10 service categories · 100 service pages · Miami-Dade, Broward & Palm Beach
View all services
Homestead tells you
exactly what to hand in —
down to the blank corner.
Licensed general contracting, construction and remodeling in the City of Homestead — where the naming convention can get an application refused, plan sheets are grouped by discipline, and every drawing leaves a corner empty to a published size for the City’s stamp.
- Licensed, bonded & insured · CBC1265280
- 104 municipalities across 3 counties
- Design-build: permitting & construction in-house
Miami-Dade · Broward & Palm Beach Counties
ScrollThanks — that came through.
Your details are with the Elbaz Construction team and we will come back to you, usually the same or next working day. If it is urgent, call (754) 236-0675.
Recent work
Permitted work, at the stages a permitted job passes through.
Structures, covers, decks and driveways built by Elbaz Construction across South Florida — categories that in Homestead sit on the City’s structural list or need a permit regardless of value. None of the properties shown is in Homestead. Select any frame to open it full size.
The city, defined
A city that publishes the format, not only the rule.
Almost every municipality tells you which work needs a permit. Homestead does that too, and then keeps going: it publishes what the submission itself has to look like. Plan sheets are grouped according to disciplines. Files follow a standard naming convention, and the City states plainly that an application will not be accepted if that convention is not followed. Drawings are signed and sealed digitally rather than in ink.
The clearest example is a rectangle of empty paper. Because the City stamps its approval into the upper-right corner of every page of a plan set, it asks you to leave that corner blank — and it publishes the size, per sheet: two inches by two on an 8.5 by 11, three by three on an 11 by 17, and four and a half by four and a half on a 24 by 36, a 30 by 42 or a 36 by 48. That is a drafting instruction issued by a building department, and it tells you what kind of process this is.
The same instinct runs through everything else the City publishes. An exemption from permitting is claimed in writing, with a copy of the contract, and is reviewed by three separate desks. A private plans reviewer counts only once a Notice to Building Official has been accepted. An owner who wants to pull their own permit sits a test. A Notice of Commencement is not merely recorded but displayed on the job site. In Homestead, nothing is approved by conversation — it is approved on paper, in a format the City has already described.
We work across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, so assembling a submission to one city’s published format is a normal part of the job rather than something learned on your project.
What is included
- Permitting platform
- EPL-B.U.I.L.D., launched 1 October 2025
- Earlier projects
- Legacy system (Community Plus), by start date
- File naming
- Standard convention — or the application is not accepted
- Plan sheets
- Grouped according to disciplines
- Blank stamp area
- 2x2, 3x3 or 4.5x4.5 inches, by sheet size
- Notice of Commencement
- Recorded and displayed on site, above $2,500
Scope index
What we build here
Grouped by how the City’s own published material treats each category once HB 803 takes effect on 1 July 2026. Whether a particular scope is exempt, structural, or inside a flood hazard area is the City’s determination, made by the Building Department — this is the structure, not a determination.
Kitchen renovation
A kitchen brings electrical, plumbing and mechanical work, and the City lists all three as requiring a permit regardless of cost. The value of the job is not the question; the disciplines in it are. The plan set is grouped the same way — by discipline — which is a useful way to think about the project from the start.
Bathroom renovation
Plumbing and electrical again, so the same answer. Where a bathroom moves a wall or alters a floor structure it also becomes structural work on the City’s own broad definition, and that is a second reason the permit is not optional.
Window and door replacement
The City names windows and doors explicitly among the items that "are all items with structural requirements and considered structural". They are also a Miami-Dade product approval question. Neither the exemption nor a modest budget reaches this work.
Roof replacement and repair
Roofing is named in the City’s structural list. It is also one of the six disciplines a private provider may review and inspect, if you elect one before the first required inspection.
Siding, soffits and exterior finishes
Siding and soffits are named. That surprises people who expect a finish trade to be treated as cosmetic — on the City’s list, it is not.
Fences, gates and boundary treatment
Fences sit on both of the City’s lists. Repair or replacement of wood fence pickets and panels appears among the items that may be exempt, expressly excluding the posts; fences also appear in the structural list where a permit is required regardless of cost. We do not resolve that here. The Building Department determines which applies to a given scope, and it is the first thing we ask.
