What decides a Florida City start date
The account comes before the application.
Most delays on a small municipality project are not review delays. They are the days between deciding to build and being in a position to file at all.
Florida City publishes the requirement without hedging: “ALL NEW APPLICATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER ON eTRAKiT.” The portal is described as giving “24/7 online access to planning applications, building permits, inspections, business tax licenses, and code compliance services” — which is to say it is not a permit form, it is the whole relationship with the City. Everything that happens afterwards runs through that account, so the account is the first deliverable on a Florida City programme rather than the last box ticked on the day of filing.
The City does not describe eTRAKiT as an option or a convenience. New applications are required to register on it.
Planning applications, building permits, inspections, business tax licences and code compliance all sit behind the same login.
“Any construction, alterations, removal or demolition of any structure within the Florida City limits requires a building permit.” Removal and demolition are named alongside construction.
Planning and Zoning, Building, Code Compliance and Licensing. The City says what each one handles, so you can work out which of them a scope is going to meet.
- Licensed & insuredState-licensed GC, bonded and insured
- Design-buildDrawings, permitting and construction in-house
- Portal-readyRegistered before the application is written
- 104 municipalitiesFlorida City is one of them
- CBC1265280Verifiable with the Florida DBPR
What we build
Kitchens, bathrooms, additions and accessory units.
Four kinds of work bring a homeowner here to Community Development, and they meet a different number of its divisions on the way in.
A finish job meets one division.
A demolition meets most of them.
The City names removal and demolition in the same sentence as construction, which is a more useful warning than it first looks. Taking a wall out, clearing a slab or losing an accessory structure is permitted work here in exactly the way that building something new is, and a project that treats the demolition half as site preparation has planned only half the file.
- Kitchen and bathroom remodelling, inside the structure that is already there
- Home additions, where site plan and setbacks join the conversation
- Accessory and in-law units, which touch planning, building and services
- Whole-home renovation, where removal and construction share one file
Working inside the shell
The envelope, the footprint and the site stay as they are. The file is largely a Building file, and it is the shortest route this City offers.
Changing the shell
A footprint, an accessory structure or a demolition brings Planning and Zoning into it, and the site becomes part of the application rather than the background to it.
An accessory living space, completed
A finished accessory living space with kitchen, living area and stairs, on a South Florida project by Elbaz Construction. An accessory unit is the scope most likely to involve more than one division at once.
Not sure whether your scope is one division or three?
Tell us what you want the house to do and we will tell you which parts of Community Development that engages, before anything is drawn.
The work itself
Finished rooms, and the drawings behind them.
Three frames from South Florida projects by Elbaz Construction. The third is the one that ends up attached to a portal record.
A compact bathroom with toilet and window, completed. A bathroom is plumbing and electrical work in a small box, and the box is the hard part.
Every photograph on this page is of a South Florida project by Elbaz Construction. None is presented as being in Florida City, and no pictured property is said to have been permitted by the City.
How we work
One contractor, from the first sketch to the last inspection.
What design-build changes in Florida City
- Registration
- The portal account exists before the application is written
- Drawings
- Produced in-house, to the divisions the scope actually engages
- Filing
- Uploaded and tracked by the people who drew the set
- Construction
- Built by the team that answered the review comments
- Closeout
- Inspections requested through the same account that filed
Account before application
Registration on eTRAKiT is the first task on the programme, because the City requires it of all new applications and it is the one step that does not depend on a design decision.
Scope, and the divisions it engages
Whether a project stays inside Building or picks up Planning and Zoning is a design decision, and it is cheapest to make it deliberately.
One file, including what comes out
Removal is named in the permit trigger alongside construction, so it is drawn and filed rather than assumed.
Build to the approved set
What was approved is what gets built, and inspections are requested against that same set rather than a later revision nobody filed.
Want the file lined up before the drawings start?
That conversation is free, and in this City it is the one that moves the start date.
Three ways a Florida City project runs
Pick the one that matches how much of the site you are willing to touch.
None of these is better than the others. Each is right for a different brief, and they differ in how much of Community Development they involve.
