HB 803 Is Now in Effect: Start Your Permit-Free Bathroom or Kitchen Remodel in Miami Today
It Is Official: HB 803 Took Effect Today
As of today, July 1, 2026, Florida HB 803 is the law. If you own a single-family home in Miami-Dade and your bathroom or kitchen project is cosmetic work under $7,500, your city or county can no longer require a building permit for it. No permit application, no $200 to $800 permit fee, no 1 to 4 week wait for approval and inspections.
We have been writing about this law since Governor DeSantis signed it on May 7. Homeowners kept asking us the same question all spring: should I wait until July? If you waited, good call. The waiting is over. A bathroom refresh or a kitchen update you start this week can go straight to work.
This post covers what you can start today in the two rooms people care about most, the bathroom and the kitchen. If you want the full legal breakdown, our complete HB 803 guide goes deep on the statute itself.
What You Can Start in Your Bathroom Today
The exemption covers cosmetic work that does not touch a building system. In a bathroom, that means:
- New tile on floors and walls where the plumbing stays put
- Regrouting and recaulking a tired shower
- A new vanity in the same spot, with a new countertop and sink on the existing drain
- New faucets, a new toilet on the same flange, new mirror and hardware
- Fresh paint on walls, ceiling, and trim
- A new light fixture or fan cover swapped onto existing wiring
That list covers most of what a 15 or 20 year old Miami bathroom actually needs. A typical hall bathroom refresh in Kendall, new floor tile, tub surround tile, vanity, toilet, paint, lands between $4,800 and $6,500 in our quotes. That fits under the cap with room to spare. See our bathroom remodeling page for how we run these jobs, and the bathroom cost guide for detailed pricing by scope.
Moving a drain, converting a tub to a curbless shower where the drain relocates, adding a circuit for a heated floor, or knocking out a wall still needs a permit. So does any home in a flood-hazard zone, where the exemption does not apply at all. Our HB 803 bathroom guide walks through the full permit-free list with real cost examples.
What You Can Start in Your Kitchen Today
Kitchens have the same rule with the same cap. Permit-free as of today:
- Painting or refinishing your existing cabinets
- New cabinet doors and hardware on the existing boxes
- A new countertop where the sink stays in place
- New backsplash tile
- A new sink and faucet on the existing drain and supply lines
- New flooring laid without structural changes
- Swapping light fixtures on existing wiring
- Replacing appliances that plug into existing connections
The smartest kitchen play under the $7,500 cap is cabinet painting or refacing plus a new backsplash and hardware. That combination changes how the whole room reads for a fraction of a full renovation, and every piece of it is now permit-free. We break down the numbers in our kitchen cost guide, and our kitchen remodeling page shows recent projects across Miami-Dade.
Gas line work, moving the sink or the range, new circuits for appliances, and taking down a wall for an open concept layout still go through the building department. The HB 803 kitchen guide covers where the line sits in a kitchen, item by item.
Save that chart or screenshot it. It settles ninety percent of the "do I need a permit" conversations we have with Miami homeowners.
The Rules That Did Not Change Today
HB 803 removed one requirement. It did not remove these:
The $7,500 cap is per project, not per invoice. Splitting one $15,000 kitchen into two $7,500 halves to dodge the cap is exactly what the law forbids. Anyone who offers to structure a job that way is setting you up to owe back-permit costs later.
Flood-hazard zones are excluded. If your home sits in a flood-hazard area under the Florida Building Code, the exemption does not apply, even for paint. Parts of Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, and South Miami Heights are in these zones. Check before you assume. Our flood zone guide explains how to look up your property.
HOA rules still apply. The county cannot require a permit for cosmetic work anymore, but your HOA can still require architectural review for anything it could see or hear. Condo associations especially. We covered this in our HOA and HB 803 guide.
Insurance still matters. A permit was never what protected you from a bad crew. Insurance is. We carry general liability on every job, and you should demand the same from anyone who works in your home, permit or no permit.
How to Plan a Permit-Free Project This Month
Here is the order we recommend now that the law is live:
Why This Summer Is the Window
Permit fees and permit waits used to add real friction to small projects. A $5,500 bathroom refresh carried $300 in fees and 3 weeks of waiting before a single tile moved. That friction is gone as of this morning, and demand is going to follow. Every remodeling team in Miami-Dade knows this law changed today, and calendars will fill through the fall.