Pool barriers, railings and guards
All three are named in the City’s structural list. Safety barriers in particular are the kind of work owners most often assume is small enough to skip, and the City has been explicit that it is not.
Decks and elevated structures
Elevated decks are named. A ground-level slab and an elevated deck are different propositions in a plan set, and the second one carries engineering.
Floor tiles
One of only three items on the City’s published list of work that may be exempt. Note what that means in practice: the whole project must be under $7,500, it cannot be phased, and the exemption still has to be requested in writing. Tiling alone rarely arrives without something else attached to it.
Gutters
The third item on the exempt list. As with floor tiles, the total value of the entire project decides — not the value of the gutters considered separately.
Whole-home renovation
A whole-home project touches most of the structural list at once and every discipline in the plan set. It is also the case where naming, grouping and sheet discipline stop being clerical details and start deciding how long review takes.
Additions and new construction
Beyond the City, an addition may require Miami-Dade County approval through DERM, Water and Sewer, or impact fees — submitted to the County’s own portal, with those upfront fees paid separately once a County project number has been issued.
What the stages between a stamped drawing and a handover look like
Nine frames, separate South Florida projects
A permitted job is inspected at intervals rather than at the end, and the City lists all of its possible inspections on the back of the permit card. These frames show the stages an inspector actually sees, and the finished condition they lead to.
These nine frames are separate South Florida projects by Elbaz Construction, not one project and not a Homestead property. Select any frame to open it full size.
Specification
Every desk a Homestead submission crosses
Read from the City’s own Development Services and Building Department pages on 2026-08-16. The City names these authorities and what each one handles; it does not publish review timeframes, and neither does this page.
- Building Department
- Issues permits, reviews plans for new structures, reviews proposed improvements to existing structures, conducts inspections and issues certificates of occupancy and completion.
- Floodplain
- Named by the City as one of three reviewers of a permit exemption request. Flood hazard area status is also what removes the HB 803 exemption entirely, so this is not a formality.
- Planning & Zoning
- The third named reviewer of an exemption request, and a separate permit track in its own right — zoning permits are excluded from the exemption regardless of cost.
- Public Works — Right of Way
- Right of way permits are one of the City’s three departments in the permitting overview and are excluded from the HB 803 exemption regardless of cost.
- Miami-Dade County (DERM, WAS-D, impact fees)
- Where a project needs environmental, water and sewer or impact fee review, the application goes to the County’s own portal, and those upfront fees are paid separately once a County project number has been issued.
- Miami-Dade County product control
- Product approvals for rated assemblies. Homestead sits inside the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, and windows, doors and roofing are all on the City’s structural list.
- A private provider, if you elect one
- Permitted under s. 553.791 Florida Statutes for six disciplines only — building, roofing, structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing. The City recognises one only after it has reviewed and accepted a Notice to Building Official.
- The Building Official, for an owner-builder
- An owner must prove knowledge and ability to do the work, and the City states that a test will be administered. The owner must also attend in person to review the documents and application.
Design and material language
The decisions that decide your submission
Five choices that change what the City receives, drawn from its own published requirements rather than from general practice.
Windows and doors
Named as structural
Named in the City’s published material The City places windows and doors inside its own definition of structural work, which requires a permit regardless of cost. In Miami-Dade they are also a product approval question, and the approvals travel with the submission.
Other options. Settle the product and the opening size together, before the set is drawn. A substitution after approval is a revision to sheets that have already been stamped.
Roof covering
Named as structural
Named in the City’s published material Roofing appears in the City’s structural list. It is also one of the six disciplines a private provider may review and inspect, which is worth knowing if programme certainty matters more than the fee.
Other options. Decide early whether a private provider is being used, because the City recognises one only after accepting a Notice to Building Official, and only before the first required inspection.
Siding and soffits
Named as structural
Named in the City’s published material Both are named. An owner who thinks of siding as a finish and of soffit as trim will be surprised by which side of the City’s line they fall on.
Other options. Where these are in scope, treat them as part of the permitted package from the outset rather than as a late addition to a job already under way.
Fences and boundary work
On both lists
Named in the City’s published material Repair or replacement of wood fence pickets and panels appears among the items that may be exempt — expressly excluding the posts — and fences also appear in the structural list. The City determines which applies.
