Renovating a Condo in Miami and Sunny Isles Beach: What Your Association Will Ask For

A Miami condo renovation starts long before the first wall comes down. In a tower, you share the structure, the pipes, the elevators and the hallway with hundreds of neighbors, so the association has to approve your work before the city will issue a permit. Owners who expect a two-week formality can lose months to a package that keeps coming back.

Our studio designs and manages renovations inside luxury towers in Miami Beach and Sunny Isles Beach. In this guide I’ll walk through what associations ask for, what the cities require, how building rules change the design itself, and how to keep the approval moving. It is practical guidance, not legal advice: your building’s documents and your city’s current rules always come first.

Why condo renovations feel stricter in 2026

If an association seems more careful than it was a few years ago, there is a reason. After the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside in 2021, Florida changed how condo buildings are inspected and funded, and the effects reach every renovation.

• Milestone inspections. Condo buildings of three or more habitable stories must have a structural inspection by December 31 of the year they turn 30, then every 10 years. A local agency may lower the threshold to 25 years based on local conditions, such as proximity to salt water (F.S. 553.899).
• Structural reserve studies. The same buildings must complete a structural integrity reserve study at least every 10 years. The 2025 reform, HB 913, moved the first deadline to December 31, 2025, with a final limit of December 31, 2026 for buildings combining it with a milestone inspection (F.S. 718.112; HB 913).
• A new building code is coming. The 8th edition of the Florida Building Code is in force now, and the 9th edition is scheduled to take effect on December 31, 2026 (Florida Building Commission). A permit applied for after that date may follow the new code.

For an owner, this means boards and building engineers that look harder at anything touching the structure, the plumbing or the waterproofing, and buildings busy with their own repairs and assessments. It also means a few myths to drop. The new $7,500 permit exemption passed in 2026, HB 803, applies only to owners of single-family homes, not to condo units (HB 803).

Association approval comes before the permit

The order matters. First the association reviews and approves your plans under the building’s governing documents: the declaration of condominium, the bylaws and the rules and regulations. Then you apply to the city for a permit, and for many types of work the city asks for proof of that approval.

Sunny Isles Beach is explicit about it. For flooring, A/C replacement, windows, doors, storm shutters and several other kinds of work, the permit application needs an original letter on the association’s letterhead, dated and signed by the board. For flooring, the letter must also be notarized (City of Sunny Isles Beach). Even where the city doesn’t ask for a letter, it reminds owners that association requirements still apply.

In practice, the association’s review is usually the longer of the two. Plan for it from the first week of the project.

What you own and what you can’t touch

A condo unit is yours inside the walls; the walls, slabs, risers and facade usually belong to everyone. Your declaration defines the exact line, and it is worth reading before you design anything.

Condo renovation rules in Florida start with the statute. Material alterations to the common elements follow the declaration or, if it is silent, need approval by 75 percent of the voting interests. And no owner may do anything inside a unit that would harm the safety or soundness of the building (F.S. 718.113). That is why load-bearing walls, structural slabs, shared pipes and anything on the facade or balcony are off limits without the association’s explicit approval, and often off limits altogether.

Insurance follows the same line. The association insures the building as originally installed. The owner is responsible for, and insures, what serves only their unit: floor, wall and ceiling coverings, electrical fixtures, appliances, water heaters, built-in cabinets and countertops, and window treatments (F.S. 718.111(11)). In other words, almost everything a renovation adds is yours to insure.

The package your association will ask for

Every building has its own forms, but the packages we prepare in Miami towers contain the same core documents. Most associations will ask for:

• An application or alteration agreement. The building’s own form, signed by the owner, often with a hold-harmless clause that makes the owner responsible for damage caused by the work.
• A scope of work and drawings. What will be demolished, built and installed, room by room. If the work touches structure or building systems, the drawings must be signed and sealed by a licensed engineer or architect.
• The contractor’s license. Associations check it, and you can too, in the state’s license search.
• Certificates of insurance. General liability and workers’ compensation, usually with the association and the management company named as additional insured.
• A refundable deposit. Held against damage to common areas; the amount is set by each building.
• A schedule and contacts. Start and end dates, working hours within the building’s rules, and a person on site the manager can call.
• Flooring and underlayment specifications. The finish floor, the sound-rated underlayment and its tested ratings (IIC and STC), which the building compares with its own minimum.
• Logistics bookings. Freight elevator reservations, elevator padding, delivery times and debris removal.
• Notice to neighbors. Some buildings ask the owner to inform the units around and below.