A
Inside the existing shell
Kitchens, bathrooms, finishes and services within the walls that are already there. The footprint, the site and the use all stay as they are.
- Largely a Building file
- No change to setbacks or coverage
- The smallest surface for a comment
- Right when the house has the space and not the layout
B
Structural alteration
Openings, load paths and services relocated. Still inside the footprint, but with an engineer involved and a removal element that is permitted work in its own right.
- Building, with structural content in the set
- Removal drawn rather than assumed
- Sequencing matters on site
- Right when the layout is wrong rather than the size
C
Addition, accessory unit or demolition
Anything that changes the footprint, adds a structure or takes one away. Planning and Zoning join, and the site plan becomes part of the file.
- More than one division engaged
- Setbacks and coverage become live questions
- New foundations and new services
- Right for more floor area, not better floor area
Things that widen the Florida City file
- Changing the footprint, which brings Planning and Zoning in
- Adding an accessory structure, which is a building in its own right
- Taking part of the house away, which the City names in its own permit trigger
- Moving a load-bearing wall, which brings an engineer into the set
- New or relocated drainage, which makes the site part of the application
- A new electrical service, which is its own scope of work
- Anything that changes how the property is used, which is a zoning question first
- Running a business from the property, which is where Licensing joins
Which divisions a specific project engages is determined by Florida City, not by this page. Registration on the portal is a city requirement, not an elbaz one, and the list above is how scope decisions tend to map onto divisions rather than a ruling about your address.
The sequence
From an idea to an issued Florida City permit.
The City publishes where this sequence starts. It does not publish how long the middle takes, and neither will we.
Register on the portal
The City requires all new applications to register on eTRAKiT. It is first on the programme because it is the one thing that does not wait on a design decision.
Scope, and the divisions it engages
Establish what the brief needs and whether that stays inside Building or brings Planning and Zoning in. Everything downstream is sized by this.
Drawings and written specification
Produced to the scope identified, with anything coming out drawn rather than left as an assumption, and allowances stated as allowances.
Submission through the account
Filed through the registered account, which is also where inspections and code compliance matters live afterwards.
Comments answered as one response
Whatever comes back is reconciled across the whole set before anything is resubmitted, so one cycle does the work of two.
Build and inspect
Construction against the approved set, with inspections requested through the same portal account that filed the application.
No duration is stated anywhere in this sequence, because Florida City publishes no review duration, and neither do we.
What we do, step by step
Ten things that happen on a Florida City project.
Written plainly, because most of the value of a design-build contractor sits in the parts a homeowner never sees.
First conversation
The brief, the property, the budget shape
QC · FreeWhat you want the house to do, and what is actually in the way.
A scope direction and an honest view of the file it produces
Site visit
Measure, photograph, look at what is there
QC · FreeExisting conditions establish what is possible before anything is drawn.
A record of the property as it actually is
Portal registration
The City requires it of all new applications
QC · FreeDone early, because it is the one step that does not wait on a decision.
An account that can receive an application
Scope and divisions
Building only, or Planning and Zoning too
QC · FreeThe decision that sets how wide the Florida City file is going to be.
A written scope, and the divisions that come with it
Concept drawings
Layout, and the decisions that drive cost
QC · Agreed up frontEnough to decide with, before anything is engineered.
Drawings you can react to
Specification
Written, not assumed
QC · Agreed up frontWe price against a drawn scope and a written specification, with allowances stated as allowances.
A specification that a price can stand on
Permit set
Including anything being taken away
QC · Agreed up frontRemoval and demolition are named in the permit trigger, so they are drawn rather than treated as site preparation.
A set that covers the whole scope of work
Submission and tracking
Filed through the account
QC · IncludedUploaded to the portal and followed from there, with the record kept in one place rather than in an inbox.
A file whose status is known, not guessed
Comments
Answered as one set
QC · IncludedReconciled across the drawings before anything is resubmitted, so a second look is a shorter look.
One coherent response instead of several partial ones
Build and close out
Construction, inspection, certificate
QC · The contractBuilt to the approved set by the people who drew it, with inspections requested through the same account.
A finished project and a closed permit
Nothing here is a review-time promise. Florida City publishes no review duration, and neither do we.
