What decides a South Miami submission
A short published minimum, and a conversation for the rest.
Most municipalities publish a long list and mean about half of it. South Miami publishes a short one and means all of it, then tells you where the rest of the answer lives.
The City’s stated minimum is two items, and the sentence that follows them is the important one: “This could include two copies of drawings, product control approvals, etc.” Could. Not will. Then: “If you want to know what to submit for your project please call the Building Department at 305-663-6355 and we will tell you what is needed.” A published invitation to telephone is not an absence of process — it is the City declining to pretend that one list fits every property, and it means the first useful hour on a South Miami project is spent on the phone rather than at a printer.
A permit application completely filled out and signed by the property owner and the contractor qualifier, plus proof of ownership.
Drawings and product control approvals are named as things the submission “could include”, not as things it always does.
All forms submitted to the Permit Desk must be originals and notarised, with two copies of any accompanying documentation.
The Planning Board, the Environmental Review and Preservation Board, the Historic Preservation Board and a Design Review Board.
- Licensed & insuredState-licensed GC, bonded and insured
- Design-buildDrawings, permitting and construction in-house
- We make the callBefore the set is drawn, not after
- 104 municipalitiesSouth Miami is one of them
- CBC1265280Verifiable with the Florida DBPR
What we build
Kitchens, bathrooms, additions and accessory units.
The four things a homeowner here usually wants, and the different amounts of conversation each of them needs before a set is drawn.
The published list is short.
The right list is a phone call away.
There is a version of this page that would guess. It would set out a confident schedule of what South Miami requires for a kitchen, an addition and an accessory unit, and it would be wrong often enough to be dangerous. The City has published two required items and an invitation to ask about the rest, so the honest planning move is to ask early — and the practical one is to have somebody who makes that call as a matter of routine rather than as a favour.
- Kitchen and bathroom remodelling, where the services do the work
- Home additions, where the outside of the house changes
- Accessory and in-law units, which are small buildings in their own right
- Whole-home renovation, where every question gets asked at once
What is certain
The signed application, proof of ownership, originals and notarisation. Those are published requirements and they do not vary with the project.
What is confirmed
Drawings, product control approvals and whether any board application applies. The City asks to be telephoned about these rather than publishing a rule.
An accessory living space, from outside
The exterior of a completed accessory living space, on a South Florida project by Elbaz Construction. Anything that changes what a property looks like from outside is worth raising in the first call.
Not sure what your project will be asked for?
Neither is anybody who has not asked. Tell us the address and the brief and we will make the call before anything is drawn.
The work itself
Finished rooms, and the checks behind them.
Three frames from South Florida projects by Elbaz Construction. The third is what a completed structural connection looks like when somebody has gone and verified it.
A finished double vanity with lit mirror and stone worktop. Two basins is a plumbing decision made at first fix, not a fitting chosen at the end.
Every photograph on this page is of a South Florida project by Elbaz Construction. None is presented as being in South Miami, and no pictured property is said to have been permitted by the City.
How we work
One contractor, from the first phone call to the last inspection.
What design-build changes in South Miami
- The call
- Made by the people who will draw the set, before they draw it
- Drawings
- Produced in-house, to what the City actually asked for
- Paperwork
- Originals and notarisation handled rather than discovered
- Construction
- Built by the team that assembled the submission
- Closeout
- Inspections run against the set that was approved
Ask before drawing
The City publishes a number and an offer to tell you what is needed. We take it up at the start of a project rather than at the end of one.
Confirm which body applies
Four boards hold forms in South Miami. Which one a project meets is a question for Planning and Zoning, and it is asked early.
Assemble to the standard, not to a guess
Originals, notarisation and two copies of accompanying documentation are published requirements, so they are prepared rather than improvised.
Build to the approved set
What was approved is what gets built, and the inspections are run against that same set rather than a later revision nobody filed.
Want the questions asked before the drawings start?
That conversation is free, and in this City it replaces a lot of guessing.
Three ways a South Miami project runs
Pick the one that matches how much of the property changes.
None of these is better than the others. They differ in how much has to be settled by conversation before a set can be drawn at all.
