How Long Does a Bathroom Remodel Take in South Florida?

Bathroom remodel timeline

The short answer

Before any demolition

Clock one: how long the permit can take

Most bathroom remodels need a permit, because they move or replace plumbing, wiring or ventilation (Florida Building Code, section 105.1). Florida then limits how long the building department may take. Section 553.792, Florida Statutes, as amended by HB 803 (chapter 2026-63, in force since July 1, 2026), sets these maximums once an application is “complete and sufficient”:

Four details decide whether those numbers help you:

• The clock starts at “complete”. The department has 5 business days to tell you what is missing. If it says nothing, the application is treated as complete. Missing drawings or product approvals restart the wait.
• Corrections have their own clock. After you resubmit corrected plans, the department has 10 business days to approve or deny them. Some cities also set a deadline for you: the City of Miami requires corrections to rejection comments within 10 business days, or the application is denied and must be resubmitted with fees.
• A missed deadline costs the department, not you. The permit fee drops by 10% for each business day the department is late, unless both sides agree in writing to an extension. You may waive the timeframes in writing, but the law says the department cannot make a waiver a condition of reviewing your application.
• Private providers are an option. Section 553.791 lets the owner use a licensed private provider for plan review, inspections or both, with separate statutory deadlines for the building official.

These are legal maximums, not predictions: a department can be faster. What you control is the quality of the application. A complete package with drawings, fixture and product details and the right trade permits is the fastest one. Our residential permit service and plan-review corrections exist for exactly that step.

Three questions

Which permit path your bathroom follows

Not every bathroom project follows the same path. HB 803 also added an exemption: the owner of a single-family dwelling may ask, in writing, to skip the permit for work valued under $7,500. It never covers electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical or gas work, or a property in a flood hazard area, and splitting a project to get under the limit is not allowed. Fort Lauderdale’s guide adds that condos and multifamily buildings are not included. So the exemption fits cosmetic work only, such as new paint or a like-for-like vanity, and the building official still decides.

Where the permit comes from depends on the address, not the county name. Each city in Miami-Dade, and most cities in Broward and Palm Beach, run their own building department. The county pages for Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach and our three-county permit guide explain who handles what.

On site

Clock two: the build, and where it has to stop

Once the permit is issued, a full bathroom remodel runs in a fixed order, because each trade covers the work of the one before it. The order matters more than any single task: the schedule slips when a step has to wait for an inspection, a part or a decision.

• Demolition shows what the walls and floor hide. This is where rot, old leaks or outdated wiring appear, and where a fixed schedule can change.
• Rough-in sets the new supply and drain lines, circuits, lighting boxes and the exhaust fan in their final positions. Moving a toilet or a shower drain is the slowest version of this step.
• Rough inspection. Miami-Dade County’s building department states it plainly: “Inspections are required prior to covering any part of the construction.” The County inspects Monday to Friday, 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and inspections are requested one business day ahead, with the approved plans and permit card on site. Beyond the first inspection and one follow-up, each extra inspection carries a fee.
• Walls closed and waterproofed. Backer board goes up and the shower is waterproofed.
• Shower liner test. Where the shower floor is made watertight with a liner, the Florida Building Code, Plumbing (section 312.9) requires a flood test: the drain plugged, at least 2 inches of water at the threshold, held for at least 15 minutes with no sign of leakage. Tile goes on only after it passes.
• Tile, fixtures and glass. Tile, then the vanity, toilet, valves and trim, lighting and, last, the glass enclosure, which is usually measured after the tile is finished.
• Final inspection closes the permit. Until then, the job is not finished on paper.

Planning

What keeps a schedule, and what stretches it

Most delays are not about how fast anyone works. They come from a decision or a discovery arriving after the step that needed it.

Special cases

Condos, HOAs and flood zones

• Condo units need the association’s approval under the building’s documents as well as the permit, and the $7,500 exemption does not apply. Building rules on work hours, elevators and noise shape the schedule too. Our guide to condo renovation approvals and permits covers the sequence.
• Homes in an HOA. Since July 1, 2026, an HOA or its architectural committee may not require a building permit before it reviews your project (section 720.3035(1)(c), added by HB 803). HOA review and permit review can therefore run at the same time. See HOA and historic approvals.
• Flood zones. The under-$7,500 exemption excludes any property in a flood hazard area. If the bathroom is part of a larger renovation, check the FEMA 50% rule before the scope is fixed, because it can change what the whole project must meet.

Interactive checklist

Before demolition day: a checklist

Our process

How we plan a bathroom remodel

On our bathroom remodels, from a full bathroom remodel to a walk-in shower conversion or a tub-to-shower conversion, the layout, selections and permit package are settled before demolition, so the trades are not waiting on decisions. On a design-build project, the drawings the building department reviews are the drawings we build.

We do not publish a standard duration, because the permit path, the building and what is behind the walls differ on every job. We give you a schedule for your bathroom after we have seen it. Send us your plans or photos and we will tell you which permits apply and what the sequence looks like.