What the City publishes
Florida City Community Development, in its own words.
Everything in this section is published City of Florida City material, read on 20 August 2026.
The paperwork sequence, in order
- Register“ALL NEW APPLICATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER ON eTRAKiT.”
- What the account coversPlanning applications, building permits, inspections, business tax licences and code compliance.
- When“24/7 online access”, in the City’s own words.
- The trigger“Any construction, alterations, removal or demolition of any structure” requires a building permit.
- Planning & ZoningLand use, zoning regulations, development applications, site plans and variances.
- BuildingPermitting, plan review, inspections and enforcement of applicable building codes.
- Code ComplianceThe division that follows the work after it is done.
- LicensingBusiness tax licences, alongside the permitting functions.
- SubmissionThrough the registered account.
- ReviewBy the divisions the scope engages.
- Special Magistrate“All Special Magistrate meetings are conducted virtually and are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m.”
- LicencesBusiness licences “must be renewed annually, no later than September 30th of each year.”
Four things worth knowing before you file in Florida City
The City is not describing a preference. New applications are required to register on the portal, and an unregistered applicant does not have a slow application — they have no application.
The trigger sentence names removal and demolition beside construction. Anything you are taking out belongs in the file.
Planning and Zoning, Building, Code Compliance and Licensing, each with its own described remit. That is enough to work out which of them a scope will meet.
Second Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m., virtually. That is the code compliance side of the same department, and it is worth knowing it exists before it concerns you.
We do not publish a review duration for Florida City, because the City does not publish one and a number invented by a contractor is worth nothing to you. We will not tell you which divisions your project will meet until the scope is settled, because the scope is what determines it. Registration on the portal is a city requirement, not an elbaz one, and we complete it as part of the work rather than presenting it as a service. Requirements change: confirm the current position with Community Development, or ask us to. We do it on every file.
What moves the number
What actually drives a Florida City budget.
We do not publish prices, because a price without a drawn scope is a guess dressed as a number. What can be published honestly is what moves it.
Whether the footprint changes
This is the line between a Building file and a file that Planning and Zoning is part of, and it is a design decision rather than a discovery.
How much is being taken away
Removal and demolition are named in the permit trigger, and they are also the part of a budget most often left out of an early number.
Whether load-bearing structure moves
A wall that carries brings an engineer into the set and a sequence into the programme.
The condition of what is already there
What is behind the wall decides more of the price than what goes on it, and older housing stock decides it more emphatically.
How far the services move
Plumbing and electrical are cheap to extend and expensive to relocate.
Specification level
Allowances are stated as allowances so the price does not quietly become somebody else’s decision later.
Site work and drainage
Once the ground is part of the scope, the site plan is part of the file.
Site access and storage
Where material can be delivered and left changes labour more than most owners expect.
Whether the use of the property changes
A change of use is a zoning question before it is a construction one.
How complete the first submission is
The one variable entirely within your control, and the cheapest place on the whole programme to spend an extra week.
Every driver above changes either the drawings, the file or the build — and most change two of the three.
What a realistic programme looks like
- Registration, which can happen while the brief is still being argued about
- Scope and concept, agreed before anything is engineered
- Permit set drawn to the divisions the scope actually engages
- Submission, and any comments answered as one coordinated response
- Construction against the approved set, inspected as the trades finish
Seven questions worth asking any contractor here
- Is the eTRAKiT registration done, and in whose name?
- Which Florida City divisions does my scope actually engage?
- Is the demolition drawn, or is it being treated as site preparation?
- Are you drawing the permit set, or subcontracting it?
- What is in the specification, and what is an allowance?
- Who is on site when an inspector arrives?
- What is your licence number, and can I verify it?
Useful to have ready
- The property address
- Any survey you hold, and how old it is
- Any permits pulled on the property, and roughly when
- What you want the house to do, rather than a solution
- Whether anything is coming out as well as going in
- A budget range you are comfortable saying out loud
We price against a drawn scope
We price against a drawn scope and a written specification, with allowances stated as allowances. That is what makes a proposal comparable to anyone else’s.
The same thing, drawn
How scope turns into the width of a file.
