A permit search is inexpensive due diligence on any South Florida construction job. Before you buy a property, price a remodel, or add an electrical scope to an existing building, you want to know what permits have been pulled on it, which ones are still open, and which ones expired without a final inspection. An open electrical permit from a previous owner can hold up a closing, and it can stop the building department from issuing the new permit you need.
The catch in Miami-Dade is that there is no single search. The county building department covers unincorporated Miami-Dade only, and each city runs its own building department with its own portal. This guide walks through the county's search menu step by step, then the City of Miami, Miami Beach and Coral Gables portals. For the wider picture of how permits work across the three counties, see our South Florida electrical permits guide.
Step 1: Find the folio and the jurisdiction
Every property in Miami-Dade has a 13-digit folio number, and it tells you which building department to search. The county's permit instructions say its process is solely for properties with folios that start with "30", which is unincorporated Miami-Dade, and that each municipality has its own building official who issues permits within its city limits (Miami-Dade, how to apply for a permit). The same page points you to the Property Appraiser to confirm which municipality a property is in.
- Look up the address on the Property Appraiser's property search and copy the folio exactly, with no dashes if the form asks for digits only.
- If the folio starts with 30, search the county system below.
- If it starts with anything else, the property is inside a city. Go to that city's portal (City of Miami, Miami Beach and Coral Gables are covered further down).
Step 2: Use the county e-Permitting menu
Unincorporated Miami-Dade's public search lives on the Building Department's e-Permitting Building Permit Selection Menu. It is an older-looking page: you pick one option, type the required item shown in bold, and submit. The options that matter for a permit search are these.
| Menu option | What you enter | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| Open Permits by Folio | Folio number | Permits on the property that have not been closed. Start here for a closing or a remodel. |
| Open Master Permits | Address | Open master (building) permits at the address, which the trade sub-permits hang under. |
| Process/Permit Number Cross-Reference | Address | Links an address to its process and permit numbers, useful when you have no permit number yet. |
| Permit History Inquiry | Permit number | The history of one permit. |
| Master Subsidiary Permit Cross-Reference | Permit number | Every sub-permit (electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing) tied to a master permit. |
| Permit Inspection History | Permit number | Which inspections were requested and their results. |
| Permit Inspection Holds and Permit Outstanding Requirements | Permit number | Anything blocking inspections or closure. |
| Contractor Permit Inquiry | C or T followed by the contractor or qualifier number | Permits tied to a contractor. |
A practical order for a property check: run Open Permits by Folio first, then Open Master Permits by address to catch anything filed under an address variation. For each open master, run the Master Subsidiary Permit Cross-Reference so you can see whether the electrical sub-permit is the piece left open. Then open the Inspection History for that sub-permit. A permit with a rough inspection approved and no final tells a very different story from one with no inspections at all.
Step 3: Read the status correctly
Status labels differ between portals, so read what the record says rather than assuming. In plain terms, you are sorting every permit into one of four buckets.
- Active or issued. Work is permitted and the clock is running. The county's application page says an issued permit gives you 180 days to do the work and call inspections, and that an approved inspection on the master or any sub-permit extends it another 180 days from the approval date (Miami-Dade permit steps). For single-family permits, state law now sets a longer period (see below).
- Expired. Time ran out before a final inspection. Florida law lets an owner close an expired permit whose work is substantially complete without pulling a new one (F.S. 553.79(16)). Our guide to open and expired permits covers how.
- Finaled or closed. The permit's requirements were satisfied. In Broward, for comparison, the county's guide uses "Permit Final" for a closed sub-permit and "Completed" for a closed master (Broward permit guide).
- Cancelled or superseded. Miami-Dade's expired-permit form notes that when a newer permit was pulled for the same scope, the old one can be cancelled using the "Superseded by Another Permit" option (Request for Expired Permit Check).
Single-family timing changed on July 1, 2026. Under section 553.79(1)(c), a single-family permit now expires one year after issuance or when the next Florida Building Code edition takes effect, whichever is later. If a status or date looks wrong against that rule, call the building department before drawing conclusions; they have the final word on their own records.
City of Miami: iBuild permit search
The City of Miami runs applications through iBuild and plan review through ePlan (ProjectDox). Its public permit search lets you look up records by process number, permit number, address or the 13-digit folio. Search by folio first, since address formats vary. On a City of Miami job the electrical work is a sub-permit under the master, so check both. Our City of Miami electrical permits guide covers the full iBuild process.
Miami Beach: Civic Access and the archival search
Miami Beach has two places to look. Current permits live in Civic Access, the city's EnerGov portal, where permits are applied for, renewed and inspected. Older records are on the city's Archival Permit Search dashboard. On an older Miami Beach building, run both: a permit that predates the current portal may only show up in the archive. The city also notes that renewing an expired permit applied for before December 2020 needs administration approval (Miami Beach expired permits and renewals), so older open records take longer to clear. More in our Miami Beach electrical permits guide.
Coral Gables: Citizen Self Service portal
Coral Gables uses a Tyler EnerGov Citizen Self Service portal. The city's Development Services FAQ says you can search by property address at any time, check a permit's status by permit number, and call 305-460-5245 for help interpreting a status. The same FAQ says a certificate of occupancy or completion needs all required inspections showing Passed and no pending sub-permits under the master permit, which is exactly what to look for when you review a Gables record.
Why builders and buyers run this search
- Before a closing. Open or expired permits are a title and negotiation issue. Florida law protects an arm's-length purchaser: a building department may not deny that buyer a permit or fine them solely because a previous owner's permit was not closed (F.S. 553.79(17)). The work may still need to be inspected or corrected, so find out before you own it.
- Before a remodel. A stale electrical permit on the property can complicate a new one. Knowing it exists at bid time lets you price closing it out.
- Before adding a service or panel. The history shows past service changes and whether they were finaled, which helps when you plan a panel upgrade or new service.
- When a contractor left a job. The Contractor Permit Inquiry shows what was pulled under their number.
What to do when you find an open electrical permit
- Pull the inspection history to see which stage was last approved.
- Check for holds or outstanding requirements on the county menu, or the equivalent in the city portal.
- Decide whether the original contractor or a new licensed contractor will close it. Florida lets the owner hire a different contractor, who is liable only for their own work (F.S. 553.79(16)).
- Have an electrician look at the work before you schedule anything. Our electrical safety inspections and code violation correction pages explain what that looks like.
Questions builders ask
Can I search Miami-Dade permits without an account?
Yes for the county: its e-Permitting menu takes a folio, address or permit number with no login. City portals vary; Coral Gables, for one, says anyone can search its portal by property address. Applying for permits is a separate process that runs through each department's application portal.
Why does the county search show nothing for my address?
Most often the property is inside a city. If the folio does not start with 30, the county does not issue permits there; search the city's portal instead.
Does an open permit mean the work is unsafe?
Not necessarily. Many open permits are paperwork: a final that was never called. But nobody can tell from the record alone, which is why the work should be looked at before the permit is closed.
Who has the final word on a permit's status?
The building department with jurisdiction over the address. If the portal and your paperwork disagree, call that department: Miami-Dade County for unincorporated areas, or the city for everything else.
Need an open electrical permit closed?
KRW Electric (EC13012832, Florida certified electrical contractor) handles the permit and the inspection on its jobs across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. If your search turned up an open electrical permit, send us the permit number and address or call (305) 359-7312.
Reviewed by Kyle White, KRW Electric Company LLC — licensed electrical contractor EC13012832.
