Building/General Permit Requirements in Miami, FL
South Florida building permits carry requirements most of the country doesn't: product approvals, wind-load documentation, and a notice of commencement that has to be recorded before inspections.
Product approval is not optional
Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA) or Florida Product Approval documentation is required for windows, doors, roofing assemblies, and other exterior components. Submitting without it is the single most common cause of a Miami plan review rejection, and it is entirely avoidable — collect the NOAs while you're pricing the materials.
The NOA has to match the product actually installed. Substituting a different manufacturer on site after approval turns into a revision, not a field note.
Notice of commencement and the lien chain
For jobs above the statutory threshold, Florida requires a recorded Notice of Commencement before inspections proceed. Recording it is the owner's obligation in practice but the contractor's problem when the inspector shows up. Build it into your pre-construction checklist alongside the permit card.
Threshold and structural scopes
Structural work, additions, and anything meeting the state's threshold-building definition require sealed drawings from a Florida-licensed engineer or architect, and threshold jobs additionally require a special inspector. PermitCrab organizes the packet around those requirements and flags them up front; it does not produce sealed drawings.
Fees: confirm before you quote
Miami building permit fees are valuation-based with several add-on components (radon, surcharge, review fees) and are revised periodically, so we do not publish a formula here without a current primary source. Confirm your specific scope with the Building Department.
How to read this page
This is a research summary for licensed contractors. It is not legal advice, and PermitCrab is not a filing service. We read the code, compare it against what actually happens at the counter, and publish what a contractor pulling this permit for the first time would want to know before they drive over.
Where we do not have a primary source we can cite, we say so instead of guessing. Fee schedules and submittal rules change without much warning, so treat any unverified section as a phone call you still owe the department.