Florida Said You Don't Need a Permit Under $7,500. In Coral Gables, That Changes Almost Nothing — and the Part That Does Matter Isn't the Exemption (2026)
Since July 1, a new state law has been quietly rewriting how homeowners think about small projects. HB 803 — signed in May 2026 and effective July 1 — requires every Florida local government that issues building permits to exempt owners of single-family homes, and their contractors, from pulling a building permit for qualifying work valued under $7,500.
It has been read, in a lot of neighborhood group chats, as “under $7,500 you can do whatever you want.”
In Coral Gables and Pinecrest, that reading will get people in trouble. The building permit exemption is real, but it is carved down by exclusions that between them cover most of what homeowners in these ZIP codes actually want to do. And meanwhile, the provisions of the same bill that will meaningfully change your project — the private provider changes and the HOA provision — got almost no attention at all.
Here is the honest version.
The exemption is narrower than the headline
Four limits do most of the work.
1. The trades are still permitted, regardless of value. Electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas and structural work remain subject to permitting no matter how small the dollar figure. That is not a Coral Gables overlay; it is in the state law itself. So: moving a receptacle, relocating a drain, touching a gas line, adding a mini-split, cutting a header — all still permitted. A $4,000 bathroom refresh that includes a new shower valve is a permitted job.
2. Flood hazard areas are excluded entirely. Properties partially or entirely located in a designated flood hazard area do not get the exemption at all. In coastal Miami-Dade this is not a footnote — it removes a very large share of Coral Gables, Coconut Grove and low-lying Pinecrest parcels from eligibility before you even get to the dollar threshold. Check your flood zone designation before you rely on anything in this law.
3. You cannot split the job. The statute prohibits dividing a construction project into more than one project to evade the $7,500 threshold, and the exemption requires a written request for exemption rather than simply proceeding in silence. “Three invoices instead of one” is exactly the behavior the drafters anticipated.
4. Zoning, land development and local review are untouched. HB 803 addresses building permits. It does not repeal setbacks, lot coverage, fence and wall regulations, tree protection, or — most consequentially here — Coral Gables Board of Architects review.
That last point deserves its own paragraph, because it is the one that surprises people most.
Coral Gables review is a separate track, and it did not change
If you are altering anything on the exterior that is visible from the street, Coral Gables’ design review process still applies. In the historic districts, a Certificate of Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Board is still required for exterior alterations, and it still adds weeks to the calendar.
None of that is a building permit. It is a separate municipal approval with its own submittal requirements and its own meeting schedule, and the state exemption does not reach it. A homeowner who repaints a facade a non-approved color, swaps a front door, or changes a gate under the belief that “it’s under $7,500 so I’m exempt” has not avoided anything — they have skipped the approval that Coral Gables actually enforces, and the remedy for that is usually undoing the work.
The practical rule for Coral Gables and Pinecrest in 2026: the exemption is a building-department question, not a city-approval question. Treat them as two separate gates and check both. Confirm your specific path with the City of Coral Gables or the Village of Pinecrest before you scope the work.
What actually still qualifies
Strip all that away and a genuine set of projects remains eligible — for non-flood-zone parcels, under $7,500, with the written exemption request filed:
- Interior painting and finish carpentry
- Cabinet installation and replacement (no plumbing or electrical relocation)
- Flooring replacement over an existing substrate
- Drywall repair and finishing
- Trim, baseboard and interior door replacement
- Cosmetic, non-structural, non-trade improvements generally
That is a real convenience, and for a straightforward interior refresh it removes a genuine bureaucratic step. It is just a much smaller universe than “anything under $7,500.”
The part of HB 803 that will actually change your renovation
Buried under the exemption headline are two provisions with more practical weight for premium projects.
