What Does a Kitchen Remodel Cost in South Florida?

Kitchen remodel cost

The short answer

Scope and code

The first fork: keep the layout, or move it

Florida classifies work on an existing house by what it changes, in the Florida Building Code, Existing Building (8th edition, 2023). Replacing cabinets, counters and fixtures with new ones that serve the same purpose is a Level 1 alteration (section 602.1). Reconfiguring the space, adding or removing a door or window, or extending a system is Level 2 (603.1), and it brings more of the current code into the job. In a kitchen, three decisions push a project from one to the other:

Same footprint

Keep the layout

Cabinets, counters and appliances are replaced where they are. The plumbing and gas stay put; the budget goes into what you see.

Photo: a teal shaker range wall with a stainless hood and a pro-style range.

New island sink

Move the sink or range

A sink moved to an island needs new drain and vent piping under the floor; a range moved needs new gas or a new circuit, and the hood duct follows it.

Photo: an island with an undermount sink facing a gas rangetop under a stainless hood.

Open plan

Take out a wall

Opening the kitchen to the living area is structural work if the wall carries load: an engineer’s design, a beam and a structural permit.

Photo: an open kitchen with a stone island, handleless cabinets and double wall ovens.

None of this is a reason not to change the layout; a better kitchen is often a moved one. It is a reason to decide the layout first, before cabinets and finishes, because the layout decides the trades, the permits and the engineering, and those are fixed costs that finishes cannot offset.

Code upgrades

Behind the walls: the electrical and ventilation code

The Florida Building Code adopts the 2020 National Electrical Code (section 2701.1). An older kitchen rarely meets it, and once the circuits are changed the new work has to. The rules that most often add work in a kitchen remodel:

• Countertop receptacles need GFCI protection (NEC 210.8(A)(6)), and they must be spaced so that no point along the counter wall is more than 24 inches from one (210.52(C)(1)). A longer or reshaped counter means more outlets.
• At least two 20-amp small-appliance circuits serve the kitchen receptacles (210.11(C)(1)). Many older kitchens have fewer, which is why a remodel often means new circuits back to the panel, and sometimes a panel with room for them.
• AFCI protection: when a kitchen branch circuit is modified, replaced or extended, it must be AFCI-protected (210.12(D)), apart from a short extension of 6 feet or less that adds no outlets.
• Lighting: new permanently installed fixtures must meet the efficacy minimums of the Florida Energy Code (R404.1), which applies to new lighting that is part of an alteration (R503.1.4).

The hood is the other code line item. The Florida Residential Code requires range hoods to discharge to the outdoors through a duct (M1503.1; ductless hoods are allowed by exception), so a hood on an interior wall or island needs a duct route through the ceiling or roof. Big hoods add a second requirement: an exhaust system able to move more than 400 cubic feet per minute must have makeup air (M1503.4). Florida’s version exempts single-family homes up to 400 cfm, and up to 800 cfm when there are no gravity-vent appliances inside the conditioned space. A professional-style range with a large hood can pass those lines, and makeup air means a powered or passive air supply with its own ductwork and controls. Choose the range and hood with that in mind, not after.

South Florida rules

Windows, flood zones and condos: the local multipliers

Windows and sliders. Miami-Dade and Broward are the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone. There, glazing and exterior doors “shall meet impact test criteria or be protected with an external protection device” (section 1626.1). If the kitchen remodel replaces the window over the sink or the slider to the patio, that opening becomes an approved impact product with its own permit documents. Palm Beach County is outside the HVHZ, so its requirements differ. See our hurricane-rated window systems.

Flood zones. In a Special Flood Hazard Area, improvements costing 50% or more of the structure’s market value trigger full flood compliance. A kitchen alone rarely reaches that line, but a kitchen that is part of a larger remodel can, and the kitchen line items count differently: FEMA’s desk reference counts built-in appliances, cabinets and finishes in the cost, but leaves out plug-in appliances. Our FEMA 50% rule guide explains the test.

Condos. In a condominium the association’s rules come before the building department: what you may change, when work can be done, and what the association must approve first. Our condo renovation guide walks through the approvals and permits.

Finishes

Cabinets, stone and appliances: where the choices are yours

Once the layout and the code work are fixed, the rest of the budget is choice. Cabinet construction and finish, the counter material and how many slab edges and cut-outs it needs, and the appliance package set the remaining spread, and they are the one part of the budget you can tune line by line without touching the permit. Two practical points: a panel-ready refrigerator or wall ovens need a tall cabinet built around their exact specifications, so appliances are chosen before the cabinets are drawn; and a stone island with a waterfall end or a sink cut-out is priced from the slabs it needs, so its size is best settled on the drawings.

For scale, the one independent benchmark we cite: in Zonda’s 2025 Cost vs Value Report, the national average job cost of a midrange minor kitchen remodel was $28,458, with an estimated resale value of $32,141. That project keeps the layout and replaces fronts, counters, sink and appliances. It is a national average, not a South Florida quote and not an Elbaz price.

The rest of the budget

Permits, fees and sales tax

Permits. A kitchen that moves plumbing, adds circuits, changes gas or removes a wall needs permits for that work. Florida’s HB 803 (in force since July 1, 2026) lets the owner of a single-family home ask for an exemption for small jobs, but it excludes all electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical and gas work and homes in a flood hazard area, so it does not cover a real kitchen remodel. The same law set review clocks (section 553.792): 5 business days for listed permits under $15,000 on an existing single-family home, and 30 business days for most other home permits. Our three-county permit guide shows which office handles your address.

Fees are set by each building department. As one published example, unincorporated Miami-Dade County charges 50 cents per square foot of the whole structure for alterations to a single-family home, with a minimum of $147 and a maximum of $847.95 before surcharges (Implementing Order 4-63); plumbing and electrical permits are separate. Cities publish their own schedules.

Sales tax is inside the contract price: Florida treats contractors as the consumers of the materials they install (Rule 12A-1.051), so cabinets, stone and fixtures carry the state rate plus the county surtax.

Contracts and payments

The contract: three Florida rules that protect a kitchen budget

1. ContractRecovery Fund noticeResidential contracts over $2,500 must include the notice about the Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund (section 489.1425).
2. DepositOver 10% starts two clocksIf the first payment is more than 10% of the contract price, the contractor must apply for the permits within 30 days and start work within 90 days after they are issued, unless there is just cause or a written agreement (section 489.126).
3. Before inspectionNotice of commencementWhen the direct contract is greater than $5,000, a recorded notice of commencement must be filed before the first inspection (section 713.135). A full kitchen remodel is almost always over that line.
4. OrderingLong-lead itemsCabinets, stone and appliances are ordered against approved drawings. Tie each payment to delivered or inspected work, and put every change in writing with its price and schedule effect before it is built.

Interactive checklist

Before you set a kitchen budget: a checklist

Our process

How we price a kitchen remodel

We price a kitchen remodel from the room and the house, not from a size: we look at the layout you want, the walls, the panel, the plumbing and gas routes, the hood path and any window or slider, then settle the layout and design with you before the finishes. On a design-build project, the drawings the building department reviews are the drawings we price. If the kitchen is part of a larger project, our guide to whole-house remodel costs covers the rest of the house.

For an example of a full kitchen scope, with shaker cabinetry, a professional range and built-in refrigeration, see our emerald shaker kitchen remodel. Send us photos or a plan of your kitchen and we will tell you which of these rules apply before we talk about numbers.