City of West Miami

A city address is usually permitted by the city, not the county — but not always, and some authorities keep building and hand electrical to someone else. Getting this wrong costs the whole submittal, because every requirement below belongs to whoever actually holds jurisdiction. Check the overlays in the same pass: an HOA, a historic district, a windstorm certification or a system-size cap can reshape the design, and all of them are cheaper to find now than after the array is laid out.

• Is this authority the AHJ for residential solar at this address? Yes. The City of West Miami (Miami-Dade County, pop. ~7,233) is the AHJ for residential solar. It runs its own in-house Building Department at 901 SW 62nd Avenue, (305) 266-4214, Building Official Leo Llanos, P.E.; Building Department Supervisor Gladys Bilbraut. The department was stood up by Resolution 2013-46 and began issuing permits on 6 January 2014, when an interlocal agreement under which Miami-Dade County had been providing building permitting and inspections to the City was terminated. The City's own page: 'Effective January 6th, 2014 City Residents/property owners & contractors will be issued Building permits, electrical permits, mechanical permits, windows and doors, air-conditioning permits, roofing permits and (other disciplines) through the City of West Miami. The City issues City permits.' 95% · department page + adopting ordinance
• What does this authority permit itself, and what does it delegate? Both, in-house, and nothing is delegated to another government. The City reviews, issues and inspects building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing and roofing permits itself. Three things sit outside the City: (a) the BUILDING CODE ITSELF is the County's - Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-1 makes the FBC as complemented by County Code Chapter 8 'the building code for both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County'; (b) CONTRACTOR LICENSING is the County's Construction Trades Qualifying Board (Certificate of Competency, County Code Ch. 10); (c) the Miami-Dade Board of Rules and Appeals (Code Sec. 8-4) is the appellate body on code interpretation and product approval. That is a code/licensing split, not delegation of permitting. 92% · county code
• Is a permit required for a residential rooftop PV system? Yes. Zoning Ordinance No. 282 Sec. 15.6: 'No construction shall be commenced until the Building Permit is issued.' Code Sec. 5-1 and Sec. 5-5 put building and electrical permits with the City's Building Official. The new HB 803 exemption does NOT reach a PV job: the City's own HB 803 page (effective 1 July 2026, work under $7,500) states the exemption 'does not apply to all work regardless of cost. Certain categories of work always require a permit, no matter the project value, including work affecting: Structural components; Electrical systems; ... Fire and life-safety systems.' A rooftop PV array touches structural and electrical. 93% · department page + zoning ordinance
• Is there a separate electrical permit, or is it combined? SEPARATE. The City's own permit application (rev. May-2026, published inside the Roofing Permit Package) carries the owner affidavit: 'I understand that a separate permit must be secured for ELECTRICAL, MECHANICAL, PLUMBING, SIGNS, WELLS, POOLS, ROOFING, SHUTTERS, WINDOWS, FURNACES, BOILERS, HEATERS, TANKS, FENCE, DRIVEWAYS and AIR CONDITIONERS, ETC.' The same form has separate tick boxes for Building / Electrical / Mechanical / Plumbing / Public Works / Zoning. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(a)(vi) is to the same effect: 'Electrical permits shall be required for all appurtenances, apparatus, or equipment used in connection therewith, inside of or attached to any building or structure, lot, or premises.' The fee schedule prices Building and Electrical in separate sections, each with its own $150 residential minimum. 88% · permit application form
• Is a HOA or architectural approval required first? No HOA or architectural approval is made a precondition of a City permit, but the City's application makes covenants the applicant's disclosed risk, in two places. Above the permit-type boxes: 'I affirm that there [ ] are or [ ] are no restrictive covenants associated with the underlying property that would affect the pending application. Failure to disclose this information shall result in the immediate revocation of any type of permit or certificate of use/occupancy.' And in the owner affidavit: 'I, the owner of the property, understand that a permit application is subject to denial and a validated permit or permit card is subject to revocation or modification based upon applicable deeds, covenants, declarations, easements and any other legal restriction. By issuing a permit, the City of West Miami makes no representation as to the existence or validity of any property restriction.' The HB 803 page repeats that homeowners 'may still need to comply with ... Homeowners' Association or Condominium Association restrictions'. Note FS 163.04 limits what a covenant may do to solar in Florida. 80% · permit application form
• Is there a historic-district review? YES - and the gate is the COUNTY's, because West Miami never opted out. Three limbs, closed separately. (i) JURISDICTION: Miami-Dade Code Sec. 16A-3.1(2)(a) - 'Any municipality within Miami-Dade County may opt out of the County's historic preservation jurisdiction by enacting its own historic preservation ordinance ... Municipalities that do not adopt their own municipal historic preservation ordinances shall be governed by this Chapter.' The County's Historic Resource Guide (July 2025, the Sec. 16A-3.3 master list) names the ten that have opted out - Coral Gables, Hialeah, Homestead, Miami, Miami Beach, Miami Shores, Miami Springs, Opa-locka, South Miami, Sunny Isles Beach. West Miami is NOT among them. (ii) TRIGGER: Sec. 16A-11(1) - no designated building 'shall be erected, altered, restored, renovated, excavated, moved, or demolished' without a Certificate of Appropriateness, and architectural features expressly include 'the type, style, and color of roofs, windows, doors, and appurtenances'. Sec. 16A-11(5)(a)(vii): 'No building permit shall be issued ... which affects any designated property in Miami-Dade County without a Certificate of Appropriateness.' Designation is not voluntary - Sec. 16A-10 gives the County Historic Preservation Board discretion to designate. (iii) SOLAR IS NAMED, AND ROUTED BY VISIBILITY: the adopted design guidelines (Resilient Rehab, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners on 1 February 2022 as the official historic preservation design guidelines, Resolution R-115-22) contain a matrix 'Administrative Approval vs. Approval by Board Hearing' whose row reads 'Exterior mounted technology - solar, screens, satellite cellular' with two sub-rows: 'on facade or visible from right-of-way' = SPECIAL COA (quasi-judicial public hearing before the County Historic Preservation Board), and 'on other elevations' = REGULAR COA (administrative, decided by the Historic Preservation Chief within 10 days of a complete application, with a 30-day appeal right). The guidelines' roofing chapter adds the substantive standard: 'Improvements like solar panels may be considered. Where solar panels are installed, they need to be carefully configured to not impair the integrity of the structure from public right of ways where feasible.' THE PRACTICAL BOTTOM LINE: no West Miami property appears as a designated resource - 'West Miami' occurs exactly once in the 355 KB Historic Resource Guide, in the roster of 34 municipalities, against 27 occurrences of South Miami. So the gate exists and is live, but no address in West Miami is presently known to be inside it. 85% · county code + adopted design guidelines
• Is a wind or windstorm certification required? No separate windstorm certificate is issued or required. Wind resistance is evidenced through product approval and design pressures instead. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-40 requires a High Velocity Hurricane Zone approval from the Florida Building Commission, or a local Miami-Dade approval under FS 553.842/553.8425, for envelope products. Sec. 8-10(a)(ii) requires exterior elevations and building sections to carry 'Design pressures for wind' and the framing plan to carry 'Pressures for wind design. Loads and load transfer calculations required by the Code'. The City's HVHZ Uniform Roofing Permit Application (which it publishes, FBC 8th Edition (2023) masthead) demands 'Design calculations per Chapter 16, or if applicable, RAS 127 or RAS 128' and 'Minimum Design Wind Pressures (psf) from 2023 RAS-127 or Calculations per ASCE 7-22'. NO DESIGN WIND SPEED IN MPH IS STATED ANYWHERE - searched every City document and the whole 230 KB of County Code Ch. 8; the only mph figures found on the site are a 25 mph speed limit and hurricane wind-category text. 80% · county code + city permit form
• Is a Specific Use Permit or Council approval ever required? No. Zoning Ordinance 282 reserves Special Use Permits (Sec. 2A) and Planned Development approval (Sec. 2B) for enumerated uses - filling stations, mechanical garages, planned developments and similar - and rooftop equipment is not among them. Rooftop PV appears nowhere in the ordinance ('solar' 0, 'photovoltaic' 0 across 241 KB, against passing controls zoning 135 / setback 41 / building 269 / roof 41 and a failing fabricated control). No Commission approval is published for a residential rooftop array. The one analogous published rooftop-equipment rule is Sec. 7.4, Satellite Earth Station, which does require Planning and Zoning Board approval - but it is written to dish antennas for television reception only and does not reach PV. 62% · zoning ordinance
• Is there a system-size cap on residential generation? No zoning cap. The binding caps are FPL's and they are real. Tariff Sheet 9.050 Sec. 2.1: Tier 1 gross power rating must (a) not exceed 90% of the customer's utility distribution service rating, (b) be 10 kW AC or less, and (c) have 'an AC generating capacity of less than 115% of the Customer's previous 12 months kilowatt-hour usage'. For inverter-based systems AC nameplate = installed DC nameplate x 0.85. Above 10 kW the job becomes Tier 2 ($400 application fee) and picks up the mandatory DER disconnect. 85% · filed utility tariff