Other options. Ask before ordering. The difference between replacing panels and replacing posts is the difference between two categories the City treats very differently.
Floor tile and gutters
The rest of the exempt list
Named in the City’s published material These are the only other items on the City’s published list of work that may be exempt under $7,500. The value of the entire project decides, and phasing is prohibited.
Other options. If tiling or guttering is genuinely the whole job, request the exemption in writing with the contract. If it is one part of a larger renovation, the exemption is not available and it is better to know that at the estimate stage.
On what is shown. Nothing here is a determination. The City decides what a scope requires, whether an exemption applies and what a complete submission contains, and it publishes no review timeframe — so this page describes the decisions, not their outcomes.
Process
How we run a project here
Eleven steps. The order follows the City’s own sequence: establish the system and the category first, then build the submission to the published format, then the permit, then the inspections.
The scope, the address, and whether any part of it is a project already under way in the City’s legacy system.
We establish with the Building Department how the scope sits against the exemption list, the structural list and flood hazard status — three separate questions with one answer between them.
Drawn as a coordinated set rather than as separate trade sketches, because the City receives it grouped by discipline.
Sheet sizes chosen, title blocks positioned, and the upper-right corner of every page left blank to the size the City publishes for that sheet.
Files named to the standard convention before upload, because the City states an application will not be accepted without it.
Digital signing and sealing, and notarisation — remotely where that suits the schedule.
DERM, Water and Sewer or impact fee applications submitted to Miami-Dade County separately, with its upfront fees paid once a County project number is issued.
Through EPL-B.U.I.L.D., or the legacy route if the project began before 1 October 2025.
Recorded and then displayed on the job site, for work over $2,500 in value, before the first inspection.
Sequenced so each trade is genuinely ready for its inspection, with the permit card and approved plans on site and access arranged.
Final inspections, certification, and the documents handed over in a form you can produce again when the property is sold.
Technical brief
What the City publishes, and what it says exactly
Fourteen references, each read off an official City source on 2026-08-16. Where the City’s own pages disagree, both versions are here.
Two live systems, forked by date
The City launched EPL-B.U.I.L.D. on 1 October 2025 for building, utilities, inspections and land development applications, and states the project is being implemented in two phases. A permit application started before that date is considered a legacy project and continues through the City’s legacy system.
The naming convention is a condition of acceptance
The City publishes a standard naming convention for uploaded files and states that your application will not be accepted if the naming convention is not followed.
Plans grouped by discipline
The City allows multi-page uploads, but plans must be grouped according to disciplines — mechanical, electrical, plumbing, architectural or civil scopes of work uploaded in accordance with the applicable disciplines.
The blank corner, by sheet size
For drawings and plans to be approved the City adds a seal or stamp to the upper-right corner of each page within the plan, and asks that the corner be left blank: a 2 by 2 area on an 8.5 by 11 sheet; 3 by 3 on 11 by 17; and 4.5 by 4.5 on 24 by 36, 30 by 42 and 36 by 48.
Digital seals and remote notarisation
Drawings or documents that need to be signed and sealed must be signed and sealed digitally. Applications may be notarised using a Remote Online Notary and an electronic signature.
Miami-Dade County is a separate submission
Where a building permit requires approval from Miami-Dade County’s Department of Environmental Management, the Water and Sewer Department, or payment of impact fees, the application is submitted to Miami-Dade County through its own portal, and those upfront fees are paid separately once a County project number has been issued.
HB 803 — what may be exempt
CS/CS/HB 803 takes effect 1 July 2026 and establishes two permit exemptions for single-family residential properties. On work valued at less than $7,500, the City publishes the items that may be exempt as three: repair or replacement of wood fence pickets and panels, excluding replacing wood posts; floor tiles; and gutters.
HB 803 — what a permit still covers, regardless of cost
Electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas work; structural work, which the City defines as "Railings, guards, pool barrier, fences, windows and doors, siding and soffits, roofing, elevated decks are all items with structural requirements and considered structural"; any work on a property located partially or entirely within a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code; right of way and planning and zoning permits; and landscape permits for tree removal or planting.