A
Inside, and invisible from the street
Kitchens, bathrooms, finishes and services within the existing walls. Nothing about the outside of the property changes.
- The two published items still apply
- Drawings confirmed rather than assumed
- The narrowest set of questions to ask
- Right when the house has the space and not the layout
B
Inside, with structure moving
Openings, load paths and relocated services. Still within the envelope, but with engineered content in the set and product approvals likely.
- Product control approvals become a live question
- Engineered content in the drawings
- Sequencing matters on site
- Right when the layout is wrong rather than the size
C
Changing what is seen from outside
Additions, accessory units and anything that alters the elevation, the footprint or the site. This is where a board question is worth raising first rather than last.
- Which board applies is a question, not an assumption
- Elevations and site information matter more
- New foundations and new services
- Right for more floor area, not better floor area
Things worth raising in the first call
- Any change to the elevation or to what the property looks like from the street
- A change of footprint, which is a site question before it is a building one
- An accessory structure, which is a small building of its own
- A load-bearing wall coming out, which brings engineered content into the set
- Impact-rated windows or doors, where product control approvals come in
- Anything on a property with a history worth checking before design is fixed
- A change to how the property is used
- Any earlier work on the property that was never permitted
Which board applies is confirmed with planning and zoning, not assumed here. The City publishes the forms these boards use, not their procedures, and the list above is a list of things worth asking about rather than a set of triggers.
The sequence
From an idea to an issued South Miami permit.
The City tells you where to start: with a question. The rest of this sequence is ours, and the first step is the one most projects skip.
Make the call
The City publishes the number and the offer. We use it before design is fixed, when the answer can still change the drawings cheaply.
Scope and brief
Establish what the house has to do, and how much of the property changes in order for it to do it.
Drawings and written specification
Produced to what the City has actually asked for on this project, with allowances stated as allowances.
Forms, originals and notarisation
All forms submitted to the Permit Desk must be originals and notarised, with two copies of any accompanying documentation.
Submission and any comments
Filed, then whatever comes back is reconciled across the whole set before anything is resubmitted.
Build and inspect
Construction against the approved set, with inspections run in the order the trades actually finish.
No duration is stated anywhere in this sequence. No review duration is published by south miami, and we do not invent one.
What we do, step by step
Ten things that happen on a South Miami 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 what has to be asked
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
The Building Department call
The City publishes the invitation
QC · FreeWe ask what this specific project will be asked for, rather than assuming a list that fits every property.
A submission requirement that came from the City
Board question
Confirmed with Planning and Zoning
QC · FreeFour boards hold forms in South Miami. Whether one of them applies is confirmed rather than guessed at.
A clear answer before design is fixed
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
Drawn to what was actually asked for
QC · Agreed up frontIncluding product control approvals where the project needs them, which is a question that gets a published answer.
A set built for the people who will read it
Forms and notarisation
Originals, notarised, in duplicate
QC · IncludedThe Permit Desk requires originals and notarisation, with two copies of accompanying documentation. That is prepared, not improvised.
A package that meets the published standard
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.
A finished project and a closed permit
Nothing here is a review-time promise. No review duration is published by south miami, and we do not invent one.
What the City publishes
South Miami, in its own words.
Everything in this section is published City of South Miami material, read on 20 August 2026.
The paperwork sequence, in order
- The minimumA “permit application completely filled out and signed by the property owner and Contractor’s qualifier”.
- AndProof of ownership.
- The conditional part“This could include two copies of drawings, product control approvals, etc.”
- The invitationCall the Building Department on 305-663-6355 “and we will tell you what is needed”.
- At the Permit DeskAll forms must be originals and notarised.
- CopiesTwo copies of any accompanying documentation.
- Planning BoardHolds six published application types.
- Those sixSpecial Exception, Special Use, Variance, Rezoning, Text Amendment, Waiver of Plat.
- ERPBThe Environmental Review and Preservation Board.
- Historic Preservation BoardWhose form is a Certificate of Appropriateness Review.
- Design Review BoardThe fourth body that holds forms here.
- Who confirmsPlanning and Zoning, on 305-663-6326.