Several authorities require the electrical permit to be pulled by a licensed electrician, or require the contractor to be registered with them BEFORE applying. Registration is not same-day. This is second on the list rather than fourth because it is the step most likely to stop the job before the drawings matter.

• Who is allowed to pull the electrical permit? A Florida state-certified/registered electrical contractor, or the holder of a Miami-Dade County Certificate of Competency in the electrical trade issued by the County's Construction Trades Qualifying Board. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 10-3: 'for those projects specified in Section 489.103, Florida Statutes, a contractor must be certified by the County's Construction Trades Qualifying Board and registered with the State unless exempted by Chapter 10 of this Code.' The County licence is county-wide and valid in participating municipalities (Sec. 10-24). The City's permit application requires the qualifier to sign and have the signature notarised. 75% · county code
• Must the contractor be registered with this authority before applying? No separate City contractor registration is published. The City publishes no contractor-registration form, no registration fee and no contractor page; the only City-side identification step visible is the qualifier's notarised signature and licence details on the permit application itself, plus a Change of Contractor Permit Application for mid-job substitutions. Competency registration sits with Miami-Dade County (CTQB Certificate of Competency) and the single county-wide occupational licence under County Code Sec. 10-24. 62% · site-wide absence sweep
• Is a homeowner permitted to self-install and self-permit? Yes in principle, but the City publishes no owner-builder packet. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 10-3(a) expressly preserves the FS 489.103 owner-builder route and Sec. 10-2(D) excludes an owner-builder from the definition of 'contractor'; 'Workers not qualified and certified ... may work as day laborers for an owner-builder in any trade not requiring masters, journeymen or installers.' The City's permit application has an owner signature and notary block alongside the qualifier's. But West Miami publishes no owner-builder affidavit, no FS 489.503 electrical exemption form and no disclosure statement - unlike most authorities in this survey. 60% · county code + site-wide absence sweep

Almost everywhere wants a site plan, a one-line or three-line electrical diagram, equipment cut sheets with listings, and a structural attachment detail. Build it against the published checklist rather than the last jurisdiction you worked in — the checklist is what the reviewer marks against.

