Permit Help Programs: How to Expedite Your Building Permit in Miami
The construction of a new building at One Brickell City Centre will bring Miami’s tallest office tower to an already amazing office market. But with Miami’s permit office busy with many projects and taking MONTHS to approve building permits, how will the city handle this project?
As they construct the building over the next 5-7 years and new tenants build out office spaces, the City of Miami is assisting with permitting and inspections to help move tenants in. The less friction in place, the faster the tax dollars can start flowing from the building’s use.
But what does this mean for your construction project? How can you take advantage of a permit assistance program?
Building Permit Delays & Project Timelines
Every jurisdiction is taking longer and longer to issue permits. At The Common Area, we’ve noted it’s often taking 12-16 weeks for a building permit to be issued (oftentimes even longer).
This will extend your project timeline depending on how well you planned for the permitting phase within your overall schedule.
For office build-outs, the project timeline typically takes a year (and sometimes even longer) from the time of lease signing to occupancy. There are lots of factors to consider that affect this timeline: from quick decision-making during design to how fast a permit is issued. Then the actual construction phase brings an entirely new set of challenges.
Construction projects are a whole different animal. Your construction project timeline needs to consider:
Existing site conditions,
Long lead times for materials & equipment,
Inspections, and
Time to run submittals & RFIs.
And keep in mind, the skilled labor shortage coupled with a high demand cycle can create additional timeline issues (and costs).
Permit Assistance Programs in Miami
Because of these slowdowns, The Common Area advises clients to seek the support of a professional permit expediter in addition to selecting options for Expedited Plan Reviews through the City (when it makes sense to do so).
The Expedited Plan Review is a service the City of Miami offers to help speed up the permitting process. Depending on many factors specific to your project, this won’t necessarily guarantee a faster timeline, and it can get expensive. We recommend reviewing the goals and circumstances carefully as a team before opting in.
When you apply, you pay a fee of approximately $250 per category. The funds are used to pay the staff who work longer hours and on weekends to process the expedited reviews.
Each jurisdiction is different, but as an example, the City of Miami offers 3 types of expedited reviews:
Fire & Life Safety Expedited Review for a fire review, standalone fire permit, or fire revision to a master permit.
Expedited Plan Review for commercial projects over 20,000 square feet.
Joint Plan Review is a real-time review of commercial projects over 20,000 square feet that have received 1 cycle of comments.
But again, there is NO guarantee this will shorten your permitting timeline.
This is where assistance from permit expediters, legal consultants, organizations (like the Miami-Dade Beacon Council) and owner’s representatives with deep relationships in the local government (and lots of patience) can be very helpful.
Need help with your construction project or office build-out?
The Common Area is happy to help!
We’ll navigate you through the project from start to finish, making sure it’s a positive experience. We’ll work as your advocate so your project will get done right with your interests defended at every step.