. Test monthly and keep a log.
CO alarms wherever there are gas appliances.
Fire extinguisher: at least a 2A:10B:C, mounted in the unit, tagged and re-tagged every year. If it’s in a cabinet, label the door.
Emergency lighting at the main exit, hardwired with battery backup, that runs at least one hour and turns on by itself.
Evacuation diagram at least 8.5 by 11 inches, showing the actual layout and the primary and secondary exits, posted near the main exit door and next to the inside of each bedroom door.
Escape windows in each bedroom with a clear opening of at least 5.7 square feet and a sill no higher than 44 inches, opening without tools. See escape window sizes.
Locks: thumb-turn deadbolts, one lock per door, and no extra locks on windows or sliders.
House numbers at least 4 inches tall in a contrasting color, visible from the road.
Pools and canals: door alarms on exits to the water, a life ring, and a pool hook for pools. Gates must latch.
Grills at least 10 feet from the building, and none on balconies or patios in multifamily buildings.
Electrical: GFCI outlets within 6 feet of water, a labeled panel with clear space in front, and no extension cords used as permanent wiring.

House rules and the guest information page

Occupancy: two people per bedroom plus two, with a maximum of eight. Ask the city how it counts visitors and young children toward the limit.
Parking: only in the spaces shown on the posted parking sketch, never on the street or sidewalk.
Posted information page: 911, the address and unit number, the owner or agent’s contact, the nearest hospital, the maximum occupancy and vehicles, the trash schedule, sea turtle lighting rules, the noise ordinance, and speed limits. The city publishes an example page.
Noise: three noise citations in 12 months can make the property a “noise nuisance property” for a year, with a required guest deposit.

Get the maps and parking sketch ready

The FireEscapePlan.com rental kit makes the evacuation diagram, a “you are here” map for each bedroom door, a floor plan, and a parking sketch with numbered spaces, all from one set of measurements. It checks for the common failures before the inspector does.

Make your rental’s maps and plans

Draw and check it free. $99 per property when you’re ready to print the kit.

Start my rental’s plan

Sources

Guides are general information to help you prepare, not legal advice or an inspection. Your local fire marshal, building department, or licensing agency decides what applies to your property. See the disclaimer.

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