• What documents make up a complete submittal? There is NO published solar submittal checklist - West Miami publishes no solar or photovoltaic document of any kind. Assembled from the instruments that do govern: (1) completed City Permit Application, signed and NOTARISED by both owner and qualifier, with the restrictive-covenant affirmation; (2) survey of the parcel by a Florida licensed surveyor where lot coverage changes (Code Sec. 5-4); (3) two sets of detailed plans and specifications, sealed by a Florida Registered Architect and/or Engineer where the value exceeds $10,000 (Zoning Sec. 15.2), plus two further sets where electrical plans are required; (4) the drawing content listed in Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(a) - site plan, exterior elevations with wind design pressures, framing plan with roof-mounted equipment, wind design pressures and load-transfer calculations, roofing/sheathing material INCLUDING PRODUCT APPROVAL NUMBER, electrical riser diagram and NEC load calculation; (5) Florida Product Approval documentation (FS 553.842) and, for anything in the building envelope including roofing, a Miami-Dade NOA (County Code Sec. 8-40); (6) recorded Notice of Commencement, posted on site before the first inspection ($20 City filing fee, Res. 2023-27). 70% · county code + city code + permit application
• How many copies, and in what format? Two sets of detailed plans and specifications, plus two ADDITIONAL sets where electrical and/or plumbing plans are required - so four sets for a PV job. Zoning Ordinance 282 Sec. 15.2: 'Every application for a permit to erect, add to or materially alter a building or structure shall be accompanied by two sets of detailed plans and specifications ... Where electrical and/or plumbing plans are required for construction, two (2) additional sets of plans must be furnished by applicant.' Format: the Building Department states it 'continues to provide email service for permits', with hard-copy drop-off available; the CitizenServe portal accepts electronic submission only for four permit types, none of them solar. 72% · zoning ordinance
• Is a site plan required, and what must it show? Yes. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(a)(i) prescribes the site-plan content that applies here: legal description, lot dimensions and bearings, easements; north arrow; street/waterway names; existing, removed and new site features with topographic data and finished-floor elevations; utilities including the ELECTRICAL service, water service and meter; setbacks; lowest finished floor elevation; equipment (pool, a/c and similar) and other improvements. Separately, Code Sec. 5-4 requires a survey by a Florida licensed surveyor with any application that adds to or supplements existing structures requiring additional lot coverage. 85% · county code
• Is a one-line / three-line diagram required? Yes. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(a)(ii), 'ELECTRICAL, PLUMBING AND H.V.A.C. INFORMATION', requires under 'Schedules/Riser': 'Panel size, all circuits with use, load, wire, breaker and conduit size indicated. Diagram with size of service, meter, ground, disconnect switches, feeders, and panels.' That is a one-line/riser diagram by description, and it expressly names the disconnect switches. A three-line diagram is not demanded. 80% · county code
• Are string and conductor calculations required? Yes, electrical load calculations. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(a)(ii) under 'Calculation:' - 'Electrical. Load calculation per N.E.C.' The framing-plan requirements in the same section add 'Design: Pressures for wind design. Loads and load transfer calculations required by the Code.' No string-level calculation is named anywhere by the City or the County. 75% · county code
• Is a structural PE stamp required, and at what threshold? A $10,000 threshold, and it is low enough to catch every PV job. Zoning Ordinance 282 Sec. 15.2: 'Where the value of such erection, alteration or addition shall exceed Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), the plans and specifications shall bear the seal of a Florida Registered Architect and/or Registered Engineer.' The same section adds a discretionary override with no dollar trigger: 'where the building alteration or addition shall be of such nature that in the opinion of the City Engineer or City Building officials the Public Health or Safety requires that plans and specifications therefore bear the seal ... such seal shall be required without regard to the value.' No separate structural-only threshold is published. 78% · zoning ordinance
• Is an electrical PE stamp required, and at what threshold? No local electrical-specific dollar threshold is published. The governing trigger is the state exemption in FS 471.003(2)(h) - electrical plans need a PE seal above $125,000 or a 600-ampere service. West Miami's own $10,000 seal rule in Zoning Sec. 15.2 is written to 'plans and specifications' generally and its face text would reach the electrical drawings on a PV job as well. Miami-Dade Code Ch. 8 states no dollar or ampere figure at all ('471.003' 0 hits, '125,000' 0 hits, '600 amp' 0 hits across the 230 KB chapter, against passing controls HVHZ 40 / electrical 92 and a failing fabricated control). 62% · zoning ordinance + state statute

Most authorities now take the whole application through a portal, and several states cap or constrain what a residential solar permit may cost. Check whether plan check is billed separately before you quote the job.

• Which permit portal does this authority use? CitizenServe (Online Solutions, LLC), installation ID 159. A TRAP WORTH RECORDING: the 'Permit Portal' link published on the City's own menu - https://www7.citizenserve.com/Portal/?installationid=159 - returns a live page reading 'Wrong URL. Please contact your system administrator.' The working address is the PortalController form on www2/www3/www5 (www4 returns HTTP 000): https://www2.citizenserve.com/Portal/PortalController?Action=showHomePage&ctzPagePrefix=Portal_&installationID=159, which renders the City of West Miami portal. Separately the City runs a QAlert (QScend) service-request portal at westmiamifl.qscend.com for non-permit requests. 85% · permit portal
• Can the whole application be completed online? No - and the portal says so itself. The CitizenServe home page carries a standing banner: '(READ FIRST) WE ARE ONLY TAKING roofing, drive way, fences, and windows/doors permit submissions.' Solar is not among the four. Two further blocks: 'Apply for a Permit' redirects to a login/registration wall, and the City's own permit application must be NOTARISED by both the property owner and the qualifier ('Sworn to (or affirmed) and subscribed before me by means of physical presence OR online notarization'). The practical route is email to Building@cityofwestmiami.gov or hard-copy drop-off, which the Building Department page still describes as its process. 88% · portal banner + permit application
• What does a residential solar permit cost? There is no solar line on any fee schedule. The operative schedule is Exhibit A to Ordinance 2020-02, adopted 16 September 2020, effective 1 January 2021 - the City's own schedule, not the County's. A residential PV retrofit is priced as an alteration in two disciplines: BUILDING - 'Alterations or repairs to Single Family Residence or Duplex: $0.060 per $1.00 in estimated cost', minimum $150.00 residential, and the schedule states 'Maximum Fee for alteration: No Max'; ELECTRICAL - 'Alterations or repairs per $1.00 estimated cost or fractional part: $0.060 per $1.00 of estimated cost', minimum $150.00 residential. An 'Up-front processing fee' of $0.020 per $1.00 in estimated cost is collected at application and credited toward the final building permit fee. Permits by professional certification (permit by affidavit) are charged half the regular fee, except the minimum. Add a $20.00 filing fee for the Notice of Commencement (Resolution 2023-27). On a $20,000 array the building line alone computes to $1,200 with no cap. 68% · fee schedule adopted by ordinance
• How is the fee calculated? Valuation - $0.060 per $1.00 of estimated cost, per discipline, with a $150.00 residential minimum and, for alterations, expressly NO MAXIMUM. Not flat, not per kW, not per panel. A separate valuation-based up-front processing fee of $0.020 per $1.00 is taken at application and credited. 85% · fee schedule adopted by ordinance
• Is there a separate plan-check fee? No separate plan-check fee line exists in the City's own schedule, but an up-front processing fee is charged at submittal and credited: '"Up-front" fees for Residential Alterations or Repairs ... Per dollar in estimated value or fractional part when square footage does not apply: $0.020 per $1.00 in estimated cost. This processing fee is not refundable, but shall be credited toward the final building permit fee.' NOTE A REAL CONFLICT: Exhibit A to Ordinance 2020-02 begins at section 'B. BUILDING PERMIT FEES' - the whole of section A (General Information on Special Fees: double fees, additional inspection fees, lost/revised/reworked plans, optional expedited plan review) is absent from the adopted exhibit, while the City's Building Permit Forms page still publishes the 2013 Miami-Dade IO 4-63 schedule that contains it, and codified Sec. 5-5 says the City charges 'the same rate charged by Miami Dade Building Department 2021 Fee Schedule'. Three descriptions of one fee regime. 70% · fee schedule adopted by ordinance

Interconnection is a separate process from the permit and usually the longer pole. Where the utility does not depend on the permit being issued, running both at once is the single biggest saving available on a residential job.