No phasing, and the request is written
The total value of the entire project decides eligibility, only one complete construction project under $7,500 is eligible, and the City states you cannot split one construction project into multiple smaller permits or phases to keep the value of each under $7,500. The exemption is requested in writing, with the City’s Permit Exemption Request Form and a copy of the written contract or other documentation of the nature and value of the work.
The legal notice, quoted in full
Published under both exemptions: "The City of Homestead has no legal duty to the owner, contractor, or their successors or assigns for any work performed under this exemption." An exemption is not an approval, and the City has said so in terms.
HB 803 — the second exemption, and its five conditions
For the voluntary installation of temporary hurricane and flood protection walls or barriers, all five of the following must be met: the wall or barrier is non-load-bearing and non-habitable; it is installed on the residential property of a single-family dwelling, two-family dwelling or townhouse; it is constructed to mitigate or prevent storm surge or floodwaters from entering a structure or property; it is installed by a contractor licensed under Part I of Chapter 489, Florida Statutes; and it complies with all applicable local zoning, drainage, easement and setback requirements. The City states that if any condition is not met, a permit is required — and that this exemption applies only to properties NOT located in a Special Flood Hazard Area.
Three desks review an exemption request
The City states that exemption requests will be reviewed by Building, Floodplain and Zoning, and are submitted through the EPL-B.U.I.L.D. portal. Being told you do not need a permit is itself a reviewed decision here.
Private providers, and the limits the City sets
Under s. 553.791 Florida Statutes an owner may elect a private provider at any time before the first required inspection, but the City recognises one only after it has reviewed and accepted a Notice to Building Official. The City will not allow plans review only. Private providers may review and inspect six disciplines — building, roofing, structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing — and the City states that zoning, public works and fire are not allowed under the statute. If a private provider is terminated the owner must secure another, because the City will not take over plan review or inspection duties. Permit fees are reduced by ten percent of the building department portion for plans review and inspections, or five percent for inspections only, and private providers must be registered with Miami-Dade County.
Where the City’s own pages disagree on the code edition
One conflict, current on the City’s site and not resolved here. The Building Department page states that the division "Reviews proposed improvements to existing structures per Florida Building Code F.B.C. 2020 edition". The Building Code page it links to is headed "Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023)". Confirm with the Building Department which edition your drawings must demonstrate compliance with before you commission them — the answer changes the drawings, not just the paperwork.
Disclaimer. Nothing on this sheet is a determination about a specific property. The City decides what a scope requires, whether an exemption applies, and what a complete submission contains.
Assembly
The route a Homestead application takes, drawn.
An indicative diagram of the City’s published structure, not a determination. The first fork is not about the work at all — it is about when the project started, because that decides which of two live systems it belongs to.
Key
- 01
- Start date establishes which system applies
- 02
- Scope tested against the exemption and structural lists
- 03
- Drawings grouped by discipline
- 04
- Files named to the standard convention
- 05
- Upper-right corner left blank to the published size
- 06
- Digitally signed, sealed and notarised
- 07
- Permit, inspections, certification
The first question is a date
EPL-B.U.I.L.D. launched on 1 October 2025 and is being implemented in two phases. A project begun before that date is a legacy project and continues through the City’s legacy system. Two live routes, and which one you are on is decided by history rather than by scope.
Naming is a rejection criterion
The City states that an application will not be accepted if the standard naming convention is not followed. That is not a comment on a review — it is the door.
Group the set by discipline
Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, architectural and civil sheets are uploaded according to their disciplines rather than as one continuous document.
Leave the corner empty, to size
The City stamps the upper-right corner of every page. Two by two inches on an 8.5 by 11, three by three on an 11 by 17, four and a half by four and a half on a 24 by 36, a 30 by 42 or a 36 by 48. A title block in that corner is a redraw.
Sealed digitally, notarised remotely
Anything requiring signing and sealing is done digitally, and the City accepts applications notarised by a Remote Online Notary. That removes a trip, provided it is arranged before the set is finished rather than after.
The County is a separate submission
Where DERM, Water and Sewer or impact fees apply, that application goes to Miami-Dade County’s portal and those upfront fees are paid separately, once a County project number has been issued.