Private providers got significantly stronger. Property owners can now engage a private provider for plan review and inspections at any point, without the statute’s previous preconditions, and the prior advance-notice requirement for inspections has been eliminated. Local officials may not re-review plans and construction documents that a private provider has determined to be compliant, except as to local ordinances, floodplain regulations, and life-safety issues unrelated to code compliance. And if the building official does not give written notice that a submittal is incomplete within 10 business days, the permit is deemed approved as a matter of law and must be issued on the next business day.
For a substantial Coral Gables or Pinecrest renovation — an addition, a kitchen-and-bath gut, a whole-house remodel — this is the meaningful change. Miami-Dade’s plan review queue has historically been the long pole in the schedule, and the private provider route is now a more usable lever for compressing it. It is not free, and it is not right for every job, but it is a real option worth pricing against the delay it avoids.
HOAs can no longer require a building permit before architectural review. Previously, some associations would refuse to start architectural review until the owner produced an issued permit — while the building department was waiting on the association’s approval. HB 803 prohibits an association from requiring a permit issued by a governmental authority as a prerequisite for reviewing a proposed improvement. If your association still asks for a permit before it will look at your plans, that request no longer stands.
How to decide, project by project
A short decision path we now walk clients through:
- Is the property in a flood hazard area? If yes, the exemption does not apply. Permit as usual.
- Does the work touch electrical, plumbing, mechanical, gas or structure? If yes, permit as usual.
- Is the true, undivided value under $7,500? If no, permit as usual.
- Is anything changing on the exterior? If yes, Board of Architects and/or Historic Preservation review still applies — independent of the answers above.
- If you cleared all four: file the written exemption request with the building department, keep the documentation, and keep it with your closing file.
That last item matters more than it sounds. Exempt work still has to be built correctly, and at resale an inspector or a buyer’s attorney will ask why there is no permit record for visible new work. A written exemption request in your file is the answer. Nothing in your file is not.
This is the same instinct we bring to Florida’s 25% roof rule and insurance coverage in Coral Gables and Pinecrest: the headline version of a Florida rule and the version that governs your specific parcel are rarely the same thing.
Karma Construction Group has been building since 2012 and works across Coral Gables, Pinecrest and Coconut Grove. We permit conservatively — the schedule cost of an unnecessary permit is almost always smaller than the cost of unwinding unpermitted work at closing. Our licenses are listed on our licenses page.
Frequently asked questions
Does HB 803 mean I can replace my kitchen without a permit if it costs under $7,500? Almost never. A kitchen at any price point typically involves electrical and plumbing, both of which remain permitted regardless of value. Cabinet boxes and countertops installed with no trade work and no relocation may qualify — the rest of the kitchen does not.
How do I find out if my property is in a flood hazard area? Miami-Dade and FEMA flood zone information is publicly searchable by address, and your municipality can confirm the designation. Given how much of Coral Gables and Coconut Grove carries a flood designation, assume you need to check rather than assume you are clear.
Does the exemption mean I can hire an unlicensed handyman? No. HB 803 changed the permit requirement, not Florida’s contractor licensing law. Work that requires a licensed contractor still requires one, and using an unlicensed party remains a risk to you, your insurance and your title.
Do I still need a permit for a fence or a wall? Fences and walls are governed by local zoning and, in Coral Gables, by design review — neither of which HB 803 touches. Treat fence and wall work as a Coral Gables approval question first and a building permit question second.
Will exempt work still show up at resale? The work will. The permit record will not. Keep your written exemption request, your contract, and your invoices together so you can document what was done and why no permit exists.
Planning a Coral Gables or Pinecrest project this season?
The rules changed in July, and the parts that matter are not the parts making the rounds. Before you scope a project around the $7,500 line, get a read on your flood designation, your trade scope and your design review path. The same goes for exterior work generally — roof edge and soffit detailing in a hurricane zone is a good example of where the code, not the budget, sets the scope.
Call Karma Construction Group at 202-798-7663, or request a free consultation at karmaconstructiongroup.com. Licensed and insured, building since 2012.