• What is the stated plan-review turnaround? None is published, and the City has formally resolved to create one. Resolution 2025-22 of 2 April 2025, 'DIRECTING THE CITY MANAGER TO STUDY AND RECOMMEND IMPROVEMENTS TO STREAMLINE THE PERMITTING PROCESS, TO EXPAND ONLINE SERVICES, AND TO ESTABLISH ESTIMATED TIMELINES FOR PERMIT REVIEW', Section 3: 'The City shall develop and publish estimated permit review timelines for different types of permits, ensuring applicants have clear expectations regarding processing times.' Section 4 required the City Manager to report within 90 days; no timeline table has appeared on the site since. Until one does, the only clocks are statutory - FS 553.79 / 553.792. 85% · adopted resolution
• How long is an issued permit valid before it expires? The answer changed on 1 July 2026 and the City has published the change. Codified Code Sec. 5-9(a) (Ord. 2018-04, 7 Nov 2018): 'Any building permit issued by the City ... shall lapse and be null and void within one hundred eighty (180) days from the issuance of such permit', with subsection (b) requiring commenced work to be completed within 180 days. The City's HB 803 page now states: 'HB 803 also extends the life of an issued building permit to one year from issuance, or until the effective date of the next edition of the Florida Building Code, whichever is later.' A third, older figure survives unrepealed in Zoning Sec. 15.3 - void if construction has not commenced within nine months, with a single 90-day extension available on application seven days before expiry. 80% · department page + city code
• Which utility handles interconnection here? FLORIDA POWER & LIGHT, city-wide, single utility. The discriminating evidence is the line-item revenue schedule in the FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget, 'General Fund Revenue Detail', which names the payers rather than lumping them: Franchise Fees - 'Bus Shelters & Benches $5,600; Gas Company $20,000; Florida Power & Light $487,400; Total Franchise Fees $513,000'. Excise Taxes - 'Excise (FPL) $500,000 (FY26) / $615,000 (FY27); Excise (Gas Company) $10,000'. There is NO municipal electric utility (the City's only enterprise utilities are water, sewer, stormwater and sanitation) and no co-op line. Corroboration: the City's Code (Ch. 5, Art. XII) preserves 'a valid franchise agreement with an electric utility' without naming one, the codified franchise index 2011-2025 contains one utility franchise only - Ordinance 2022-03, Pivotal Utility Holdings / Florida City Gas, 30 years, which is GAS not electric - and the City runs two FPL-branded pages under Government > Hurricane Season ('FPL Clearing of the Lines Program', 'Electrical Safety'). 93% · adopted budget line-item schedule
• Where does the utility sit in the sequence? Parallel, with a hard dependency in both directions. FPL Tariff Sheet No. 9.050 Sec. 2.3: 'In order to commence the process for interconnection the Customer shall provide FPL a completed application' - filed before or alongside the permit. Sec. 3.4: 'The Customer agrees to provide Local Building Code Official inspection and certification of installation. The certification shall reflect that the local code official has inspected and certified that the installation was permitted, has been approved, and has met all electrical and mechanical qualifications' - so the City's final inspection is an input to FPL. Then ten days' notice before energising, and FPL executes the agreement within 30 days. For a Tier 1 system there is no FPL application fee (Sheet 9.050 Sec. 2.2). 90% · filed utility tariff

The NEC edition a jurisdiction enforces is often a cycle behind the newest one published, and local amendments sit on top of it. Rapid shutdown, conductor sizing and labelling all change between editions, so the edition in force is the first thing to establish, not the last.

• Which NEC edition is in force? NEC 2020, in force through the statewide Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023), effective 31 December 2023. Neither West Miami nor Miami-Dade County adopts an NEC edition of its own: Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-1 adopts the FBC as complemented by Chapter 8, and Sec. 8-2 incorporates the FBC's HVHZ provisions by reference. Miami-Dade's local technical amendments (Sec. 8-31) touch plumbing flow rates, pool GFCI protection and water submeters only - no electrical amendment of general application. 90% · county code + state adoption
• Which building code edition is in force? Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023), including the High Velocity Hurricane Zone provisions - West Miami is inside the HVHZ. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-1: the FBC as complemented by Chapter 8 'is the building code for both the incorporated and unincorporated areas of the County'. Sec. 8-2: 'The provisions of the Florida Building Code as applicable to High Velocity Hurricane Zones are hereby incorporated by reference', and it adopts the HVHZ roofing requirements with the Roofing Application Standards (RAS) at FBC Sec. 1512.2, excepting the prescriptive BUR requirements of RAS 150. The City's own current forms print 'Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023)'. A FOSSIL TO IGNORE: Code Sec. 5-89 and Zoning Sec. 8.1 still say buildings 'shall be constructed as specified in the Metropolitan Dade County Building Code and the South Florida Building Code' - the SFBC was superseded by the FBC in 2002 and Code Sec. 5-1 still calls for enforcement of it. Preempted drafting residue. 92% · county code + city permit form
• Which fire code edition is in force? The Florida Fire Prevention Code, with no local edition named - a floating adoption. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 14-32: 'In accordance with Chapter 633, Florida Statutes, the Florida Fire Prevention Code is the applicable fire prevention code for Miami-Dade County.' The statewide edition is the 8th (2023). AND THE PART THAT MATTERS ON A HOUSE: Sec. 14-40(A) requires Chief Fire Official plan review for permitted work 'other than one- and two-family residential dwellings that are not used in a way that requires a State license and an inspection for compliance' - so a residential rooftop PV job does NOT go to the fire marshal for plan review. West Miami has no fire department; Miami-Dade Fire Rescue serves. A STALE CROSS-REFERENCE: City Code Sec. 7-1 still adopts 'The Dade County Fire Prevention and Safety Code adopted by section 14-40 of the Code of Metropolitan Dade County' - Sec. 14-40 is now 'Plan review'; the adoption moved to Sec. 14-32 by Ord. 16-89 in 2016. 82% · county code
• Are there local amendments to any of the above? Yes, substantial ones - but NONE of them touch photovoltaics, and that is the headline finding for this county. Miami-Dade County Code Chapter 8 is the local amendment package: Article I (administration - permits, fees, revocation, unsafe structures, disclosures), Article II (inspector/plans-examiner/building-official certification), Article III Sec. 8-31 (local TECHNICAL amendments) and Sec. 8-32 (local ADMINISTRATIVE amendment to FBC Chapter 1 - floodplain administrator, Section 103 only), and Article IV Sec. 8-40 (product approval). I searched the whole 230 KB chapter: 'photovoltaic' 0, 'solar' 0, against passing controls HVHZ 40, 'product approval' 10, electrical 92, wind 23, and a failing fabricated control (zzqqxvv 0). SO: unlike Broward County - whose Board of Rules and Appeals publishes, inside its codified FBC Chapter 1 amendments, a dedicated 'Photovoltaic' building plan-review list (Sec. 107.3.5 A.14), a dedicated 'Photovoltaic' electrical plan-review list (B.19, including wire size at the coldest temperature, three-line diagram and busbar ratings), and a dedicated PV inspection sequence (Sec. 110.3) - MIAMI-DADE HAS NO EQUIVALENT. There is no Miami-Dade Board of Rules and Appeals Municode client; the BORA sits inside County Code Sec. 8-4 and publishes no PV plan-review list in the codified text. The City adds its own administrative layer: Code Ch. 5 (fees, 180-day permit life, $350 no-permit charge, sidewalk prerequisite to CO) and Zoning Ord. 282 Secs. 15-17. 88% · county code
• What is the installation judged against? The Florida Building Code 8th Edition (2023) including its HVHZ provisions and the Residential volume; NEC 2020 through that code; the Florida Fire Prevention Code; Miami-Dade County Code Chapter 8 (administration, inspector qualification, local amendments, product approval) which applies in the incorporated areas by its own terms; Miami-Dade Chapter 14 (fire); the City of West Miami Code Chapter 5 (Buildings) and Zoning Ordinance No. 282; and, where the property is historically designated, Miami-Dade Code Chapter 16A with the adopted Resilient Rehab design guidelines. On the utility side the installation is additionally judged against FPL's Electric Service Standards Section XIII and the filed tariff, and against FS 553.842 Florida Product Approval / Miami-Dade NOA for products. 88% · city code + county code

