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Key Biscayne, Miami-Dade County

Demolition in Key Biscayne

Key Biscayne is an island linked to Miami by the Rickenbacker Causeway, opened in 1947, and its housing runs from Mackle homes of 1951 to later condominium towers. The village's whole-structure demolition checklist asks for a sealed survey under five years old, plus an asbestos letter on commercial jobs.

The village incorporated in 1991, the first new city in the county in more than 50 years. Hurricane Andrew's eyewall crossed Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in 1992. The Mackle houses of the early 1950s are now more than 70 years old, and that age makes a licensed asbestos survey the first item, even where the village letter is required only for commercial work.

Since 2007, land-use changes on the island need voter approval. That does not govern the demolition permit itself, but it can shape what replaces a building, so the new plan should be settled before the old structure comes down.

Island ground is shallow limestone with a water table close to the surface. Haul routes, staging and load counts for an island lot are planned before mobilization, and dewatering is scoped wherever foundations or pools come out.

Sources: Wikipedia: Key Biscayne, Florida · USGS: Biscayne aquifer

Who issues the permit in Key Biscayne

Village of Key Biscayne Building, Zoning and Planning

Whole-structure demolition requires a sealed survey under five years old, plus an asbestos letter for commercial jobs. Confirm the current checklist with the village.

See the official page

This is general information, not legal advice. If you hire Romco, we apply for the permit as contractor of record. Miami-Dade demolition permit guide

What we quote in Key Biscayne

Other work we quote

From first call to final

The order a Miami-Dade job follows

Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. A garden shed and a mid-rise run through the same steps.

  1. Call or send the request

    Give us the address, photos or plans if you have them, and a plain account of what goes and what remains.

  2. Site visit

    We check how the building is framed, where the services enter, how trucks and machines get in, and what stands on either side.

  3. Scope and quote in writing

    You get a written scope listing removals, protections and haul-off, with any item that hangs on the asbestos survey called out.

  4. Survey, notice and permit

    A licensed asbestos survey, the DERM notice where it applies, the utility disconnects, then the permit from the city or the county.

  5. Take-down and hauling

    Work runs in the agreed sequence. Loads go to permitted facilities, and we keep the tickets.

  6. Final and closeout

    The inspector signs off the permit. You are left with a clean lot, or the shell you asked us to keep.

Questions

Demolition in Key Biscayne

Can Key Biscayne's voter-approval rule affect what replaces a demolished building?

It can. Since 2007, land-use changes in the village need voter approval. Rebuilding under the existing land use is a separate matter from the demolition permit, so confirm with Building, Zoning and Planning what your replacement plan would require before you demolish.

How much will my demolition cost?

We quote each job after seeing it, in person or through photos and plans when they show enough. The figure moves with the construction type, the floor area and height, the asbestos survey result, the utilities to be cut off, how machines reach the work, what stands next door, what must be kept, and how far the loads travel. A 1950s concrete block house and a 1990s frame addition can sit on the same street and quote very differently, which is why we publish no rates.

Why does Miami-Dade want an asbestos survey even for a house?

The county's own demolition requirements call for an asbestos survey on every demolition project, which is stricter than the federal rule for some small homes. A notice of demolition also goes to DERM, the county's environmental resources office, no later than ten working days ahead of the start date. The building permit is a different document and cannot stand in for it. We arrange a licensed survey, and a licensed abatement firm removes anything the work would disturb. Romco coordinates both and is not an abatement contractor.

How long does it take to get from first call to a cleared site?

We will not guess before the facts are known. The answer depends on the plan review queue at your city or the county, how fast the utilities issue their disconnect letters, what the survey turns up and the notice period that follows, any historic or condo board approval, and how big the building is and what it is built from. When we know those, you get a sequence that names what each step waits on.

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Every type, every size, all of Miami-Dade

Tell us what is coming down. We will put a quote on it.

Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. A single interior partition or a complete building gets the same thing: a written scope and a quote.

Call (305) 760-9827Request a quote