This is a general mapping, not a prediction about your address. The City decides which divisions handle a specific application.
Drawn from the four divisions Florida City publishes and from its own permit trigger sentence. The band widths are indicative and are not a City publication.
What sits behind the counter
- Planning and Zoning. Land use, zoning, development applications, site plans and variances
- Building. Permitting, plan review, inspections and code enforcement
- Code Compliance. The division that follows the work after it is done
- Licensing. Business tax licences, renewed annually by 30 September
- eTRAKiT. The portal all new applications are required to register on
- Special Magistrate. Virtual, second Tuesday of the month at 2:00 p.m.
It is a project whose scope was decided deliberately. Sometimes the right answer is to engage every division, and to know it in advance.
Decisions worth making early
The choices that change a Florida City project most.
Registering first, or filing first and fixing it after
| Factor | Register first | Leave it to filing day |
|---|---|---|
| What the City says | All new applications are required to register | The same sentence, met later |
| When it can be done | Any time, including before the brief is settled | Only on the day you are ready to file |
| Cost to the programme | Nothing, because it runs in parallel | Whatever the delay turns out to be |
| Where the record lives | One account, from application to closeout | Assembled under time pressure |
| Inspections later | Requested through the same account | Same account, set up in a hurry |
| Risk | None worth naming | Discovering the requirement on filing day |
| Our advice | Do it in week one | There is no argument for this column |
Working inside the shell, or changing it
| Factor | Change the shell | Work inside it |
|---|---|---|
| Planning and Zoning | Joins the file | Usually not engaged |
| Structure | New foundations and load paths | Only where an opening changes |
| Site and drainage | Becomes part of the application | Rarely part of it |
| Best when | The house genuinely needs more floor area | The house needs the floor area it has to work better |
Eight things that cost Florida City projects time
- Treating registration as paperwork for filing dayIt is the first requirement the City states, and it is the only one that can be met before anything is designed.
- Leaving demolition out of the setRemoval is in the permit trigger sentence. If it is coming out, it belongs in the file.
- Assuming a footprint change is a detailIt is the line between one division and several, and it is easier to decide than to discover.
- Designing before the divisions are knownThe width of the file should shape the drawings, not be found out by them.
- Planning against a review time nobody publishedThis City publishes none. A programme built on an invented number is a programme built on nothing.
- Answering comments piecemealPartial answers produce partial progress and another cycle.
- Skipping the written specificationAn allowance that is not stated as an allowance becomes an argument later.
- Changing the set after approvalWhat was approved is what is inspected. A later change is a revision, not an adjustment.
What a good Florida City submission looks like
Filed from a registered account
Whole in scope
Answered as one voice
Tick these off as you go — nothing is stored or sent, the list is here purely so you can use it while you compare contractors.
More of the work
Rooms, decks and the details in between.
Kitchens
Full remodels including layout changes, relocated services and appliance runs that need their own attention at rough-in.
Bathrooms
Plumbing, electrical and ventilation in the smallest room in the house, where the waterproofing detail matters most.
Additions
Where the site plan joins the file and the footprint becomes a live question rather than a given.
Accessory units
A small building with its own services, which is why it reaches more of Community Development than anything else a homeowner asks for.
Questions we are actually asked
Florida City, answered.
The City states it in capitals: "ALL NEW APPLICATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO REGISTER ON eTRAKiT." It is not described as a preference or a convenience, and it is the one requirement on a Florida City project that can be met before a single design decision is made.
The City describes it as giving "24/7 online access to planning applications, building permits, inspections, business tax licenses, and code compliance services". That is the whole relationship with the City, not just the application form.
The City puts it as broadly as it can be put: "Any construction, alterations, removal or demolition of any structure within the Florida City limits requires a building permit." Note that removal and demolition are named alongside construction.
Florida City publishes no review duration, and neither do we. A number invented by a contractor is worth nothing to you, and a number borrowed from a third-party permitting site is worth less than nothing, because it reads as though it came from the City.
That depends on the scope. The City publishes four divisions with described remits: Planning and Zoning, Building, Code Compliance and Licensing. Work inside the existing shell is largely a Building matter; anything that changes the footprint brings Planning and Zoning in.