Ridge setbacks and roof access pathways are fire-service requirements and they constrain the array layout. They are the most common cause of a redesign after the fire department comments on a plan set.

• What ridge setback and access pathways are required? Nothing local. No ridge setback and no access-pathway dimension is published by the City or by Miami-Dade County - the requirements come from the Florida Fire Prevention Code / NFPA 1 and the FBC as adopted statewide. Reinforcing this: Miami-Dade Code Sec. 14-40(A) exempts one- and two-family dwellings from Chief Fire Official plan review altogether, so on a house there is no fire-marshal plan-review step at which a pathway would be checked. Searches for 'solar' and 'photovoltaic' in Miami-Dade Ch. 14 returned zero against passing controls (Florida Fire Prevention Code 74, NFPA 33) and a failing fabricated control. 70% · county code

Which rapid-shutdown rule applies follows directly from the NEC edition in force, and the initiation device has to be at a location the fire service can reach and identify. This is inspected, and it is labelled.

• Is rapid shutdown required, and to which NEC edition? Yes - NEC 2020 Article 690.12, through the statewide NEC 2020 adoption. No West Miami or Miami-Dade document restates or modifies it. Worth contrasting: BROWARD County required rapid shutdown by local amendment in 2016, years ahead of the state; MIAMI-DADE did not - there is no rapid-shutdown amendment anywhere in County Code Ch. 8 ('photovoltaic' 0, 'solar' 0 across the chapter with passing controls). 80% · state code + county code

The NEC sets a baseline for permanent markings at the service equipment and the disconnecting means. On top of that, an authority may specify its own wording, and the utility may specify more again. Where any of them writes its own text, a generic off-the-shelf label set will not pass — this is the detail most often fixed on a return visit.

• Which placards does this authority require at the service equipment? The AHJ requires none of its own - every placard on a West Miami job is either NEC 690/705 or FPL's. FPL Electric Service Standards Section XIII (section dated 10-30-25, inside the May 2026 manual), item 6: 'All labels must be permanent and weatherproof/UV resistant placard with engraved letters. The customer is responsible for all labeling requirements. The following labels must be installed at the interconnecting meter can and the DER disconnect switch.' INTERCONNECTING METER CAN: 'WARNING / MULTI POWER SOURCES / [ENTER SOURCES HERE] / RATED AC OUTPUT CURRENT ** AMPS / NOMINAL OPERATING VOLTAGE ** VOLTS'. DER DISCONNECT SWITCH: 'GENERATION SYSTEM AC DISCONNECT / RATED AC OUTPUT CURRENT ** AMPS / NOMINAL OPERATING VOLTAGE ** VOLTS'. Plus, where a battery is present: 'A placard must be permanently affixed to the meter enclosure stating "Battery storage utilized in this facility."' 85% · utility engineering standard
• Does the authority specify placard wording of its own? No. The City of West Miami specifies no placard wording of its own - anywhere in the codified Code, in Zoning Ordinance 282, on any of its 159 web pages, or among its 1,506 published documents. FPL does (Q38), and NEC 690/705 does through the code. 82% · city code + site-wide absence sweep
• Does it specify letter height, colour or material? Not by the AHJ. The only durability specification in force is FPL's: labels 'must be permanent and weatherproof/UV resistant placard with ENGRAVED letters'. NO LETTER HEIGHT AND NO COLOUR IS SPECIFIED by FPL, by the City or by Miami-Dade County - the applicable height/format requirements are NEC 110.21(B) and the 690/705 marking articles. 82% · utility engineering standard
• Is a site plan / facility map placard required, and what must it show? Not required locally as a placard. NEC 705.10 applies through the NEC 2020 adoption and is the whole of the obligation. What FPL requires instead is on the DRAWINGS, not on a sign: Section XIII item 3 requires meter numbers associated with the interconnecting premise to be shown on the single line diagram and/or plans, and item 4 requires 'Plans must show dimensions between the location of the meter socket and the DER disconnect switch'. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(a)(i) requires the site plan to show utilities including the electrical service and meter. 65% · utility engineering standard + NEC
• Does the UTILITY specify placards beyond the AHJ's? Yes - FPL is the source of every job-specific placard here, and its requirements go beyond anything the AHJ asks. See Q38 for the exact label blocks. Two further FPL provisions bear on signage and hardware: the labels must be at BOTH the interconnecting meter can and the DER disconnect switch, and for battery storage 'A placard must be permanently affixed to the meter enclosure stating "Battery storage utilized in this facility."' Worth recording for the survey: Clay Electric Cooperative's FILED TARIFF carries near-identical battery-placard wording; FPL's appears in its Electric Service Standards (an engineering manual) and NOT in the filed tariff - section 9 of the tariff was searched today and contains no placard requirement beyond the Sheet 9.051 Sec. 5.3 'permanent weather-proof plaque adjacent to FPL's meter socket indicating the location of the manual disconnect switch or switches' where a switch is remote. 88% · utility engineering standard + filed tariff
• Where must the labels be placed? At the interconnecting meter can and at the DER disconnect switch - FPL Section XIII item 6: 'The following labels must be installed at the interconnecting meter can and the DER disconnect switch.' Where a battery is present, the battery placard goes on the METER ENCLOSURE. Where the manual disconnect is remote from the meter, FPL Tariff Sheet 9.051 Sec. 5.3 requires 'a permanent weather-proof plaque adjacent to FPL's meter socket indicating the location of the manual disconnect switch or switches'. The AHJ specifies no placement of its own. 88% · utility engineering standard + filed tariff

