How the South Florida Permit Process Actually Works

Why Permitting Takes as Long as It Does

Most people expect permitting to be a formality. It isn't. A permit package for a custom home or gut rehab includes architectural drawings, structural engineering, MEP (mechanical, electrical, plumbing) plans, energy calculations, product approvals for impact windows and doors, and sometimes environmental or zoning review. Each discipline is reviewed by a different department. If one reviewer has a comment, the package goes back to the applicant. In South Florida, it's common to go through two or three rounds of review before approval.

Broward County

Broward is made up of 31 municipalities, and each one handles its own permitting for properties within its limits. The county building department handles unincorporated Broward only. For unincorporated areas, plan review runs 10–30 business days per cycle. For incorporated cities — Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miramar, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines — allow 21–25 business days for a complete first submittal, plus time for resubmittals if comments come back. Broward is also in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ), which means every window and door product must have a Miami-Dade or Broward Notice of Acceptance (NOA). That documentation has to be included in your permit package. A November 2025 countywide uniform application update from BORA also standardized the submission format across municipalities.

Miami-Dade County

Miami-Dade permitting is handled by the county building department for unincorporated areas and by individual cities for incorporated ones. Like Broward, it sits fully within the HVHZ. Total permit timeline for a residential project in Miami-Dade runs 4–12 weeks from submission, depending on completeness of the package and comment volume. The county updated its fee schedule in October 2025. The main variable is how complete your submission is at first intake — incomplete packages sit in a queue and wait for a resubmittal, which restarts the clock.

Palm Beach County

Palm Beach County has some of the most variable permitting timelines in South Florida. The county building department handles unincorporated areas with plan review averaging 10–30 days. But many of the most desirable locations — Boca Raton, Delray Beach, West Palm Beach, and Palm Beach island — are incorporated municipalities with their own departments. Boca Raton plan review typically runs 60–90 days. Palm Beach island (the town itself) commonly runs 4–6 months for permit approval due to additional architectural review requirements. Inland municipalities in Palm Beach County generally move faster than coastal ones.

What's in a Permit Package

• Architectural drawings: floor plans, elevations, sections, details — signed and sealed by a licensed Florida architect
• Structural engineering: foundation design, beam and column schedules, roof framing plans — signed and sealed by a licensed Florida PE
• MEP plans: mechanical (HVAC), electrical, and plumbing — each signed and sealed by the appropriate licensed engineer
• Energy calculations: Florida requires compliance with Florida Energy Code, demonstrated through Manual J for HVAC loads and envelope compliance documentation
• Product approvals: NOAs or Florida Product Approvals for all impact-rated windows, doors, and skylights
• Zoning approval: setback compliance, lot coverage, impervious surface ratios — sometimes a separate departmental sign-off
• HOA submittal (where applicable): many municipalities require evidence of HOA approval before issuing the permit

Inspections During Construction

A permit is not the end of county involvement — it's the beginning. Required inspections happen at each phase of construction: slab/foundation, framing, rough-in trades (electrical, plumbing, HVAC), insulation, and final building. The sequence matters. You can't pour concrete before the foundation inspection. You can't close in the walls before rough-in inspections are complete. Each inspection has to be scheduled in advance, and in high-volume markets inspectors can be booked out a week or more. A GC who accounts for this in the schedule avoids the delays that come from treating inspections as an afterthought.

Certificate of Occupancy

The CO is issued after the final building inspection passes. It's the official sign-off that the structure was built in compliance with the approved plans and applicable codes. No one can legally occupy a newly constructed or substantially renovated residential structure without it. The final inspection typically includes an inspector review of all systems (electrical panels, HVAC operation, plumbing), a check of impact window and door installations, and a final building code compliance review. Getting here cleanly — without re-inspections — requires that every phase was done right and inspected along the way.