Miami-Dade permit guide — county vs. municipal permits

A guide for general contractors and subs working in Miami · Updated May 2026

Miami-Dade County is fragmented across 34 municipalities plus unincorporated county territory. There is no single permit office. The City of Miami, Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Doral, Hialeah, Aventura, and roughly 25 other cities all run their own building departments and issue their own permits. Contractors who don't understand the structure waste days chasing the wrong jurisdiction, miss filing deadlines, and burn relationship capital with the wrong office.

Unlike San Francisco or Chicago, where a single jurisdiction dominates, Miami-Dade forces contractors to navigate a complex patchwork. A property on one side of a street might fall under City of Miami, while the other side answers to unincorporated county or a neighboring municipality. The permit feeds, data quality, and outreach strategies differ sharply across jurisdictions. This guide walks through the structure, shows you how to find your project's home office, and explains what each jurisdiction's permit data actually contains.

Who issues construction permits in Miami-Dade?

Miami-Dade County Department of Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) handles two categories: unincorporated areas (Westchester, Kendall, parts of South Miami) and a small handful of municipalities that have opted to use county services. For most contractors, that means around 30% of Miami-Dade County.

The City of Miami Department of Building & Zoning covers the urban core: downtown, Brickell, Wynwood, Little Havana, Allapattah, and parts of Midtown. Miami is the single largest job generator in the county, and its permit data is richer and more accessible than county-jurisdiction filings.

The remaining 30+ independent municipalities run their own departments. Miami Beach (Art Deco, South Beach), Coral Gables (historic overlay), Doral (western growth corridor), Hialeah (industrial and commercial), and others like Aventura, North Miami, Pinecrest, and Kendall each issue permits on their own timelines through separate systems. Some use ArcGIS REST APIs; others hide behind Accela or ePermitsFL portals with no public API.

How do I know which municipality my project sits in?

The simplest method is the Miami-Dade Property Appraiser's online search tool, which shows jurisdiction name and parcel details by address. You can also use the County GIS map at gisweb.miamidade.gov to view municipal boundaries and property ownership directly. Enter the street address, and the map will show you which city or county jurisdiction overlaps that parcel.

A critical caveat: project boundaries do not always align to a single jurisdiction. Large developments can span multiple parcels in different cities, each requiring separate permits from the respective jurisdiction. Before outreach, confirm the building address on any permit filing—it's the jurisdiction anchor, not the mailing address or developer office.

What are the public permit data feeds?

Each jurisdiction offers different levels of public access. Below is a practical map of the major municipalities and their data source:

County (RER) and City of Miami both expose permits via public ArcGIS endpoints and push updates daily. The rest of Miami-Dade's jurisdictions—Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Doral, Hialeah, and others—run on Accela, ePermitsFL, or ePermitHub systems with no published APIs. Accessing their data requires web scraping or portal login, which slows down outreach and makes real-time monitoring nearly impossible without automation.

What's the difference between County permits and City of Miami permits?

The boundary between unincorporated county and the City of Miami often confuses contractors because the City is geographically smaller than you'd expect. The City of Miami covers the urban core—the financial district, Brickell high-rises, Wynwood artist lofts, Little Havana, and central Miami neighborhoods. It does not include Miami Beach, Coral Gables, Hialeah, Aventura, or Doral.

Unincorporated Miami-Dade County (RER jurisdiction) covers Westchester, Kendall, Palmetto, parts of South Miami, and surrounding areas on the western and southern flanks. If an address isn't inside the City of Miami municipal boundary, it's either unincorporated county or another specific city.

In practice, the City of Miami is the primary market for mid-market GC work and sub opportunities. County-jurisdiction permits tend to be smaller or industrial. Check the GIS map before outreach to avoid sending a proposal to the wrong office.

Building, mechanical, electrical, plumbing — Miami's permit type structure

Every substantial Miami project requires a master Building permit plus sub-permits for mechanical (HVAC), electrical, and plumbing (MEP). Both County (RER) and City of Miami split their permits this way. The contractor of record on the master Building permit is often different from the trade subs licensed to pull MEP work.

This distinction is critical for sub outreach. If you pull plumbing only, you'll search City of Miami's feed for "plumbing" or "P" permits—but the general contractor pulling the master permit may already have sub contacts lined up. The sequence of the filing matters: master first, then subs. A blank MEP slot often exists only for a few weeks between master issuance and sub-permit pull date.

For GCs, the master Building permit is the primary signal. For mechanical, electrical, and plumbing specialists, watching the sub-permit queue and the master permit's GC name is essential to identify which shops are likely bidding.

How HVHZ rules apply across all jurisdictions

Every municipality in Miami-Dade County enforces High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) regulations for windows, doors, and roof assemblies. This is not a jurisdiction-specific rule; it applies countywide based on property zip code and flood zone. HVHZ compliance adds material cost and product lead time—contractors often miss this requirement or discover it late in estimating.

Before sending a proposal or labor estimate, check the HVHZ status via the HVHZ map at the Building Official's office or the County's GIS tool. Products must meet HVHZ wind speeds (typically 150+ mph design wind). If you're unfamiliar with HVHZ costs and specifications, see our detailed guide on HVHZ construction explained.

Practical tips for contractors working across multiple Miami-Dade jurisdictions

Confirm jurisdiction by address, not zip code. Zip codes cross municipal boundaries. Pull the permit address from the filing, not the owner's mailing address.

Owner and contact data quality varies widely. County (RER) filings often list a developer or agent; City of Miami filings may include architect or engineer contact instead. Not all jurisdictions populate phone or email. Combine public data with your own intelligence (company website, property appraiser links, LinkedIn).

Contractor licensing requires a Miami-Dade County Certificate of Competency in addition to your state CGC. Each municipality may have additional local rules or expedited permit tracks for registered local contractors. Confirm your license status before claiming familiarity with a jurisdiction in outreach.

Outreach should reference the specific municipality. Generic "Miami area" messaging tells owners you haven't read the filing. Reference the City name, the permit type, and a relevant past project in that jurisdiction. "I saw your Miami Beach project filed last week and completed three oceanfront retrofits there in the past year" works. "We work in Miami" does not.

Why navigating Miami's fragmentation is a real competitive edge

Most contractors stay in one or two familiar jurisdictions—their home zip code, or wherever they landed their first big job. The ones who win consistently in Miami are the ones who've mapped the patchwork and watch multiple feeds. County filings, City of Miami, Miami Beach, and Coral Gables together represent the bulk of new construction and major alteration work in the metro area. Ignoring 70% of the market because you only know one jurisdiction's portal is a missed opportunity.

Permit Pipeline pulls filings from all major Miami-Dade jurisdictions, normalizes permit types across different systems, and scores them by project value, scope, and contractor-slot readiness. Instead of chasing 500 filings a week across six different portals, you get 20–50 top-graded leads in a daily digest. See what today's Miami feed looks like.