Miami-Dade County

Demolition in Miami

City of Miami Building Department, through the iBuild portal and ProjectDox ePlan. Separate from the county: its own portal, its own permit numbering, its own process.

A City of Miami address changes who you file with, not just where. The city runs its own building department, its own portal and its own permit numbering, and a folio beginning 01 is the quickest way to tell a city property from a county one. The practical consequence is that two approvals run at once: the city issues the permit, and the county's DERM review still has to happen alongside it.

Two city rules shape the programme more than anything else. Only a licensed contractor may file the demolition application, so an owner cannot shorten the chain by filing themselves whatever the size of the job. And construction hours run 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Saturday, three hours a day less than unincorporated Miami-Dade allows, which on a multi-week job is a real difference in both duration and cost. There is a noise waiver process if the schedule genuinely needs it.

Two more catch people out at the end rather than the start. The sewer cap is a separate sub-permit that can only be filed after the demolition permit has already been issued, so it cannot be front-loaded with everything else. And where the demolition follows an unsafe structure violation, the fee doubles with a surcharge on top and the violation has to be closed through the Unsafe Structures division, which is a separate conversation from the permit itself.

Demolition work in a Miami setting — Tenant improvements and condo renovations across the city's commercial and residential stock, where the building's own rules usually bite before the county's do. Generated footage, not a recording of a job in Miami.

What is different here

Each line below is taken from a published requirement, not from a general description of the area. This is the part that moves your dates.

01A folio number beginning with 01 is how you tell a City of Miami property from a county one.
02Only a licensed contractor may file the demolition application. The owner cannot, whatever the project size.
03The site survey has to be no more than 6 months old, tighter than the 1 year the city allows on a commercial tree survey.
04A tree boundary survey is required covering every tree on the lot and in the right of way, with the protection plan drawn onto the demolition drawings.
05The sewer cap is a separate sub-permit, filed in iBuild only after the demolition permit has already been issued.
06First review cycle up to 14 business days, with correction cycles on top.
07Where the demolition follows an unsafe structure violation the permit fee doubles and $110 is added, and the violation has to be closed through the Unsafe Structures division.
08Construction hours are 8:00 to 18:00, Monday to Saturday, with a city noise waiver process. That is 3 hours a day less than the county allows in unincorporated areas, which changes the schedule and the price.
09DERM approval from the county is still required even though the city issues the permit, so two tracks run at once.

Sources

Requirements change. Verify anything you intend to rely on with the issuing department before you plan around it.