This is our own analysis of public data. The numbers below come straight from permit records that the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County publish. We didn't survey anyone or estimate anything. Where the data has limits, we say so. If you cite these numbers, please link back to this page.
The numbers
Demolition permit wait times by place and type
The median is the middle permit: half took less time and half took more. The middle half shows the range from the faster quarter to the slower quarter, which tells you more than an average when a few permits drag on for years.
| Item | Permits | Median wait | Middle half |
|---|---|---|---|
| City of Miami: full demolition, all | 1,007 | 134 days | 74 to 272 days |
| City of Miami: full demolition, residential | 771 | 122 days | 67 to 248 days |
| City of Miami: full demolition, commercial | 236 | 178 days | 91 to 324 days |
| City of Miami: interior demolition | 183 | 58 days | 35 to 88 days |
| City of Miami: detached structures (sheds, garages) | 171 | 74 days | 42 to 150 days |
| City of Miami: partial demolition of an attached part | 126 | 122 days | 69 to 214 days |
| Unincorporated Miami-Dade: single-family home | 787 | 4 days | same day to 15 days |
| Unincorporated Miami-Dade: commercial | 797 | 35 days | 13 to 96 days |
| Unincorporated Miami-Dade: pools | 43 | 4 days | same day to 15 days |
| Unincorporated Miami-Dade: sheds | 121 | 5 days | same day to 27 days |
| Unincorporated Miami-Dade: interior demolition | 51 | 24 days | 10 to 52 days |
City of Miami: building demolition permits issued January 1, 2024 to October 23, 2026, measured with the city's own total days in plan review for each permit. Unincorporated Miami-Dade: building demolition permits issued by the county from January 20, 2024 to January 16, 2026, measured from application date to issue date. See the methodology below.
What stands out
Five findings from the data
About four months in the City of Miami
The typical full demolition in the City of Miami spent 134 days in plan review. Only 18% were through review within 60 days, and 38% took more than six months.
One in six took over a year
16% of City of Miami full demolitions issued since 2024 spent more than a year in plan review. When people say a demolition permit took forever, this is the group they're talking about.
Commercial takes longer
In both places, commercial demolitions took much longer than homes. In the City of Miami the commercial median was 178 days against 122 for residential, and almost half of commercial permits took more than six months.
Houses move fast in unincorporated Miami-Dade
Once the application was in, 64% of single-family home demolition permits issued by the county came out within a week and 85% within 30 days. Only about 6% took more than 90 days.
Owner-builders didn't get through faster
About 35% of the county's demolition permits list the owner as the contractor. On single-family homes, owner-builder permits took a median of 5 days and contractor permits 4 days, so in this data, pulling it yourself didn't save time.
The trend
City of Miami: the wait quadrupled, then started to ease
Here's the median time in plan review for full demolition permits in the City of Miami, grouped by the year the permit was issued.
| Item | Permits issued | Median days in plan review |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 136 | 35 |
| 2019 | 206 | 84 |
| 2020 | 173 | 99 |
| 2021 | 184 | 100 |
| 2022 | 286 | 112 |
| 2023 | 256 | 146 |
| 2024 | 342 | 160 |
| 2025 | 336 | 125 |
| 2026, through October 23 | 329 | 118 |
The median went from 35 days in 2018 to a peak of 160 days in 2024, and has come down in 2025 and 2026. The data shows the change but not the reasons for it, so we're not going to guess at them.
Read this before comparing
Why the two places aren't a straight comparison
Two different clocks
For the City of Miami we used the city's own total days in plan review for each permit. For the county we measured from the application date to the issue date. Both are real waits, but they don't start and stop at exactly the same points.
Prep work isn't on either clock
Surveys, utility disconnect letters, asbestos surveys and DERM paperwork are often gathered before the application goes in. A fast county number doesn't mean the whole job took four days from your first phone call.
The county file covers county permits only
The Miami-Dade file covers permits issued by the county's own building department, which is mostly unincorporated areas. Cities like Hialeah, Doral, Miami Beach and Coral Gables run their own building departments and aren't in it.