Building rules during the work

Approval is only the start. During construction, the building’s rules shape every day on site.

• Hours. Cities set the outer limits, and buildings often set stricter ones. In Sunny Isles Beach, construction is allowed Monday to Thursday from 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. (7:00 p.m. during daylight saving time), Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with no work on Sundays and major holidays (Sunny Isles Beach). In Miami Beach’s residential districts, construction noise is limited to 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekdays and 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays, with none on Sundays and national holidays (City of Miami Beach).
• The freight elevator. It is booked in advance, padded before use and shared with residents’ deliveries and move-ins.
• Corridors and common areas. Floors protected, doors kept closed, dust contained inside the unit.
• Noise. Demolition and drilling are often limited to certain hours, even within the permitted day.
• Debris. Removed daily, through the service route only.

Permits: Miami-Dade, Miami Beach, Sunny Isles Beach

The first question is who issues the permit. Miami-Dade County handles permits only for properties in unincorporated areas; each municipality, including Miami Beach and Sunny Isles Beach, has its own building official (Miami-Dade County). In Sunny Isles Beach, the owner-builder option is available only for single-family homes and duplexes, so condo work goes through a licensed contractor.

Sources: Miami Beach, Condominium Interior Alteration checklist; Miami Beach, Flooring Permit Affidavit; Sunny Isles Beach, Building Permits.

Requirements change, and each building adds its own. We check the city’s current checklist at the start of every project.

How long approval takes and what slows it down

There is no single number, because the review depends on the building, not on the law. What decides the timeline is how the review is organized:

• How often the board or its committee meets. Some buildings review applications weekly through the manager; others wait for a monthly meeting.
• Whether a building engineer reviews the drawings. Anything touching plumbing, structure or waterproofing often goes to the association’s engineer first.
• How complete the first submission is. A complete package is reviewed once. An incomplete one waits for the next cycle.
• The city’s plan review. It starts only after the association’s approval, and comments from the city can send changes back to the building.

The practical lesson: the fastest approvals we see come from packages that answer every question before it is asked.

How building rules change design decisions

This is the part contractors and lawyers rarely write about, and it is where a designer who knows towers saves the most time. The rules don’t only govern paperwork. They change the design.

• Sound-rated underlayment raises the floor. A few millimeters of underlayment under a new stone or wood floor changes every threshold and can require trimming the doors. In Sunny Isles Beach, cutting doors must be reported to the building department. We design the transitions before the floor is chosen.
• No coring in a post-tensioned slab. Many towers prohibit drilling into the concrete slab above you, because it carries tensioned steel cables. Recessed lights then go into a dropped ceiling, which we design as part of the architecture rather than as a patch.
• Wet rooms stay over wet rooms. Most buildings won’t allow a kitchen or bathroom to move over a neighbor’s bedroom or living room. That limits how far a layout can change, so we check the floor below before we propose a new plan.
• Kitchen hoods often recirculate. When there is no duct to the outside, the hood has to filter and return the air, which affects the choice of cooktop and the ceiling design.
• The facade belongs to the building. Curtain linings visible from the street, balcony floors, railings and shutters usually follow a uniform standard.
• The freight elevator sets the size limit. A large sofa, a stone slab for a kitchen island or a long dining table has to fit the cab. We measure it before we order.
• The work window shapes the orders. Custom furniture with a long lead time is ordered so that it arrives after the noisy work ends, without waiting months in storage.

What actually slows approval in a tower

The causes of delay are almost always small and avoidable.

• Insurance certificates from every vendor. The general contractor’s certificate is rarely the problem. The furniture installers, the art handlers and the stone fabricators each need their own, with the right additional insureds, and each missing one stops a delivery at the loading dock.
• Resubmissions. A comment from the board or the engineer means a revised package and, in many buildings, another review cycle.
• Freight elevator slots. In busy towers, the next free morning may be a week away.
• Owners abroad. Many of our clients live outside the United States. Documents that need the owner’s signature, especially notarized ones, take longer from another country. A power of attorney prepared early can save weeks.
• Changes after approval. Moving a wall or changing the floor after the package is approved usually means a new review.