Four things worth knowing before you file in South Miami
A signed application and proof of ownership. Everything else in the published text is introduced with “could”.
Forms at the Permit Desk must be originals and notarised. A scan of a signature is not a form here.
Planning, Environmental Review and Preservation, Historic Preservation and Design Review. The City publishes the forms these boards use, not their procedures.
It is not a workaround or a shortcut. The City has written down that it will tell you what your project needs if you ask.
We will not tell you which South Miami board reviews your project, because the City does not publish the triggers and inventing a review hierarchy would be worse than saying nothing. Which board applies is confirmed with planning and zoning, not assumed here, on 305-663-6326 or at planning@southmiamifl.gov. We do not publish a review duration either: no review duration is published by south miami, and we do not invent one. Requirements change; we ask on every file rather than relying on the last answer we got.
What moves the number
What actually drives a South Miami 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 anything visible from outside changes
An elevation change is the single question most worth settling before design in a city with four boards holding forms.
Whether load-bearing structure moves
A wall that carries brings an engineer into the set and a sequence into the programme.
Whether the footprint changes
The site stops being background information and becomes part of the submission.
The condition of what is already there
What is behind the wall decides more of the price than what goes on it.
How far the services move
Plumbing and electrical are cheap to extend and expensive to relocate.
Product approvals
Named by the City as something a submission could include, and the answer changes what can be specified.
Specification level
Allowances are stated as allowances so the price does not quietly become somebody else’s decision later.
Site access and storage
Where material can be delivered and left changes labour more than most owners expect.
Earlier unpermitted work
It surfaces eventually, and it is cheaper to find in week one than in month four.
How early the questions were asked
In this City that is the variable with the most leverage, and it costs a phone call.
Every driver above changes either the drawings, the submission or the build — and most change two of the three.
What a realistic programme looks like
- The call, made before design rather than after it
- Scope and concept, agreed before anything is engineered
- Permit set drawn to what the City actually asked for
- Forms prepared as originals and notarised, with duplicate documentation
- Construction against the approved set, inspected as the trades finish
Seven questions worth asking any contractor here
- Have you called the South Miami Building Department about this project?
- What did they say the submission needs?
- Has anyone confirmed whether a board application applies?
- 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
- Proof of ownership, which is one of the two published requirements
- Any survey you hold, and how old it is
- Any permits pulled on the property, and roughly when
- Whether anything visible from the street is changing
- 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
Certain, conditional, confirmed.
Three categories rather than one list, because that is how the City itself has written it down.
Drawn from the published Documents Needed text and from the forms the City publishes for its boards. The bands describe what is stated and what is not; they are not a prediction about a specific property.
Who holds what in South Miami
- Building Department. The permit desk, and the published number to ring
- Planning and Zoning. Who confirms which board application applies
- Planning Board. Six published application types
- Environmental Review and Preservation Board. Holds its own forms
- Historic Preservation Board. Certificate of Appropriateness Review
- Design Review Board. The fourth body publishing forms here
Something the City says a submission could include is something it may require of yours. The way to find out is the way the City has published: ask.
Decisions worth making early
The choices that change a South Miami project most.
Asking before you draw, or drawing and finding out
| Factor | Ask first | Draw first |
|---|---|---|
| What the City offers | To tell you what is needed if you call | The same offer, taken up later |
| Cost of the answer | A telephone call | A revision, sometimes a redesign |
| When it can happen | Before the brief is even fixed | After the drawings are paid for |
| What it changes | The set that gets drawn | The set that has to be drawn again |
| Board question | Raised while options are still open | Raised when a decision has already been made |
| Risk | None worth naming | Designing against a list nobody confirmed |
| Our advice | Make the call in week one | There is no argument for this column |
Keeping the outside as it is, or changing it
| Factor | Change the elevation | Leave it alone |
|---|---|---|
| Questions to confirm | More, and worth asking early | Fewer |
| Structure | New foundations and load paths | Only where an opening changes |
| Site information | Becomes part of the conversation | Rarely engaged |
| Best when | The house genuinely needs more floor area | The house needs the floor area it has to work better |
Eight things that cost South Miami projects time
- Treating the published minimum as the whole listTwo items are always required. The sentence after them says drawings and product approvals could be too.
