COVID-19 Permitting Continuity

Effective April 7, 2020, the City of Miami Administration Building, located at 444 SW 2nd Avenue, has closed until further notice.  Permitting functions and inspection services offered at this location, or other offsite locations has been temporarily amended. 

A summary of all amendments to services for the Building, Planning, Zoning, Fire-Rescue and Resilience and Public Works Departments is referenced here. 

Please view the drop-downs below, by topic, to find the necessary information. 

View Building Department Directory

The Building Department will continue to review and process building permits.  Customer may contact ePlanBuilding@miamigov.com or dial (305) 416-1605 for additional information.

Plan Review:

  • Electronic Plan Review (ePlan) will continue uninterrupted during COVID-19.   
  • Legacy Plans, that were being processed, and at time of closure were in possession of the City, were sent for scanning and are now under ePlan review. If you have a legacy project that you would like to drop off for digitization, we have coordinated a service with Blue Digital, scanning vendor.  Customer may contact ePlanBuilding@miamigov.comor dial (305) 416-1605 for additional information.

View Blue Digital Directions(PDF, 611KB)

  • View/Claim legacy projects that have been scanned and created in ProjectDox. If you have not been added to a project, please contact us eplanbuilding@miamigov.com

View Claim/Legacy Projects

Building Department Consultations:

The Building Department will continue to provide remote consultations with Permit Applicants, Design Professionals and Plans Expediters to discuss Plans Review and Inspection Comments. Contacts can be made via the Building Department Directory.

Unsafe Structures Services:

The City of Miami Building Department will be temporarily amending its permitting services as follows: 

  • 40- and 50-Year Recertification Reports submittal deadline will be extended from April 30th, 2020 to November 30th, 2020.
  • The Building Department will not automatically generate violations on delinquent 40- and 50-Year recertification properties until after December 1st, 2020.
  • The City of Miami Unsafe Structures will continue processing 40- and 50-Year Recertification report submitted in PDF format to Rosa Bermudez at respinoza@miamigov.com. Unless the report is electronically signed and sealed, the original copy shall be mailed to the Unsafe Structures Section 444 SW 2 Av. 4thfloor Miami Florida, 33130.
  • All pages of the report must contain the signature and seal of the architect or engineer of Record, except for electronically signed and sealed reports.
  • Email must include contact information and email address of person to send the processing fee invoice for payment.
  • For questions regarding the 40- and 50-year recertifications, please contact Rosa Bermudez at respinoza@miamigov.comor call 786-774-0799.
  • All work associated with the 40- and 50-year recertifications must be conducted in strict compliance with the COVID-19 Emergency Orders.

Permit Counter Services:

Permit Counter requests shall be submitted to ePlanBuilding@miamigov.com. Customers will be contacted by a Building Department staff member to complete their transaction. Customers may also dial (305) 416-1605 for additional information. All of the following services will be conducted via e-mail: 

  • Issue New Legacy Process Number for Additional Legacy Plans
  • Process Legacy Plan Revisions
  • Revision Requests
  • Complete Revisions
  • Phase Permit Requests
  • New Contractor Registration
  • Change of Contractor
  • Add/Update Contractor and Subcontractor
  • Change of Architect / Engineer
  • Plan Reactivation Request
  • Completion Permit Request (Expired Permits)
  • Fee Credit Request
  • City Project Fee Waiver

Microfilm Services: 

Microfilm requests shall be submitted via e-mail to BuildingRecords@miamigov.com. Customers will be provided an Invoice / Transaction ID # via e-mail, and upon payment, the microfilm records will be released via e-mail. Customers may also dial (305) 416-1140 for additional information.

Inspections:

  • All building inspections performed by City of Miami personnel for projects at existing occupied properties are suspended until further notice.  Occupied structures may include residential, condominium, office and commercial properties.
  • Inspections will continue for new construction projects and existing construction projects that are currently unoccupied.  Customer may contact ePlanBuilding@miamigov.com or dial (305) 416-1605 for additional information.
  • Those who wish to proceed with inspections, as excluded above, may contract with a State of Florida licensed and registered architect or engineer with no financial interest in the inspected construction work.  Please see this document(PDF, 326KB) and Procedures for Inspections During COVID-19 Emergency Period.
  • See "Fire Rescue" section for inspections relating to this department. 

Department of Fire Rescue

Plans Review:

  • Electronic Plans Review (ePlan) will continue uninterrupted during COVID-19.   
  • Legacy Plans, that were being processed, and at time of closure were in the possession of the City, were sent for scanning and are now under ePlan review. 
  • If you have a legacy project that you would like to drop off for digitization, we have coordinated a service with Blue Digital, scanning vendor.  Customer may contact ePlanBuilding@miamigov.comor dial (305) 416-1605 for additional information.

