Remodel FAQ — Miami 2026
The specific permit, cost, licensing, and safety questions Miami homeowners ask before starting a renovation. iBuild and 34 Miami-Dade municipalities, HVHZ + Miami-Dade NOA products, 40-year recertification, impact windows, mold and historic preservation, 2026 Miami pricing.
Questions LA homeowners actually ask
Yes for plumbing, electrical, gas, mechanical, or wall changes. The City of Miami Building Department uses the iBuild portal; if you're in unincorporated Miami-Dade or in Coral Gables, Miami Beach, Doral, or Homestead, you'll file with that municipality instead — Miami-Dade has 34 separate building departments. Standard residential permits average 6-12 weeks plan-check in 2026, often slower in coastal jurisdictions. Florida Building Code (FBC) is more stringent than IBC on wind and water — every kitchen with new exterior glass triggers HVHZ (High Velocity Hurricane Zone) compliance, mandatory Miami-Dade NOA-listed products. Cosmetic-only swaps under $1,000 may be permit-exempt depending on jurisdiction.
Miami-Dade's 40-Year Recertification (now 30-Year for buildings within 3 miles of the coast post-Surfside) requires every building over 3 stories or 2,000 sq ft to undergo structural and electrical recertification by a licensed engineer. If your condo or co-op is mid-cycle, the building may have a structural moratorium on interior renovations until recertification is closed — concrete spalling repairs typically come first. Single-family homes are exempt. The process forces many condo boards into special assessments; check your building's status before starting any kitchen or bath project. Bay Harbor Islands, Surfside, Sunny Isles, and Miami Beach buildings face the strictest review post-2021.
Yes — and you'll want them anyway because of insurance discounts (often 25-45% off windstorm premium). Impact windows in Miami-Dade must be Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA) listed — every product carries a unique NOA number you can verify at miamidade.gov/economy/building. Permit fees run $400-$1,200 for whole-house window replacement. Permit + plan-check typically 4-6 weeks. Hurricane shutters (accordion, roll-down, panel) also require permits and NOA approval. If your home is in HVHZ (which is essentially all of Miami-Dade and Broward), unrated windows trigger denial at any future renovation permit. Insurance carriers may non-renew without code-compliant openings.
Miami ranges in 2026: $40K-$78K for a mid-range kitchen (semi-custom cabinets, quartz, mid-tier appliances, same footprint), $90K-$170K for a full-gut with custom cabinetry, Sub-Zero/Wolf, and impact-rated kitchen window/door replacement, and $200K+ for Brickell condo or Coconut Grove luxury. Brickell, Coral Gables, and Miami Beach permit and insurance protocols add 10-20%. Coastal salt-air specifications (marine-grade hardware, stainless fasteners, sealed electrical) add modest cost on coastal homes. Permit and NOA-product sourcing add $4K-$15K. Labor is $75-$115/hr for licensed trades.
$1,200-$2,800 per window for impact-rated installation in 2026, depending on size, brand, and finish. A typical 2,000 sq ft Miami home with 12-15 openings runs $25K-$55K all-in including permits and tear-out of old frames. Hurricane-rated entry doors (front + sliders) add $4K-$15K each for impact-glass French/sliders. Insurance discount post-installation typically pays back over 5-8 years through windstorm premium reduction. PGT, CGI, ESWindows, and Andersen all have current Miami-Dade NOA approvals. Avoid 'stamped impact' that doesn't appear on the live NOA list — denial at inspection.
$400-$750 per square foot for a Coral Gables historic-zone renovation in 2026 — significantly above Miami's general range due to mandatory Coral Gables Historic Preservation Board (HPB) review. The HPB approves exterior changes, roof material (barrel tile required on most historic homes), windows (impact-rated wood-clad to match original profile), and stucco texture/color. A 3,000 sq ft historic home gut renovation typically runs $1.2M-$2.3M including permits and 18-24 months of construction. Mediterranean Revival, Mission, and Bermuda-style homes from the 1920s-1940s dominate the inventory. Architects must be HPB-experienced — most local Miami architects can't navigate it.