Where the AC disconnect must sit relative to the meter is usually the utility's rule, not the building department's. Battery storage frequently carries its own permit, its own inspection and its own fire conditions.

• Where must the AC disconnect be, relative to the meter? TAP POINT DECIDES IT, NOT TIER - and for the common residential case the answer is NO DISCONNECT. FPL Electric Service Standards Section XIII (10-30-25): item 4 - 'All tier 2 and tier 3 systems require an FPL approved visually open Distributed Energy Resource (DER) disconnect switch ... The manual disconnect switch must be mounted separate from but adjacent to the FPL meter socket WITHIN 10 FEET and must always remain accessible to FPL. Plans must show dimensions between the location of the meter socket and the DER disconnect switch. There shall be no locked gates, doors or fences between the meter socket and the DER disconnect switch. The DER disconnect switch shall be connected on the load side of the meter to the approved IEEE 1547 inverter and the line side of the DER disconnect switch shall be connected to FPL's power grid.' Item 5 - 'FPL recommends that all interconnections will be performed on the load side of the customer's main electrical panel. If the interconnection is performed on the LINE SIDE of the customers main electrical panel (per NEC) A MANUAL AC DISCONNECT IS REQUIRED between AC generation output and the point of interconnection to FPL facilities. The manual disconnect switch must be mounted separate from but adjacent to the FPL meter socket within 10 feet.' Item 5 also bars interconnection inside FPL equipment: 'Under no circumstance will the customer make interconnections in any FPL equipment including metering enclosures, transformers, switching cabinets, vaults.' This is consistent with the filed tariff, Sheet 9.051 Sec. 5.1: 'U.L.1741 Listed, inverter-based Tier 1 customer-owned renewable generation systems do not require a customer-installed manual disconnect switch.' SO: Tier 1 (<=10 kW) + UL 1741 inverter + LOAD-SIDE connection = no disconnect. Tier 1 + LINE-SIDE tap = manual AC disconnect within 10 ft of the meter socket. Tier 2/3 = FPL-approved visually open DER disconnect, always. Where a Tier 1 non-UL-1741 system's switch has to sit remote, Tariff Sheet 9.051 Sec. 5.3 requires a weather-proof plaque at the meter socket pointing to it. The City itself specifies nothing. 90% · utility engineering standard + filed tariff
• Must equipment be on a specific approved list? YES, and the Miami-Dade instrument is narrower than its reputation - THIS IS THE ANSWER TO THE 'NOA OR FLORIDA PRODUCT APPROVAL' QUESTION. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-40 scopes the local approval to the building ENVELOPE only: 'Any person desiring to use materials/products used for protection of the envelope of the structure, LIMITED TO windows, exterior glazing, wall cladding, ROOFING, exterior doors, skylights, glass block, siding and shutters shall obtain a high wind velocity zone approval from the Florida Building Commission OR shall obtain a local approval in accordance with Sections 553.842 and 553.8425 of the Florida Statutes.' PV modules, racking, inverters and disconnects are NOT in that list. So: (a) rack-mounted PV on an existing roof runs on FLORIDA PRODUCT APPROVAL under FS 553.842 - the statewide route - and that is what a neighbouring Miami-Dade municipality accepted on a real issued permit for a Tesla Solar Roof and Powerwalls ('APPROVED FLORIDA PRODUCT APPROVAL 41923'); (b) an INTEGRATED PV ROOF is roofing, is in the Sec. 8-40 list, and needs the envelope approval - which is exactly what West Miami's own roofing forms demand: '*NOA Product Approval Number', 'MDC Notice of Acceptance Number', and 'Submit ... the current Miami-Dade County NOA Product Control Approval for review prior to issuing the ... permit'. Either way the number goes on the framing plan: Sec. 8-10(a)(ii), 'Material: Roofing and sheathing material (Including Product Approval Number)'. Note also Sec. 8-40(a)(4): a Miami-Dade product approval 'shall be valid countywide', so West Miami honours it without re-approval. 85% · county code + city permit form
• Are batteries permitted, and under what conditions? Permitted, with NO local rule at all and a detailed utility rule. Neither West Miami nor Miami-Dade County publishes any energy-storage or battery provision: 'battery' and 'energy storage' return nothing of relevance in County Code Ch. 8 or Ch. 14 or in the City's Code, and the City publishes no ESS document. NFPA 855 applies only as it comes through the Florida Fire Prevention Code, and a one- or two-family dwelling is exempt from Chief Fire Official plan review (County Sec. 14-40(A)). FPL's conditions are the operative ones: equipment must be NRTL-certified to UL 1741; non-certified storage 'must be DC coupled behind a UL 1741 listed device'; a placard on the meter enclosure; energy stored is for the customer's use only and 'at this time the customer may not export power from the battery to the grid'; backup-only storage that cannot back-feed needs no interconnection agreement; and stand-alone storage 'is not included in the definition of "renewable energy" pursuant to Rule 25-6.065(2)(d), Florida Administrative Code, and the output from such systems is not net metered.' 75% · utility engineering standard + controlled local absence
• Is there a separate ESS permit or inspection? No. There is no ESS or energy-storage permit type, no ESS inspection type and no ESS fee line. The City's fee schedule (Ord. 2020-02 Exhibit A) has no storage line in any discipline; the permit application's Type of Improvement boxes do not include one; the CitizenServe portal accepts only roofing, driveway, fence and window/door submissions. A battery would be permitted as part of the electrical (and, where it is mounted, building) work. 62% · fee schedule + permit application
• Is a ground mount treated as a structure? Treated as a structure - but by general definition rather than by any solar rule. Zoning Ordinance 282 Sec. 1 provides that 'the word "structure" includes the word "building"', and Zoning Sec. 15.6 bars construction before a permit issues, so a ground-mounted array is permitted work subject to the accessory-structure setbacks of its district. There is no solar-specific ground-mount provision, no height limit written for arrays and no screening or fencing rule. The closest published analogue - and it is an analogue only - is Sec. 7.4, Satellite Earth Station: in R-1 and R-2 districts only GROUND-mounted units are allowed, they must sit behind the rear line of the principal structure, no closer than 7.5 feet to the rear lot line, maximum 17.5 feet above grade, shielded from ground view from any public right-of-way by landscaping approved by the Planning and Zoning Board, neutral in colour, with the base counted in accessory-structure ground coverage. That rule is written to dish antennas for television reception and does not by its terms reach PV. 55% · zoning ordinance
• Is there a local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing? No local rule on service upgrades or busbar sizing - NEC 705.12 governs unamended. Miami-Dade's local technical amendments (Sec. 8-31) are plumbing flow rates, pool/spa GFCI protection (FBC 454.1.10.4.1 and 454.2.16) and water submeters; there is no electrical amendment of general application. West Miami's Code contains no electrical article at all. The only service-related local rule is a fee: 'PERMANENT SERVICE TO BUILDINGS, New work only ... For each 100 amp. or fractional part $10.000' with a $150 minimum electrical permit fee, plus 'FEEDERS ... $50.000 per feeder, for first 100 amp, $25.000 each additional 100 amp'. NOTE: Broward County's codified amendments DO name 'Connection to utility line side or load side BUSBAR RATINGS' as a PV electrical plan-review item; Miami-Dade does not. 72% · county code + fee schedule
• Is a specific mounting system or attachment spacing required? No mounting system or attachment spacing is specified locally. Attachment is judged against Florida Product Approval / Miami-Dade NOA and FBC Chapter 16 wind design, evidenced on the framing plan: Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(a)(ii) requires the framing plan to show 'All structural elements, their sizes and reinforcing ... roof mounted equipment, skylights, hatches', 'Design: Pressures for wind design. Loads and load transfer calculations required by the Code', and 'Material: Roofing and sheathing material (Including Product Approval Number)'. A PRACTICAL TRAP FROM THE CITY'S OWN ROOFING PACKAGE: its Required Owners Notification for Roofing Considerations warns that 'When replacing roofing, the existing wood roof deck may have to be renailed in accordance with the current provisions of Chapter 16 (High Velocity Hurricane Zones) of the Florida Building Code' - relevant where PV work opens the deck. 70% · county code + city permit package