If you have been sitting on a tired bathroom or a kitchen that needs new life, the math just improved and the timeline just shortened. Call us at (786) 363-7039 or request a quote online. We serve Kendall, West Kendall, Pinecrest, Palmetto Bay, Doral, Coral Gables, Cutler Bay, and the rest of Miami-Dade, in English and Spanish.
FAQ: HB 803 Now That It Is Live
Is HB 803 in effect right now?
Yes. The law took effect July 1, 2026. From today forward, Florida cities and counties cannot require a building permit for cosmetic work on a single-family home when the project total stays under $7,500. That includes painting, tile, cabinet refinishing, countertops, and fixture swaps where nothing is relocated. The law was signed on May 7, 2026, and the two months between signing and today were the transition period. Any qualifying project that starts now needs no permit application at all. Projects that were already permitted before today simply finish under their existing permits. There is nothing to file and nothing to cancel.
Do I need to notify the county that I am using the exemption?
No. There is no registration, no exemption form, and no notice requirement. If the work is cosmetic, the home is single-family, the property is not in a flood-hazard zone, and the total is under $7,500, the exemption applies automatically. That said, keep your written quote and your paid invoices. If a question ever comes up when you sell the home, paperwork showing the scope and the total is what settles it in thirty seconds. We give every client a written scope that spells out that no plumbing, electrical, structural, or mechanical systems were altered.
What is the single best bathroom project under the cap?
A full cosmetic refresh where every fixture stays in place. New floor tile, new tile on the tub or shower walls, a new vanity and countertop in the same footprint, new faucet and toilet, fresh paint, and new hardware. In our Miami-Dade quotes that package usually lands between $4,800 and $7,100 depending on tile selection and bathroom size. It transforms the room completely, and as of today none of it needs a permit. The savings are roughly $300 in fees and 2 to 3 weeks of waiting compared to the same job pulled through the permit counter last month.
What is the single best kitchen project under the cap?
Cabinet painting or refacing with a new backsplash and new hardware. Cabinets set the tone of a kitchen, and painting solid existing boxes costs a fraction of replacing them. Add a porcelain or ceramic backsplash and updated pulls and the room reads brand new. Depending on kitchen size, that package typically runs $3,500 to $7,000 in our quotes. A new countertop can fit too if the sink stays put and the material choice is sensible. Full gut renovations with moved appliances and new circuits still need permits, and honestly they should.
My home is in a flood zone. Am I completely out?
For the exemption, yes. HB 803 does not apply to homes in flood-hazard areas under the Florida Building Code, even for paint-only jobs. That does not mean you cannot remodel. It means your project follows the same permit process that existed before July 1. Permits on cosmetic work are usually straightforward, and we handle the paperwork for our clients. The important thing is knowing your zone before you plan. The Miami-Dade property appraiser site and FEMA flood maps both show it, and we check it on every quote as a standard step.
Does the exemption cover condos and townhouses?
The exemption is written for single-family residences. Condo units fall under condo association rules and different building code provisions, so a condo bathroom refresh still goes through your association's approval process and usually the building's permit requirements. Townhouses depend on how they are classified and what the work touches. If you are in a townhouse, ask us and we will check how your specific project is treated. For single-family homes in the suburbs, Kendall, Westchester, Country Walk, The Hammocks, and similar neighborhoods, the exemption applies cleanly.
Can I combine a permit-free refresh with permitted work?
Yes, and this is common. Say you want a new bathroom where the tub becomes a walk-in shower with a moved drain. The drain relocation needs a permit. The tile, vanity, paint, and fixtures do not. We pull the permit for the plumbing portion, and the cosmetic work proceeds without waiting on it where the sequence allows. You save part of the friction instead of all of it, and everything stays legal. What you cannot do is pretend the whole project is cosmetic to skip the permit on the part that is not.
How do I know a quote is honestly under $7,500?
The quote should list every line item, labor and materials, as one total for one project. Red flags: a job split into multiple contracts with round numbers just under the cap, a quote that leaves materials out so the paper total looks smaller, or anyone who says the cap is per room or per trade. It is per project. If your project genuinely lands under $7,500 as one honest number, you qualify. If it does not, the permit process still works the way it always has, and a few hundred dollars in fees on a bigger project is not a reason to cut corners.
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