Florida contractors are licensed by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), with TWO levels: state Certified (CGC, CRC, CBC for general; CFC for plumbing; EC for electrical) which works statewide, and county Registered which only works in the listed county. Verify at myfloridalicense.com — must be 'Active', not expired, and bonded. For Miami-Dade, the local layer adds a Miami-Dade County Trade Certificate of Competency for some specialty trades. Always pull the license number AND the 'Public Search' history showing complaints — Florida's complaint history is public and revealing. License must be active for the specific work being done — a CRC (Residential) cannot do commercial work.
Miami-Dade County issues a Certificate of Competency through its Construction Trades Qualifying Board for specialty trades not covered by state DBPR — including roofing in some configurations, swimming pool/spa, plastering/stucco, and specialty foundation work. As a homeowner, this is a second layer of verification. Search miamidade.gov/economy/building for 'Contractor License Search'. Without a Certificate of Competency for the relevant trade, the permit can't be issued. Pool contractors specifically need both the state CPC license AND Miami-Dade certificate for in-county work. This dual-layer is one reason Miami construction lead times look longer than other Florida cities.
Yes, for any contractor doing impact window, shutter, roofing, or building envelope work in Miami-Dade. Beyond the standard DBPR license, you want to confirm the contractor regularly handles HVHZ (High Velocity Hurricane Zone) work — ask for 5+ recent permit references in unincorporated Miami-Dade, City of Miami, or Miami Beach where HVHZ rules are strictest. The contractor should be able to recite Miami-Dade NOA product numbers from memory for at least the windows or roof system they're proposing. NOA-fluency is the proxy for actual local experience. Out-of-state contractors who 'do hurricane work' often source non-NOA products that fail at inspection.
HVHZ (High Velocity Hurricane Zone) is the wind-design region covering all of Miami-Dade and Broward — design wind speed is 175 mph for Risk Category II buildings. For interior renovation, HVHZ mostly affects the building envelope: any new exterior window, exterior door, skylight, or roofing must be Miami-Dade NOA-approved. Interior cabinets, plumbing, finishes are unaffected. But: if your kitchen renovation expands an opening, replaces a slider, or punches through an exterior wall, the new opening must be impact-rated to current HVHZ standard. This is a frequent first-time-renovator surprise — budget $3K-$15K for unanticipated impact glass.
Yes. Miami's humidity (>75% average) makes mold growth a constant background risk. Modern Florida Building Code requires moisture-resistant (greenboard or cementitious) drywall in all wet areas and continuous vapor management. Older homes built before 2005 (especially pre-Andrew, pre-1992) often have moisture problems baked into the assemblies — wood-stud walls without proper drainage planes behind stucco, flat roof leaks, AC condensate routing problems. Pre-renovation moisture testing $300-$700; remediation $5-$30 per sq ft. CGC-licensed mold assessors and remediators are required for jobs over 10 sq ft of growth. Your renovation should always upgrade dehumidification capacity — 50-pint whole-house unit minimum.
Both are present in pre-1985 housing. Asbestos: vinyl floor tile mastic, popcorn ceiling, pipe insulation, and some flat-roof underlayments in pre-1985 Miami homes. Florida DOH-licensed asbestos contractors are required for abatement; testing $300-$500. Lead paint: pre-1978 homes are presumed positive per EPA RRP. Coral Gables, Coconut Grove, and South Beach Art Deco buildings are the highest-concentration areas. Concrete-block-stucco (CBS) construction (most of Miami's housing) actually limits lead paint to interior wood trim and some exterior wood elements — less surface area than wood-frame Northeast cities. Test before any renovation involving sanding, demo, or painting in pre-1978 buildings.
Ready for a Miami-specific scope? Talk to Baily — describe the project, drop photos, and get matched with a DBPR + Miami-Dade-licensed contractor.