Booking is a portal, a phone call or an email depending on the authority, and the notice required is rarely zero. Book before the work is finished rather than after — the lead time, not the work, is usually what sets the date.

• How is an inspection booked? Phone or email. The Building Department page: 'Inspection Request Via Phone or Email, Monday - Friday (Except Legal Holidays) 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM', Building@cityofwestmiami.gov, (305) 266-4214. An earlier version of the same block on the Building landing page reads 'Inspection Request Via Phone or Online'. The CitizenServe portal can schedule inspections in principle but is accepting submissions for four permit types only, none of them solar, so for a PV job phone/email is the route. 80% · department page
• How much notice is required? No notice period in business days is published. What IS published, and matters more for scheduling a crew, is that INSPECTIONS ARE ONLY PERFORMED TWO DAYS A WEEK: the Building Department's Permit Information page states '*Inspection days will be Tuesday and Thursday.' Requests are taken Monday to Friday 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM. No same-day or next-day commitment is published anywhere. 75% · department page
• Are same-day or AM/PM windows offered? No AM/PM windows and no same-day service are published. The published constraint is the two-day inspection week (Tuesday and Thursday) with requests taken 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM Monday to Friday. Planning & Zoning keeps different hours (8:30 AM - 4:30 PM) from the Building Department (8:30 AM - 3:00 PM), which matters if a job needs both counters on one visit. 70% · department page

Some authorities inspect their own solar work; some delegate it, and a few do not inspect the PV equipment itself at all. Who is coming determines what they will look at.

• Does this AHJ perform its own final solar inspection? Yes. The City performs its own inspections with its own staff. The Building Department page: the department 'provides customer-friendly services including review, processing, issuance and inspection of building permits'. The FY 2026-27 Proposed Budget confirms the shape financially: the Community Development Fund (an enterprise fund covering permitting, inspections, zoning, planning and code) is budgeted at $620,800 with Salaries & Wages $313,200 (50.5%), payroll taxes $24,000 and retirement $42,600 - a 61.2% personnel share - against $241,000 of operating. Authorized positions rise from 4 to 6, the budget noting 'Two positions added for building and code compliance workload.' That is the opposite of the outsourced pattern (Oviedo/PDCS, Southwest Ranches and North Bay Village/C.A.P. Government, Okeechobee/SAFEbuilt), where personnel cost is $0 or a fraction of professional services. 88% · adopted budget + department page
• If delegated, to whom? Not delegated. Building and electrical plan review and inspection sit with the City of West Miami Building Department, 901 SW 62nd Avenue, (305) 266-4214, under Building Official Leo Llanos, P.E. No private building-services operator is named anywhere on the City's site, in the ordinance index 2011-2025, in the resolution index, or in the budget - the eight private-operator names seen elsewhere in this survey return zero. Historically the function WAS delegated: Miami-Dade County provided it under an interlocal until 6 January 2014 (Ord. 2013-09), and Resolution 2012-41 had authorised T.Y. Lin to review and inspect permits before the in-house department was created by Resolution 2013-46. 85% · adopted budget + ordinance and resolution indexes

A rough-in or mid-roof inspection, where one is required, has to happen before the work it covers is closed up. Missing a stage means opening something back up, and it is the most expensive kind of correction.