    View Blue Digital Directions(PDF, 611KB)

Inspections:

  • Inspections will continue for new construction projects and existing construction projects. Fire inspectors upon visiting sites will determine safety precautions required prior to conducting inspections (i.e. social distancing, limiting occupants on floor of inspection, etc.). Customers may contact FPBNewConstruction@miamigov.com for additional information.

Planning Department

Administrative Entitlements (Warrants, Certificate of Appropriateness (COAs) etc.)

  • All plans review and analysis for entitlements issued administratively continue to be reviewed electronically. 

Public Hearing Entitlements (Exceptions, Rezone, Comprehensive Plan Amendments, Special Certificate of Appropriateness etc.)

  • All plans review, analysis, and hearing related preparations for entitlements requiring public hearings are being continued. 
  • Projects that are required to be presented to Planning and Zoning Appeal Board (PZAB) and City Commission (CC) are currently suspended until further notice. 
  • All plans review referrals made to the Planning Department will continue to be done electronically. 
  • The planning department is currently participating in the review of legacy building applications using the City’s electronic plans review platform.

Presenting projects to Advisory Boards (UDRB, WDRC, VKAB etc.)

  • Advisory Board meetings are suspended until further notice. Coordination between the Planning and Information Technology departments are underway to facilitate these meetings virtually. 

Schedule a Meeting

All meetings are being conducted virtually using MS Teams. To request a meeting with a member of the Planning Department, please contact us at planning@miamigov.com

If your meeting is associated with an existing project, please coordinate meetings directly with the assigned planner. 

Online Appeals

City Commission – Planning & Zoning Items

Planning & Zoning Appeals Board (PZAB)

Historic and Environmental Preservation Board (HEPB) 

General Inquires

 

Office of Zoning

Certificates of Use

  • New Certificate of Use applications are suspended until further notice, but you may visit this page to obtain information on the requirements for obtaining a Certificate of Use.
  • If you have obtained all the required inspections on your Certificate of Use form, you may scan the front and back of the form and submit it to miamizoning@miamigov.comfor review by a Zoning Information Specialist. 
  • For any other questions regarding Certificates of Use please e-mail miamizoning@miamigov.com.

Covenants/Unity of Title Documents

  • For information regarding Covenant and Unity of Title requirements, please e-mail your questions to miamizoning@miamigov.com for assistance. 

Special Permits (ePlan)

  • We continue to process and review Special Permits digitally submitted through the Electronic Plans Review System: ePlan.
  • Questions or concerns on a special permit application can be addressed by emailing eplanz@miamigov.com or you may contact the reviewer directly via e-mail.
  • Extensions on Special Permits must be requested through an email to eplanz@miamigov.com with a provided Letter of Intent (LOI).  

Special Permits (Legacy ONLY)

  • The review of Legacy Special Permits (waivers and dry-runs) is currently suspended until further notice. 
  • To ensure review of your Legacy Special Permit application you will need to convert the application to an electronic format and re-submit through ePlan.  In order to avoid further delays, please make sure to add the following to your letter of intent: 1) Note that it is a conversion from legacy, and 2) Name of Zoning reviewer assigned to review your application.  All uploaded documents must follow the standard naming convention.
  • For more information on applying electronically, you may visit https://www.miamigov.com/Services/Building-Permitting/All-things-ePlan

Temporary Permits

  • Temporary Permits for Events, Banners, Farmer’s Markets, and Occupancies for construction are suspended until further notice, except for Construction Fences.
  • Temporary Construction Fences must be applied for through the Building Permit process. Only those fences with active, issued Building permits will be considered for review by Zoning.  Those approved will be required to submit a Temporary Occupancy Permit through the NET office once we return to normal operation or 30 business days from issuance of the permit.
  • For any other inquiries regarding Temporary permits you may e-mail your question to miamizoning@miamigov.com.

Zoning Information

  • For general information regarding Zoning uses, Alcohol and Tobacco applications, Addresses, and Miami 21 requirements please e-mail miamizoning@miamigov.com. Your questions will be routed to the appropriate Zoning team member.

Zoning Verification Letters

  • The processing and issuance of Zoning Verification Letters is on-going.
  • To request a Zoning Verification Letter you may visit here.
  • For questions regarding the status of your Zoning Verification Letter please e-mail miamizoning@miamigov.com.

 

Resilience & Public Works

To view all updates related to the Resilience and Public Works department, please refer to this bulletin(PDF, 146KB)

 

 

 

 

 

Summary of Executive Orders that Impact Permitting and Inspection Services

As the City of Miami takes the necessary precautions to respond to the COVID-19 virus, several executive order and/or announcements has been issued. 

Listed below are all executive orders/announcements that may impact permitting and inspections related functions:

  1. Policy on Suspension of Certain Permitting & Inspection Services (March 20,2020)
  2. Building Department Makes Permitting Process Changes to Limit In-Person Visits (March 19, 2020)
  3. City of Miami Building Department Temporarily Amends Digital Signature Requirements (March 19, 2020)