The stages between an approved drawing and a finished surface
Inspections happen at intervals through a build, and the City lists all possible inspections on the back of the permit card. South Florida projects by Elbaz Construction; neither property is in Homestead.
Performance and quality
How we work
Eight commitments, each one a direct consequence of something this City publishes.
- We establish which system the project is in
- A project started before 1 October 2025 is a legacy project on the City’s own definition. Knowing which of the two routes applies before anything is uploaded avoids the most avoidable delay available here.
- Files are named before they are uploaded
- The City states an application will not be accepted if the naming convention is not followed. We treat that as a checklist item with a tick, not as guidance.
- Sheets are set out for the City’s stamp
- The upper-right corner of every page is left blank to the published size for that sheet size. It costs nothing at drawing stage and it is a reissue afterwards.
- The set is grouped by discipline
- Mechanical, electrical, plumbing, architectural and civil, assembled the way the City receives them rather than the way they were drawn.
- We ask before we assume an exemption
- The exempt list is three items, phasing is prohibited and the request is written with the contract attached. We would rather establish that at estimate stage than discover it mid-job.
- The County submission is planned, not remembered
- Where DERM, Water and Sewer or impact fees apply, that is a separate application and a separate payment on the County’s timetable, and it belongs at the front of the programme.
- The Notice of Commencement goes up, not just in
- Above $2,500 in job value the City requires it recorded and displayed on the job site before the first inspection. Displayed is the part that gets forgotten.
- One licensed contract
- Design coordination, City submittals, permitting and construction under CBC1265280, so no approval falls between two parties.
Cost and timeline
What moves the number
We publish no permit fees for this City — a fee schedule exists and we have not opened it, and the figure that matters is current on the day you file. The only percentages here are the private provider reductions the City publishes as a rule. These are the variables that actually move a price.
| # | Variable | Why it moves the number |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | How many disciplines are in it | The plan set is grouped by discipline and reviewed accordingly. Each additional discipline is more drawing, more review and more inspections. |
| 02 | Whether anything is genuinely exempt | On the City’s published list, very little of a real renovation is. Assuming an exemption and losing it late is more expensive than never assuming it. |
| 03 | Flood hazard area status | Any work on a property partially or entirely within a flood hazard area is outside the exemption regardless of cost, and the second exemption does not apply in a Special Flood Hazard Area at all. |
| 04 | Whether the County is involved | DERM, Water and Sewer or impact fees add a separate application, a separate fee event and a separate timetable that the City does not control. |
| 05 | Legacy project or current platform | Two systems are live. A project carried over from the legacy route is not harder, but it is different, and mixing them is where time goes. |
| 06 | Whether you elect a private provider | It reduces the building department portion of the permit fee by ten percent for plans review and inspections, or five percent for inspections only — against the cost of the provider themselves, and the condition that the City will not take the work back if they stop. |
| 07 | Product approvals for rated assemblies | Windows, doors and roofing are all on the City’s structural list, all need approvals, and all have their own lead times. |
| 08 | Structural intervention | The City’s definition of structural is broad. Where it is genuinely structural in the engineering sense as well, engineering brings its own review and inspection sequence. |
| 09 | Existing conditions | What is behind the finishes on an older building is the largest genuine unknown on most renovation projects anywhere. |
| 10 | Survey and existing documentation | A current survey and any previous City approvals for the property shorten the front of the job appreciably. |
| 11 | Whether the drawings are right first time | Naming, grouping and the blank corner are all conditions the City publishes in advance. A set that satisfies them on the first upload is simply cheaper than one that does not. |
| 12 | Specification level | Finishes, joinery and fittings move a renovation budget more than square footage does, once the shell is settled. |
| 13 | Inspection readiness | The City asks that the site be ready, the approved plans available and access arranged. A failed inspection is a return visit and a gap in the programme. |
Question index
Questions we are asked here
Answered from the City’s own published material. Where the City publishes two different answers, both are given.
Why does my drawing need a blank corner?
Because the City stamps its approval there. For drawings and plans to be approved, the City of Homestead adds a seal to the upper-right corner of each page within the plan, and asks that the corner be left empty so the stamp lands on paper rather than on your title block. It publishes the size per sheet: 2 by 2 inches on an 8.5 by 11, 3 by 3 on an 11 by 17, and 4.5 by 4.5 on a 24 by 36, a 30 by 42 or a 36 by 48. It is a small drafting instruction that is very annoying to discover after a set is finished.