The City names it in the trigger sentence, so yes. Practically, that means anything being taken out is drawn and filed rather than treated as site preparation that happens before the real work starts.
It is the code compliance side of the same department. The City publishes the calendar: "All Special Magistrate meetings are conducted virtually and are held on the second Tuesday of each month at 2:00 p.m." Most homeowners never meet it, and it is still worth knowing it exists.
Almost certainly. Moving plumbing, altering circuits or changing ventilation is alteration work, and alteration is named in the trigger sentence. The more useful question is whether your scope stays inside Building or reaches further.
You can, and the question is whether they are drawn for the people who will read them. A set that satisfies a homeowner and a set that satisfies a plan reviewer are different documents.
The people who drew the set are the people who answer the comments and the people on site when the inspector arrives. Nothing is lost in a handover, because there is no handover.
Against a drawn scope and a written specification, with allowances stated as allowances. We do not give a number before there is a scope for it to stand on.
Elbaz Construction is a Certified Building Contractor, licence CBC1265280, licensed, bonded and insured, and verifiable with the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation.
Yes. We file in 104 municipalities across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, and Florida City is one of them. Filing widely is how we know that a registration-first city rewards early preparation more than most.
Expect the widest file this City produces for a residential project. An accessory unit is a small building with its own services, so the site plan, the setbacks and the services are all live at once.
The address, any survey you hold, roughly what permits have been pulled before, and what you want the house to do. A solution is less useful to us than the problem.
No. Everything attributed to the City on this page is its own published wording, read on 20 August 2026, and requirements change. We do not publish review-time promises or approval odds, because neither is ours to give.
Why Elbaz
One contractor, one account, one file.
- Design-build, genuinelyDrawings, permitting and construction under one contract. The person who decided the scope is the person on site.
- We register before we designThe City requires it of all new applications, and it is the only step that can be finished while the brief is still being argued about.
- We draw what is coming outRemoval and demolition are in the permit trigger, so they are in the set.
- We answer comments togetherReconciled across the drawings, then resubmitted once.
- CBC1265280Certified Building Contractor, licensed, bonded and insured, verifiable with the Florida DBPR.
- 104 municipalities, three countiesMiami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. Every one files differently.
- We price against a drawn scopeAnd a written specification, with allowances stated as allowances.
- We quote the City, not ourselvesEvery process fact on this page is published Florida City material.
What homeowners say
Reviews, unedited.
Published on Google, quoted here word for word. We do not shorten, merge or rewrite a review.
Read all 343 reviews on Google
Elbaz Construction provided excellent service and outstanding craftsmanship. The team was professional and attentive to our needs. We’re extremely satisfied with the results!
I am very grateful that Ashley took on my project . Now every morning I run to my beautiful kitchen because it is more than I expected. Thank you Ashley for your efforts, understanding and patience
We had a good time dealing with Asher and the crew, he went over and above all our expectations and made every effort to ensure that the end result was up to their high standards. Thank you !!
Outstanding service by Elbaz Construction. The team finished our bathroom in a timely fashion. Highly recommended for anyone who is looking for reliable construction work
Related reading and services
Service Areas
Proudly serving homeowners across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach
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104 municipalities across three counties — and we hold the licence to build in all of them. Not sure about your address? Ask us.
Start here
Tell us the address. We will tell you what has to exist first.
Most of what determines a Florida City project is knowable before anything is drawn: whether the account exists, whether the footprint changes, and whether anything is coming out as well as going in.
What happens after you send this
- A call back within one business day
- A site visit to see what is actually there
- A written scope, and the divisions that come with it
- A price against that scope, with allowances stated
Useful to have ready
- The property address
- Any survey you hold
- Any permits pulled on the property
- Whether anything is being taken away
- What you want the house to do
Licensed, bonded and insured
Certified Building Contractor CBC1265280
Design-build: drawings, permitting and construction in-house
104 municipalities across three counties
Thanks — that came through.
Your details are with the Elbaz Construction team. We will call you back to arrange the site visit and the scope conversation. If it is urgent, call us on (754) 236-0675.