Only issued permits count
Applications still sitting in review aren't in either dataset yet. If anything, that makes the real waits a little longer than these numbers.
Where the time goes
What a City of Miami demolition review involves
The data doesn't say why a given permit took as long as it did. What we can tell you is what every full demolition in the City of Miami has to get through.
A current survey and a tree survey
The city wants a certified survey no more than six months old and a tree survey, with tree protection drawn on the demolition plan.
DERM approval
Miami-Dade's environmental department reviews items like asbestos and trees before the city will issue the permit.
Plan review cycles
The first review cycle can take up to 14 business days. Every set of reviewer comments means corrections and another cycle.
Historic review where it applies
A designated property or one in a historic district adds a board review on top of the rest.
What you can control
How to stay out of the slow half
Submit a complete package
Missing documents and plans that don't match the site are what send a permit back for another cycle. Every extra round adds weeks.
Start the surveys and DERM early
Order the survey, the tree survey and the asbestos survey before you need them, so they're not what the permit is waiting on.
Answer every comment the first time
Partial answers to reviewer comments are an easy way to add a cycle. Answer all of them, completely, in one resubmittal.
Plan the schedule around the data
If you're building in the City of Miami, don't book the new construction start for a month after you apply for the demolition. Plan for months, not weeks.
Methodology
How we measured it
The data
City of Miami: the city's public Building Permits Since 2014 dataset. Unincorporated Miami-Dade: the county's public Building Permits Issued By Miami-Dade County, 2 Previous Years to Present dataset. Both were downloaded on October 28, 2026.
What we counted in the City of Miami
Building permits with a scope of work of demolition, split by the work item the city records: total, interior, detached structures and partial attached demolition. We left out plumbing and electrical sub-permits, sewer capping and demolitions the city orders on unsafe structures, which follow a different process.
What we counted in the county
Building permits with an application type of demolish. We left out the separate electrical and plumbing permits. Single-family homes are permits where the proposed use is a single-family residence, cluster home, zero lot line home or townhouse.
How we measured
City of Miami: the city's total days in plan review field. Measured from when the plan was created in the city's system to the issue date instead, the median for full demolitions since 2024 was 170 days. County: days from the application date to the issue date.
What we'll update
We plan to rerun these numbers as new permits are issued, and to add more cities when we can get permit-level data for them. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last updated.
Related
Keep reading
Common questions
Frequently asked questions
How long does a demolition permit take in the City of Miami?
For full demolitions issued since January 2024, the median time in plan review was 134 days, based on 1,007 permits. Residential demolitions ran about 122 days and commercial about 178 days. About 18% got through within 60 days and 16% took more than a year.
How long does a demolition permit take in unincorporated Miami-Dade?
For single-family homes, the county typically issued the demolition permit 4 days after the application, and 64% were issued within a week, based on 787 permits issued from January 2024 to January 2026. Commercial demolition permits took a median of 35 days.
Why does a City of Miami demolition permit take so long?
The permit data doesn't record reasons. What we know is that a full demolition there needs a current survey, a tree survey, DERM approval and plan review, and each set of reviewer comments adds another review cycle. Historic properties also need board review.
Has the City of Miami's wait gotten better?
Somewhat. The median for full demolitions rose from 35 days in 2018 to 160 days in 2024, then fell to 125 days in 2025 and 118 days for permits issued in 2026 through October 23.
Does the wait include getting surveys and utility letters?
Not fully. Much of that work happens before the application is submitted, so it isn't on either clock. Plan for the prep time on top of the numbers here.
Does this include Miami Beach, Hialeah or other cities?
No. Those cities run their own building departments and weren't part of the data we analyzed. We plan to add more cities when we can get permit-level data for them.
Can I use these numbers?
Yes. Please cite Rosemont Ventures Group and link to this page as the source.
This is our own analysis of public permit data from the City of Miami and Miami-Dade County, downloaded on October 28, 2026. Public data can contain errors, and past wait times don't guarantee future ones. Your permit's timeline depends on the property, the scope and how complete the submittal is.