Can a file name really get my application rejected?
The City’s own wording is that your application will not be accepted if the naming convention is not followed. So yes — treat it as a condition of acceptance rather than a preference. The same page also requires plans to be grouped according to disciplines rather than uploaded as one continuous document.
Do I have to sign and seal on paper?
No. The City states that anything requiring signing and sealing must be done digitally, and that applications may be notarised using a Remote Online Notary with an electronic signature. Arrange it before the set is complete rather than after, because it is the kind of thing that otherwise adds a day at the end.
What is EPL-B.U.I.L.D., and does it apply to me?
It is the City’s permitting and licensing platform for building, utilities, inspections and land development applications, launched on 1 October 2025 and being implemented in two phases. If your permit application was started before that date, the City considers it a legacy project and it continues through the City’s legacy system instead. The date the project started decides, not the kind of work.
Does the new $7,500 exemption mean I can skip a permit?
Rarely, on the City’s own published list. From 1 July 2026 the City is required by state law to exempt single-family work valued under $7,500, but the items it names as possibly exempt are three: repair or replacement of wood fence pickets and panels — excluding replacing the posts — floor tiles, and gutters. Everything else on its list still needs a permit regardless of cost.
What counts as "structural" for this?
More than most people expect, and the City is specific: "Railings, guards, pool barrier, fences, windows and doors, siding and soffits, roofing, elevated decks are all items with structural requirements and considered structural." Electrical, plumbing, mechanical and gas work are separately excluded, as is any work on a property partially or entirely within a flood hazard area, right of way and planning and zoning permits, and landscape permits.
Fences appear on both lists. Which is it?
We do not know, and it is not ours to decide. The City lists repair and replacement of wood fence pickets and panels among the items that may be exempt, and separately lists fences among the items considered structural. Both statements are on the same page. The Building Department determines which applies to a particular scope, and that is the first question we ask on a fence job here rather than the last.
Can I split the job to get under $7,500?
No, and the City addresses it directly: the total value of the entire project is used to determine whether it qualifies, only one complete construction project under $7,500 is eligible, and you cannot split one construction project into multiple smaller permits or phases to keep the value of each under $7,500.
How do I actually claim an exemption?
In writing. The City requires a written exemption request including its Permit Exemption Request Form and a copy of the written contract, or other documentation demonstrating the nature and value of the work, submitted through the EPL-B.U.I.L.D. portal. The request is then reviewed by Building, Floodplain and Zoning — three desks to establish that you do not need a permit.
What is the second exemption, and does it apply to my house?
It covers the voluntary installation of temporary hurricane and flood protection walls or barriers, and the City requires all five of its conditions to be met: non-load-bearing and non-habitable; installed on a single-family dwelling, two-family dwelling or townhouse; constructed to mitigate or prevent storm surge or floodwaters entering a structure or property; installed by a contractor licensed under Part I of Chapter 489, Florida Statutes; and compliant with all applicable local zoning, drainage, easement and setback requirements. If any one is not met, a permit is required. The City also states that this exemption applies only to properties not located in a Special Flood Hazard Area — so on many properties the answer is no.
If work is exempt, is it approved?
No, and the City says so in a legal notice published under both exemptions: "The City of Homestead has no legal duty to the owner, contractor, or their successors or assigns for any work performed under this exemption." An exemption removes a permit requirement. It does not transfer responsibility to anyone, and it does not mean the work was reviewed.
Which building code applies here?
The City’s own pages give two answers and we are not going to choose for you. Its Building Department page states that the division reviews proposed improvements to existing structures per Florida Building Code F.B.C. 2020 edition. The Building Code page it links to is headed Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023). Both are live on the City’s site. Confirm with the Building Department which edition your drawings must demonstrate compliance with before they are commissioned.
Can I use my own plans reviewer or inspector?
Yes, within limits the City sets out. Under s. 553.791 Florida Statutes you may elect a private provider at any time before the first required inspection, but the City recognises one only after it has reviewed and accepted a Notice to Building Official, and it will not allow plans review only. The disciplines are limited to building, roofing, structural, electrical, mechanical and plumbing; zoning, public works and fire are not allowed. If the provider is terminated you must secure another, because the City will not take over plan review or inspection duties. Permit fees are reduced by ten percent for plans review and inspections, or five percent for inspections only, and the provider must be registered with Miami-Dade County.