If you live abroad, we can run the approval process for you and tell you exactly which documents need your signature, and when.

What it looked like in two Sunny Isles towers

Two of our recent projects in Sunny Isles Beach show how differently the same kind of rules can play out.

Acqualina. In a newly delivered residence, the developer’s kitchen, bathrooms, floors and ceilings stayed in place. Our scope was furniture, lighting and extensive custom wall paneling, and because nothing touched the kitchen or bathrooms, no permit was required. The building’s rules still set the pace: at the time of our project, work on site was allowed during set daytime hours, and deliveries went through a reserved service elevator. Large furniture pieces and the marble slabs for a feature wall had to fit those hours and elevator slots, so the delivery schedule was planned from day one. The project took eight months.

Armani/Casa. Here the schedule was shaped by elevator access. The building had just been delivered and many owners were moving in at the same time, so at the time of our project furniture and material deliveries were booked about a month ahead. We planned procurement and installation around those slots from the start, and the apartment was finished in five months.

In both towers the building’s rules for work and deliveries set the schedule as much as the drawings did, which is why we build them into the plan before anything is ordered.

Checklist before you submit

• Read the declaration, the rules and the building’s renovation guidelines.
• Ask the manager for the current application form and the review schedule.
• Confirm what is structural and what is common element in your unit.
• Prepare drawings, sealed by an engineer or architect if the work touches structure or systems.
• Verify the contractor’s license in the state database.
• Collect insurance certificates from the contractor and every vendor, with the correct additional insureds.
• Choose the floor and underlayment and get their sound ratings in writing.
• Measure the freight elevator and check delivery rules.
• Check the city’s current permit checklist.
• If you live abroad, arrange a power of attorney or notarization in advance.

Official sources

• City of Sunny Isles Beach: Building Permits
• City of Miami Beach: Condominium Interior Alteration checklist
• City of Miami Beach: Noise control rules
• Miami-Dade County: How to apply for a permit
• Florida Statutes, Chapter 718: 718.111, 718.112, 718.113
• Florida Statutes, 553.899: Milestone inspections
• Florida Building Commission
• DBPR license search

This article is general guidance based on official sources as of October 2026. It is not legal advice. Rules change, and your building’s governing documents always apply; for legal questions, consult a Florida attorney.

About the author

Timofei Pivnik is an interior designer and the founder of Timroom, an interior design studio on Miami Beach. He is a member of the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID) and received a Silver award at the 2025 International Design Awards (IDA). He trained in monumental art at the Repin Academy of Arts and received the Gold Medal of the Academy of Arts. Since 2012 he has completed more than 150 interiors, including residences in oceanfront towers in Miami and Sunny Isles Beach. More about Timofei

Frequently asked questions

Do I need association approval to renovate my condo in Florida?

For most renovations, yes. Your declaration and the building's rules decide what needs approval, and Florida law requires association approval for material alterations to common elements. In cities such as Sunny Isles Beach, the permit application for flooring, windows and several other kinds of work must include a letter from the association.

What is a condo alteration agreement?

It is the building's own contract for renovation work. The owner agrees to the building's conditions, such as hours, insurance, a deposit and responsibility for damage, in exchange for permission to do the work.

How long does condo board approval take in Miami?

It depends on the building: how often the board or its committee reviews applications, whether an engineer reviews the drawings and how complete the package is. A complete first submission is the most reliable way to shorten it.

Do I need a permit to replace floors in a Miami condo?

In many cities, yes. Miami Beach requires a separate flooring permit with a notarized affidavit and soundproofing documentation, and Sunny Isles Beach requires a notarized association letter and two copies of the sound-control specification.

Can I move my kitchen or bathroom in a high-rise condo?

Sometimes, within limits. Most towers don't allow wet rooms over a neighbor's dry rooms, and drains and vents must connect to the building's risers. Check the floor below and the building's rules before planning a new layout.

Who insures the interior of my condo unit?

Under Florida law, the association insures the building as originally installed, while the owner insures items that serve only the unit, such as floor, wall and ceiling coverings, fixtures, appliances, built-in cabinets, countertops and window treatments.

Does the new $7,500 permit exemption apply to condos?

No. The exemption passed in 2026 (HB 803) applies only to owners of single-family homes and excludes electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical and gas work. Condo renovations still follow the usual permit rules.