Do You Need a Permit to Remodel in Miami-Dade? The $7,500 Rule Explained

• Permits
• 

  GXG Remodeling
• 20 Oct 2026

Do You Need a Permit to Remodel in Miami-Dade? The $7,500 Rule Explained

Short answer: it depends on the work. Cosmetic jobs like painting generally need no permit in Miami-Dade, and since July 1, 2026 a Florida law lets some small single-family projects valued under $7,500 skip the building permit through a written exemption request. But most real remodels, including bathrooms and kitchens, involve plumbing or electrical work, and those are excluded. This guide explains the rule, who to call, which jobs need a permit, and what to ask a contractor.

The Short Answer

Think of it in three buckets. Work that never needed a permit, like interior painting, still does not. Work that needs a permit and always has, like anything electrical or plumbing, still does. The new bucket in the middle is small, simple, non-excluded work on a single-family home, where the owner or contractor can ask the building department for an exemption instead of pulling a full permit. The exemption is not automatic and it is not self-certified. You ask, and the building department decides.

What the $7,500 Rule Actually Says

The rule is in Florida Statutes section 553.79 as amended by HB 803, which took effect July 1, 2026. According to the enrolled text of HB 803 (Chapter 2026-63), a local government that issues building permits must exempt an owner of a single-family dwelling, or the owner's contractor, from the building permit requirement for work valued at less than $7,500 on the owner's property. The bill's own text then sets the limits:

• Flood hazard areas are outThe exemption does not apply to work on a property that is partly or entirely in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code.
• Five trades are outElectrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical and gas work on a single-family property do not qualify.
• No splittingA project cannot be divided into several projects to get under the limit.
• You must ask in writingThe owner or contractor submits a written request with a copy of the contract or other documentation showing the nature and value of the work.
• No inspection safety netThe law says the local government has no legal duty to the owner or later owners for exempted work, so no one from the city checks it.

Miami-Dade County applies this through a simplified process. Per Miami-Dade County's permit exemptions page, you submit the written request and the contract or documentation through the county portal, or in person at the Permitting and Inspection Center, and the county says its page covers single-family homes, duplexes and townhouses, not units in multi-family buildings. The county also lists windows, doors, wind-resistant fences and sheds as structural, so those stay permitted. The statute text itself says single-family dwelling, so ask your building department how it treats a duplex or townhouse. Also ask how it counts the value: materials and labor together, or one or the other. We have not found that answered in the sources we reviewed.

Which Office Handles Your Permit

Miami-Dade County is a patchwork. Many municipalities run their own building departments, and the county permitting office handles unincorporated areas. That means the answer to "where do I apply?" depends on your address, not on the name of your neighborhood. The City of Homestead, Florida City, the Town of Cutler Bay and the Village of Palmetto Bay each publish their own building or permitting pages and process permits themselves. Homestead, for example, asks for electronic submittals, and its checklist for contractor-pulled permits mentions a current survey, proof of contractor license and insurance, and an owner and builder affidavit if the owner is doing the work.

Each office also writes its own forms for the HB 803 exemption, and we could not confirm how every South Dade city applies it, including how broadly each defines "structural." Call or check the website for your city before you rely on any exemption. We handle bathroom projects in Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay, where the building division is the Town's or Village's, not the county's, and the same address rule applies.

Job by Job: What Usually Needs a Permit

This table is a starting point, not a ruling. It follows what Miami-Dade County's permit exemptions page lists plus how the HB 803 exclusions work. Your city can be stricter, and the details of your scope decide the answer.

These ranges are general industry ballparks, shown for education only, not a GXG quote. Every project is custom, so your real price comes from a free estimate.

Two cautions. First, the county page ties some of its exempt items, such as flooring, to a dollar cap over a 12 month period and a list of conditions, so read the current wording before assuming. Second, an exemption from a permit is not an exemption from the Florida Building Code. The work still has to meet it. Our guides on interior painting cost and flooring installation cost cover the cosmetic side, and our window installation cost guide explains why windows are a permit job here.

Drywall deserves its own note. The county page we reviewed does not mention it. Small patches and repairs are generally treated as minor, but drywall that is part of a larger job with electrical, plumbing or structural work falls under that job's permit. If you are replacing or hanging drywall after a leak or a wall change, see our drywall repair and installation page and ask the building department about your scope.

Why Most Full Remodels Do Not Qualify

The $7,500 figure sounds generous until you price a real remodel. For comparison, general industry ballparks, not a GXG quote, put a full bathroom at about $8,000 to $22,000 and a full kitchen at $15,000 to $45,000. Even a basic bath sits above the limit before you count the excluded trades.