Can I pull the permit myself as the owner?
The City allows it for your own single-family or duplex residence, with conditions worth reading first. You must prove to the Building Official or a designee that you have the knowledge and ability to do the work, and the City states that a test will be administered. You must attend in person to review the documents and application, which must be signed and notarised, and provide proof of ownership. No more than one permit is issued to an owner for the construction of a new single-family or duplex residence in any twenty-four month period. Where there is an existing violation on the property, the City states that no building permit will be issued to a homeowner to cover illegal work.
How long does a permit last?
The City states that permits expire after 180 days if no required inspections have been approved, and that if a permit expires before final inspections it becomes null and void and the project is in violation of the code. It also says that if that has happened it would rather help you activate the permit or apply for a completion permit than leave the work unfinished.
What has to be on site before the first inspection?
The permit and the recorded Notice of Commencement, for all work over $2,500 in job value, must be displayed on the job site — recorded and posted, not simply filed. The City also lists all possible inspections on the back of the permit card, and asks that the site be ready, the approved plans available and access provided, which is how a re-inspection fee is avoided.
Is anything reviewed the same day?
The City publishes a Same-Day Expedited Review Program that gives eligible applications priority review, with review comments, approvals or permits on the same business day. The eligible list it publishes is commercial building painting, residential fence, residential slab, residential mechanical AC change out and residential water heater replacement, alongside several legacy-system items. Eligibility on the day is the City’s call, not ours.
Have you built in Homestead?
The photographs on this page are South Florida projects by Elbaz Construction and none of them is claimed as a Homestead property — we label our work honestly rather than implying a local address. What we bring is a licensed general contractor working across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, who reads a city’s published requirements before drawing to them.
What to establish first
Four questions worth answering before a drawing is commissioned. All four are answered by the City or by Miami-Dade County, not by a contractor.
Observations
- 01
- When the project started
This decides which of two live systems you are in. EPL-B.U.I.L.D. from 1 October 2025; the City’s legacy system for anything begun before it. It is the cheapest question on this list and the one most often skipped. - 02
- Whether the property is in a flood hazard area
It removes the HB 803 exemption regardless of cost, and a Special Flood Hazard Area designation removes the temporary flood barrier exemption as well. It is also a reviewer in its own right on an exemption request. - 03
- Which code edition your drawings must meet
The City publishes two different answers on two of its own pages. Ask the Building Department which applies before drawings are commissioned rather than after they are submitted. - 04
- Whether Miami-Dade County has to see it
DERM, Water and Sewer and impact fees are a separate application to the County’s own portal, with upfront fees paid separately once a County project number is issued. That belongs at the front of a programme, not in the middle of one.
Credentials and delivery
Why Elbaz Construction
Six things that are verifiable rather than asserted.
Licensed general contractor
CBC1265280 — certified building contractor, bonded and insured. Verifiable in the Florida DBPR licence register.
We build the submission to the published format
Naming convention, discipline grouping, sheet sizes and the blank stamp corner are handled at drawing stage, because the City publishes all four in advance.
We read the City’s own material
Every regulatory statement on this page was taken from an official City source and is attributed to it, including the place where the City contradicts itself on the code edition.
We say what we do not know
No fee schedule, no review timeframes, no staff names and no resolution of the fence question appear on this page, because we have not established them. That is a better guide than a confident guess.
Honest photography
Every image here is a real Elbaz Construction project in South Florida, captioned as such. None is claimed as a Homestead property.
Across three counties
Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach — so one city’s particular submission requirements are a normal part of the work rather than an exception to it.
Google reviews
In their words, unedited.
Reproduced verbatim from the connected Google Business Profile, including original spelling. No review schema is emitted from this page.
★★★★★
“Amazing experience with the entire company! They did a great job in my house for some work that needed to be completed, and I am extremely happy with the result. Super professional & great service. I highly recommend Elbaz Construction.”