- Not making the call the City invitedIt is published, it is free, and it is the only way to know what this specific project will be asked for.
- Turning up with copies instead of originalsForms at the Permit Desk must be originals and notarised.
- Assuming which board appliesThe City publishes the forms these boards use, not their procedures. Planning and Zoning confirms it.
- Fixing the elevation before asking about itWhat a property looks like from outside is the part most worth raising first in a city with four boards.
- Planning against a review time nobody publishedNone is published here, and a borrowed figure reads as though it came from the City.
- 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 South Miami submission looks like
Built on an answer, not an assumption
Correct as paper
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 outside of the property changes and the questions worth asking early become the questions worth asking first.
Accessory units
A small building with its own services, and its own conversation with the City before anything is drawn.
Questions we are actually asked
South Miami, answered.
Two things, always: a "permit application completely filled out and signed by the property owner and Contractor\u2019s qualifier", and proof of ownership. The City then adds that the submission "could include two copies of drawings, product control approvals, etc." Could, not will.
Because one checklist does not fit every property, and the City says so in its own words: "If you want to know what to submit for your project please call the Building Department at 305-663-6355 and we will tell you what is needed." That is a published route, not a workaround.
Yes. All forms submitted to the Permit Desk must be originals and notarised, with two copies of any accompanying documentation. It is the kind of requirement that costs a day if you find it on filing day.
We do not know, and neither does anybody who has not asked. Four boards hold forms here: the Planning Board, the Environmental Review and Preservation Board, the Historic Preservation Board and a Design Review Board. Which one applies is confirmed with Planning and Zoning on 305-663-6326.
The City publishes six application types for it: Special Exception, Special Use, Variance, Rezoning, Text Amendment and Waiver of Plat. What it publishes is the forms; the triggers and procedures behind them are not published, which is why this page does not describe them.
It is the application the Historic Preservation Board publishes. Beyond the existence of that form, the City does not publish what the Board requires, so this page does not either.
No review duration is published by South Miami, and we do not invent one. A figure borrowed from a third-party permitting site is worse than no figure, because it reads as though the City said it.
Almost certainly. Moving plumbing, altering circuits or changing ventilation is permitted work. The more useful question in this City is what the submission will be asked to contain, and that is a phone call.
Then it is worth raising first rather than last. Four separate bodies hold forms in South Miami, and anything visible from the street is the kind of change most worth confirming before a design is fixed.
You can, and the question is whether they contain what the City has asked for on this project. That is knowable in advance here, which is exactly why the call matters.
The people who made the call are the people who drew the set, answered the comments and stood on site when the inspector arrived. 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 South Miami is one of them. Filing widely is how we know that a city which offers to tell you what it needs is a city worth telephoning early.
The address, proof of ownership, 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, and a habit of asking first.
- Design-build, genuinelyDrawings, permitting and construction under one contract. The person who decided the scope is the person on site.
- We take the published invitationThe City offers to tell you what a project needs. We ring before design is fixed, not after.
- We confirm rather than assumeWhich board applies is a question for Planning and Zoning, and it gets asked while the answer can still change the drawings.
- We prepare paper properlyOriginals, notarisation and duplicate documentation, ready rather than improvised at the Permit Desk.
- 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 South Miami 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
If I could refer anybody to getting their bathroom redone it's through this company very reliable honest and clean work
Dealing with Asher was a truly enjoyable experience. His team is experienced and swift. They did a splendid job!
Excellent beautiful work on our kitchen project. Asher passion and professionalism were outstanding! Very happy with the outcome
Elbaz Construction provided excellent service and great customer service. also provide the right team to get the job done. Any project or style that’s needed it. Elbaz Construction is the place to call. Thank you!
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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 make the call.
Most of what determines a South Miami project is knowable before anything is drawn, because the City has offered to tell you. The only reason a project here starts on a guess is that nobody asked.
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 an answer from the City rather than an assumption
- A price against that scope, with allowances stated
Useful to have ready
- The property address
- Proof of ownership
- Any survey you hold
- Any permits pulled on the property
- 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.