The bigger issue is not price. It is what is inside the work. A bathroom remodel moves or replaces a toilet, shower valve, drain or vanity plumbing and usually adds a new fan or lighting. A kitchen remodel adds or moves circuits, relocates a sink or range, or changes a wall. All of that lands in the excluded list, so a bathroom or kitchen project is usually a permit job regardless of the contract price. Our bathroom remodel cost guide and kitchen remodel cost guide show where the plumbing and electrical lines fall in a budget, and the bathroom remodeling and kitchen remodeling pages explain how those projects run.

Watch for the splitting rule too. Cutting one remodel into three small contracts to dodge the permit is exactly what the statute prohibits, and a building department will likely see through it.

South Miami-Dade Homes: Block, Slab and Flood Zones

Local construction makes some of these questions sharper. Many homes in Homestead and the surrounding area are concrete block and stucco on a slab on grade. That matters because a drain relocation means cutting the slab, and a new window opening means cutting block, both of which are plumbing or structural work and not exemption territory. Miami-Dade is also in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, so windows, doors and shutters need products with county product approval, which is why window replacement is not a casual permit question here.

Flood zones are the quiet exclusion. Under the statute, a property partly or entirely in a flood hazard area does not qualify, and many South Dade addresses, especially near canals and the coast, can be mapped that way. Check your address on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center or ask your building department before you plan around the exemption. A homeowners association is separate again. A county exemption or permit does not replace HOA approval, and many associations want to approve contractors, hours and exterior changes first.

Older homes bring one more consideration. If your house still has a textured popcorn ceiling and you plan to scrape it, the age of the home matters for testing before disturbing it. See our popcorn ceiling removal guide, and do not scrape a ceiling you have not had tested.

What Happens With Unpermitted Work

Unpermitted work is a quiet problem until something forces it into view. The usual triggers are a sale, a refinance, an insurance claim, a neighbor complaint or an inspector noticing a job in progress. What follows depends on the city, but common consequences include:

• Extra feesMiami-Dade's building fee schedule describes an additional fee of 100 percent of the usual permit fee when work starts before a permit is obtained, and says paying it does not relieve other penalties.
• After-the-fact permitsThe department may require you to apply, pay and pass inspection on work that is now closed up, sometimes after opening walls.
• Sale frictionBuyers and lenders ask about permits. Florida sellers generally must disclose known defects that materially affect value, and unpermitted work can be one, so ask a real estate attorney how it applies to you.
• Insurance questionsAn insurer can ask about work that affects the electrical, plumbing or structure of a house after a loss. Ask your own agent how they treat unpermitted work.

An important detail: under the HB 803 exemption, an approved exemption covers only the scope in the request. Miami's city page warns that work done without a permit cannot be legalized under the exemption and must be brought into compliance first.

Doing the Work Yourself: Owner-Builder Rules

Florida allows an owner to act as their own contractor on certain homes. Florida Statutes section 489.103(7) is the owner-builder exemption, and as we read it, it is for your own one or two family residence, not one built or improved for sale or lease. Selling or leasing within one year of finishing creates a presumption that it was done for sale. The owner must personally supervise the work, you cannot hand supervision to an unlicensed person, and permit offices have you sign an owner-builder disclosure and, in some places, appear in person. The disclosure carries a warning that a false declaration can be perjury. Check the current statute and your city's form before relying on it.

Even then, you take on the responsibility for code compliance, inspections and anyone you hire. For many homeowners, hiring a licensed contractor to pull and close the permit is simpler.

Questions to Ask Any Contractor

Whatever a contractor tells you, get these answers in writing before you sign.

• Is a permit needed for this scope?Ask them to explain why or why not, and to confirm with the building department for your address.
• Who pulls the permit?Ask which licensed company's name is on it. Be wary of anyone who asks you to pull it in your name when you are not doing the work.
• Is the permit fee in the price?Ask for permit fees, engineering and inspection costs on separate lines.
• If you claim the $7,500 exemption, who files it?Ask to see the written request and the approval before work starts.
• Does the scope touch plumbing, electrical or structure?If yes, the exemption does not apply, whatever the price.
• What is the license and insurance?Ask for the license number and verify it with the state, and ask for proof of insurance.
• How are inspections scheduled?Ask who is present, and what happens if an inspection fails.
• Is the property in a flood hazard area?Confirm it before anyone mentions an exemption.

To compare quotes with that scope clear, see how we describe pricing in our cost guides, and read our FAQ page for how we handle estimates.

Frequently Asked Questions

The rules changed this summer, and they will keep being interpreted in practice, so treat any online answer, including this one, as a starting point. If you are weighing a bathroom, kitchen, window or drywall project, we are glad to walk the scope with you, tell you what we would ask the building department, and give a written, no-obligation estimate. Contact us or call (786) 724-5571.

Planning a larger project? See bathroom remodeling and window installation.