• Which inspections are required, and in what order? No PV-specific inspection sequence is published by the City. The generic FBC Chapter 1 sequence applies, and Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(c) sets the on-site mechanics: on approval the Building Official issues a weatherproof permit card to be kept conspicuously at the front of the premises for the duration of the work; plans are marked 'REVIEWED FOR CODE COMPLIANCE' at review. FOR CONTRAST, NOT AS WEST MIAMI'S RULE: Miami-Dade County, in the areas it serves itself, runs a named PV inspection type - its building page offers same-day virtual inspections for 'Rough and Final Inspections for Solar Photovoltaic and Electrical Permits associated with a pool permit (Electrical 34 and Electrical 23)'. That is county practice in county jurisdiction; West Miami is not in it and publishes nothing equivalent. Broward County, by contrast again, codifies a full PV rough-and-final sequence with an ordering rule; Miami-Dade does not. 55% · county code + county practice (contrast)
• Is a rough-in or mid-roof inspection required? Not published for PV. No City document names a rough-in, mid-roof or pre-cover inspection for a photovoltaic installation, and there is no PV permit type to attach one to. The nearest evidence in either direction: Miami-Dade County's own PV inspection type (Electrical 34) has both a Rough and a Final, which suggests a rough electrical inspection before modules are set is the regional norm - but that is the county's practice in its own jurisdiction, not West Miami's. 48% · comparable authority practice

The approved plan set, the permit, and the equipment listings should be on site and reachable. Inspectors routinely verify that installed equipment matches what was approved, and that the labels are the ones the plan set promised.

• Is there a published inspection checklist? No. West Miami publishes no inspection checklist of any kind, and no plan-review requirement sheet. What it does publish is seven permit PACKAGES - Change of Contractor, Driveway, Fence, Kitchen/Bathroom Cabinets, Roofing, Sanitary Line, Windows and Doors - each being the City permit application plus the trade-specific state or HVHZ forms. There is no solar package. The Roofing Permit Package is the closest thing and is the only City document that mentions solar at all (see Q58 note). 75% · site-wide absence sweep
• What must be on site at inspection? The approved plans and the weatherproof permit card, plus a recorded Notice of Commencement. Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(c): 'the Building Official shall issue a weatherproof permit card which shall bear the description of the property, the nature of the work being done, the name of the owner and contractor and other pertinent information: and such card shall be maintained in a conspicuous place on the front of the premises affected thereby during the entire time that the work authorized by the permit is in progress.' The City's permit application carries the statutory warning: 'A NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT MUST BE RECORDED AND POSTED ON THE JOB SITE BEFORE THE FIRST INSPECTION' (City filing fee $20.00, Resolution 2023-27). Two site-condition rules from the City's own Important Notices will also be enforced at inspection: construction sites must be kept free of debris, 'Failure to do so will result in a fine and a SUSPENSION OF INSPECTIONS until said property is cleaned'; and 'Portable Toilets for construction jobs require a separate permit. If toilet is not available, THE INSPECTION WILL NOT BE PERFORMED.' 82% · county code + city permit application

Passing gives you a final or an equivalent sign-off. That is not the same as permission to operate: PTO comes from the utility, and who tells the utility the inspection passed varies. A system left switched off for weeks is usually waiting on this handover.

• What is issued on pass? For a rooftop PV retrofit the operative document is the PASSED FINAL INSPECTION, recorded against the permit - that is what FPL's tariff asks the customer to supply ('certification ... that the local code official has inspected and certified that the installation was permitted, has been approved, and has met all electrical and mechanical qualifications'). A Certificate of Occupancy is on the books for alterations as well as new buildings - Zoning Sec. 17.1: 'A Certificate of Occupancy, either for the whole or a part of a new building or for alteration of an existing building, shall be issued by the Building Official after notification by owner or his agent that such building or part shall have been completed in conformity with the provisions of this Ordinance, which includes the final clean-up, painting of exterior wall, and repair of damaged City property' - but that 1967 provision is plainly written for building work, and Code Sec. 5-3 conditions any CO on sidewalks being in place. No Certificate of Completion form is published. 58% · zoning ordinance + utility tariff
• Who notifies the utility for PTO? The installer/customer, not the AHJ. FPL Tariff Sheet 9.050 Sec. 3.4: 'The Customer agrees to provide Local Building Code Official inspection and certification of installation. The certification shall reflect that the local code official has inspected and certified that the installation was permitted, has been approved, and has met all electrical and mechanical qualifications.' The customer then gives FPL ten days' written notice of the in-service date, and FPL executes the interconnection agreement within 30 days. The City of West Miami publishes nothing about notifying FPL and has no role in the loop. 88% · filed utility tariff
• Is there a re-inspection fee? Genuinely unresolved, and the conflict is the finding. The City's own adopted fee schedule (Ordinance 2020-02, Exhibit A) contains NO re-inspection or additional-inspection fee for building work - its published exhibit begins at section 'B. BUILDING PERMIT FEES' and the whole of section A, where such fees live, is missing. The Miami-Dade IO 4-63 schedule that the City still publishes alongside it on the same Building Permit Forms page sets $71.55: 'A permit holder shall pay a fee of $71.55 for each additional inspection required to assure compliance with the applicable Building Code(s) beyond the initial and one follow-up inspection.' The same document reproduces the FS 553.80 escalation - after an initial inspection and one re-inspection for the same continuously-noted violation, the local government 'shall impose a fee of four times the amount of the fee imposed for the initial inspection or first re-inspection, whichever is greater'. Separately the City does price starting work without a permit: Code Sec. 5-6, a $350.00 service charge under Building Department rates ($250.00 under Zoning Improvement rates), on top of the regular fee. 55% · two conflicting published fee schedules
• How are corrections issued and cleared? Sparsely published. At plan review, Miami-Dade Code Sec. 8-10(b): 'The plans examiner shall examine all plans and specifications and if found to comply with the requirements of the Building Code, he or she shall mark the plans "REVIEWED FOR CODE COMPLIANCE"' - the implication being that non-compliant plans come back. The City's own channel for the exchange is email (the Building Department 'continues to provide email service for permits'). The statutory guard rails apply: FS 553.79 and FS 553.792 processing time-frames, and the FS 553.80 rule that a fourth rejection for the same continuously-noted code violation attracts four times the plan-review portion of the permit fee. No correction-notice format, re-submittal procedure or field-correction process is published by the City. 50% · county code + statute