How demolition permits work in Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade has 34 incorporated cities, and each one runs its own building department. The county's permit guidance says its own rules apply only to folios that begin with 30, which marks unincorporated land such as Kendall. For every other folio, the city reviews and issues the demolition permit.

In unincorporated areas the permit comes from the Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources, known as RER. Its checklist uses Category 15 on the building permit application for a detached structure, and Category 02 for residential or 01 for commercial when the structure is attached, with drawings that show the electrical and plumbing connections being removed. Commercial drawings must be signed and sealed by a design professional, and commercial demolition also needs approval from DERM, the county's environmental resources division.

The county's demolition requirements say an asbestos survey must be completed for all demolition projects, and for renovations over 160 square feet, along with an asbestos survey affidavit. That reaches further than the federal rule, which leaves some small homes out of its definition of a regulated facility.

The Notice of Demolition or Asbestos Renovation has to reach the county no fewer than ten working days ahead of the first day of demolition. In Miami-Dade, every NESHAP notice and its fee goes to the environmental resources air quality office, and the county is explicit that a city or county building permit is not a NESHAP notice. Both filings are needed.

Any asbestos the survey finds in the path of the work is removed by a licensed abatement firm before the structure comes down. Romco arranges the licensed survey and coordinates the abatement firm; we do not do either job ourselves.

City checklists in the county ask for evidence that services are disconnected before they release a full demolition permit. Miami Gardens lists a water meter disconnect letter from the water and sewer department and a gas company letter; Miami Springs asks for an FPL letter or electrical permit and for the water and sewer lines to be capped; Doral wants a notarized disconnect letter and a plumbing permit to cap lines or abandon a septic tank. Septic tanks are pumped and abandoned under the state septic rule.

Before any digging, including pulling foundations or a pool, Florida law requires a call to Sunshine 811 so buried utilities are marked. Old marks do not carry over to a new job.

Removing a tree in Miami-Dade needs a permit under Section 24-49 of the County Code, and so does killing one by damaging its roots, which heavy equipment can do without touching the trunk. Replacement canopy is required. Several cities, Miami Lakes and Doral among them, run their own tree permits.

Along the Atlantic, from the Broward line south to Biscayne Bay, the state's Coastal Construction Control Line applies. Unless an exemption applies, state regulators at DEP must permit any work that alters, excavates or builds on land seaward of that line, so beachfront jobs should be checked with DEP before the scope is fixed. Sea turtle nesting season on Miami-Dade beaches runs from April 1 to October 31.

A 2024 state law, Section 553.8991 of the Florida Statutes, limits a local government's power to stop the demolition of qualifying coastal buildings that sit at least partly seaward of the line, except on public-safety grounds. Single-family homes and certain historic properties are outside it.

Some cities review demolition before the building department will act. Coral Gables requires its Historic Preservation Officer to approve every demolition permit for a building that is not yet designated, and any resident can appeal that decision within ten days. Miami Beach sends total demolition in a local historic district to a public hearing before its Historic Preservation Board, and the City of Miami requires a Certificate of Appropriateness to demolish within a historic site or district.

When a building official finds a structure unsafe, the county's Unsafe Structures Board reviews the decision, and its order can require repair or demolition. If an order is ignored, the building official can remove the violation and record a lien to recover the cost, and the order binds later buyers.

Miami-Dade now recertifies most buildings at 30 years and every 10 years after. Coastal condominiums and co-ops of three stories or more, built in 1998 or later within three miles of the coast, are due at 25 years. The county's recertification page leaves out single-family homes, duplexes, and buildings of 2,000 square feet or less with an occupant load of 10 or less. A failed recertification is one way an owner ends up weighing repair against demolition. Statewide milestone inspections for condos came from SB 4-D, passed in 2022 after the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside.

Section 489.103(7) of the Florida Statutes lets an owner act as their own contractor on a one- or two-family home or a small commercial building for their own use, with personal supervision and a signed disclosure. Cities can narrow it: Miami Lakes, for example, limits owner-builder demolition to one- and two-family homes.

In a flood zone, the county requires a house that is damaged or improved by more than 50 percent of its market value to be brought up to current elevation, and new construction needs an elevation certificate. Owners deciding between a large renovation and demolition should run that number early.

The permit closes when the final inspection passes. Where the whole lot has been cleared of hard surfaces under a closed county demolition permit, the county notes that the owner may qualify for a lower stormwater utility bill.