Mia Zafrani · Google review
★★★★★
Very professional. Met my exact requests with so much patience and knowledge. They renovated my whole house and the whole process was such a breeze.
Lee Morali
★★★★★
We hired them to renovate our investment property and they provided exceptional quality service for an affordable price!
Shir Partush
★★★★★
From start to end- personal kind treatment, always respectful. Value for money 10/10.
roni yonani
★★★★★
Amazing job Did a total renovation of my house with them
Elie Elancry
Service Areas
Proudly serving homeowners across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach
- Aventura
- Bal Harbour
- Bay Harbor Islands
- Biscayne Park
- Coral Gables
- Cutler Bay
- Doral
- El Portal
- Florida City
- Golden Beach
- Hialeah
- Hialeah Gardens
- Homestead
- Indian Creek
- Key Biscayne
- Medley
- Miami
- Miami Beach
- Miami Gardens
- Miami Lakes
- Miami Shores
- Miami Springs
- North Bay Village
- North Miami
- North Miami Beach
- Opa-locka
- Palmetto Bay
- Pinecrest
- South Miami
- Sunny Isles Beach
- Surfside
- Sweetwater
- Virginia Gardens
- West Miami
- Coconut Creek
- Cooper City
- Coral Springs
- Dania Beach
- Davie
- Deerfield Beach
- Fort Lauderdale
- Hallandale Beach
- Hillsboro Beach
- Hollywood
- Lauderdale-by-the-Sea
- Lauderdale Lakes
- Lauderhill
- Lazy Lake
- Lighthouse Point
- Margate
- Miramar
- North Lauderdale
- Oakland Park
- Parkland
- Pembroke Park
- Pembroke Pines
- Plantation
- Pompano Beach
- Sea Ranch Lakes
- Southwest Ranches
- Sunrise
- Tamarac
- Weston
- West Park
- Wilton Manors
- Atlantis
- Belle Glade
- Boca Raton
- Boynton Beach
- Briny Breezes
- Cloud Lake
- Delray Beach
- Glen Ridge
- Golf
- Greenacres
- Gulf Stream
- Haverhill
- Highland Beach
- Hypoluxo
- Juno Beach
- Jupiter
- Jupiter Inlet Colony
- Lake Clarke Shores
- Lake Park
- Lake Worth Beach
- Lantana
- Loxahatchee Groves
- Manalapan
- Mangonia Park
- North Palm Beach
- Ocean Ridge
- Pahokee
- Palm Beach
- Palm Beach Gardens
- Palm Beach Shores
- Palm Springs
- Riviera Beach
- Royal Palm Beach
- South Bay
- South Palm Beach
- Tequesta
- Wellington
- Westlake
- West Palm Beach
104 municipalities across three counties — and we hold the licence to build in all of them. Not sure about your address? Ask us.
Knowledge library
Related reading.
Related services
Where to go next, depending on which part of the project you are trying to pin down.
- Miami-Dade County
- HOA & Historic District Approval
- Zoning & Variance Assistance
- Architectural Design Services
- Construction Documents & Drawings
- Residential Permit Expediting
- Permit Plan Review & Corrections
- Custom Home Construction
- Second-Storey Additions
- Tile Roofing
- Impact Window Installation
- Landscape & Hardscape Design
- Pergola Installation
- Exterior Painting & Stucco Repair
- Cutler Bay
- Palmetto Bay
- Pinecrest
- Florida City
Start here
Start a Homestead project
Tell us the scope and the address. We will establish which system the project belongs to, how the scope sits against the City’s exemption and structural lists, and what the submission has to carry.
What happens next
- 01
- We call or email within one business day, Sunday to Friday.
- 02
- A category check: which system the project is in, how the scope sits against the exemption and structural lists, and whether the property is in a flood hazard area.
- 03
- A site visit, then a written scope and a proposal against it — with the review path stated in it, not assumed.
- Useful to have
- A survey if you have one, any previous City permits for the property, and the date the project first started if it has been going a while.
Thanks — that came through.
Your details are with the Elbaz Construction team and we will come back to you, usually the same or next working day. If it is urgent, call (754) 236-0675.
Find out what the City needs.
Then build it properly.
Design coordination, City submittals, permitting and construction under one licensed general contractor — in the City of Homestead and across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties.
