This is the city's internal framework for how the Building Division prepares for, activates, and operates recovery permitting procedures following a hurricane or major storm.
Section 1. Purpose
The Building Division Post Incident Permitting Preparedness and Response Plan establishes how the Building Division will prepare for and operate special permitting and inspection procedures following a hurricane, tropical storm, or other incident determined to require a recovery permitting response.
This plan is automatically initiated upon landfall of any storm. Once initiated, the Building Division will focus on the expeditious issuance of recovery-related permits.
The intent of post-incident permitting is to facilitate recovery without sacrificing city standards or life-safety during reconstruction. Information contained in this plan will require flexibility during implementation and execution given the fluid nature of any municipal natural disaster response. Every effort will be made to expedite recovery without sacrificing city standards or life-safety, and to prioritize life-safety recovery over less critical permits.
Section 2. Planning Assumptions
A recovery permitting response may disrupt normal operations while increasing demand for permit intake, plan review, inspections, and customer assistance. The Building Division may need to operate with limited facility access, technology outages, reduced staffing, higher permit volume, and increased public demand for clear guidance.
If recovery-related permit volume exceeds normal capacity, the Building Division may use alternate service locations, temporary procedures, supplemental personnel, or modified internal routing. Expedited procedures do not remove the need to comply with applicable building code, floodplain management, life-safety, and local requirements.
Section 3. Pre-Incident Readiness Activities
Before hurricane season, and as needed throughout the year, the Building Division will review its recovery permitting procedures, so staff, systems, guidance, and service delivery options are ready to support a recovery permitting response.
Readiness activities may include confirming common post storm permit types, incident tagging procedures, supplemental staffing options, alternate service locations, operational conditions, the public recovery permitting guide, substantial damage and substantial improvement letter procedures, and applicable floodplain management requirements.
Section 4. Plan Activation
The Development Services Director may activate this plan when storm, incident, or recovery conditions require special permitting, inspection, staffing, or building-related enforcement procedures. Activation may occur before, during, or after an incident. In the case of a storm, this plan will be automatically activated upon landfall of a storm in Miami Dade County.
Once activated, the administration or designee will coordinate implementation with the Building Official, Trade Chiefs, Permits Manager, Permits Supervisor, Permit Clerks, Reviewers, Inspectors, and other assigned staff. The Building Division may implement only the portions of the plan needed for the conditions present at the time.
Section 5. Operational Conditions
The Building Division will use the following operational conditions to determine how recovery-related permits are received, reviewed, issued, and documented.
Condition 1: No power, no internet, permitting systems unavailable, or staff required to work offsite without normal system access. Staff will utilize a permit walk through process to manually process permit applications. Records must be entered into the City’s permitting system once systems are restored or normal access becomes available.
Condition 2: Power, internet, and permitting systems are available while operating from an alternate location. Staff may process storm-related permits from the alternate location through available online systems and apply the appropriate incident name or recovery tag for prioritization.
Condition 3: Power, internet, permitting systems, and the primary permitting location are available. Staff will continue to use incident tagging and recovery prioritization as needed until the Building Division determines that normal processing can resume.
The Building Division may move between operational conditions as circumstances change.
Section 6. Staffing and Surge Support
The Building Division will use available staff to support recovery-related permit intake, permit review, inspections, customer assistance, and building-related enforcement operations.
The Building Division will monitor workload conditions to determine whether supplemental personnel are needed. Supplemental support may be considered when permit applications, inspections, or plan reviews exceed the Division’s ability to process work within acceptable recovery timeframes.
When supplemental support is needed, the Division may use existing contracts with private providers or other authorized staffing arrangements. Supplemental personnel will be onboarded, trained, supervised, and quality-checked by the appropriate Trade Chief or designated Building Division supervisor.
Section 7. Alternate Location Permitting Team
When the city activates an alternate public service location, the Building Division may deploy a permitting team to support recovery-related permit intake, customer assistance, and manual walk-through permitting as required.
The team may help property owners, contractors, and design professionals with applications, documentation requirements, permit status questions, routing to Building Division staff, and identification of recovery-related applications for expedited processing.
The size, composition, schedule, and services provided by the team will depend on the severity of the incident, public demand, facility availability, staffing, and direction from the Development Services Director or designee.
Section 8. Expedited Permit Processing
The Building Division will use expedited permit processing procedures to support the expeditious issuance of recovery-related permits when the plan is activated. Expedited processing may include incident tagging, prioritized application review, modified routing, manual walk-through permitting, alternate location support, or supplemental personnel. Priority will be given to life-safety concerns based on severity of hazard requiring permit issuance as well as number of people affected by the hazard.
When permitting systems are available, Permit Clerks will identify eligible recovery-related applications by applying the appropriate incident name or recovery tag in the permitting system. When systems are unavailable, staff may use temporary tracking methods until records can be entered into the permitting system.
The Building Division does not anticipate fee waivers or fee reductions as part of the recovery permitting process unless otherwise directed by City policy or action.
Section 9. Common Post Incident Permit Types
The Building Division will maintain a list of permit types commonly requested following a hurricane, tropical storm, or other incident requiring a recovery permitting response. These permit types may be prioritized when the plan is activated, depending on permit volume, staffing, system availability, and the nature of the recovery work.
- FBC Building (Commercial) - Demolition
- FBC Residential - Demolition
- FBC (Commercial) - Roofing
- FBC Residential - Roofing
- FBC Building (Commercial) - Windows/Doors/Garage Doors/Shutters/Awnings/Canopy
- FBC Residential - Windows/Doors/Garage Doors/Shutters/Awnings/Canopy
- FBC Building (Commercial)- Fence/Gate/Wall/Retaining Wall
- FBC Residential - Fence/Gate/Wall/Retaining Wall
- Mechanical Residential - HVAC Changeout
- Mechanical Commercial - HVAC Changeout
- FBC Building (Commercial) – Partial Demolition
- FBC Residential – Partial Demolition
The Building Division may update this list based on observed demand, life and safety concerns, incident type, code requirements, operational experience, or direction from the Development Services Director or designee.
Section 10. Public Recovery Permitting Guide Support
The City is required to publish a hurricane and tropical storm recovery permitting guide for residential and commercial property owners on its website by May 1 annually. The Assistant Director of Building Administration will coordinate the Building Division’s support for the guide.
The Building Division will provide current information on common recovery-related permit types, repairs that require a permit, repairs that may not require a permit, applicable fees, application procedures, expedited procedures, permitting service locations, and applicable local requirements.
The public recovery permitting guide will be maintained as a separate public-facing document. This plan identifies the Building Division’s support role but does not duplicate the full guide content.
Section 11. Substantial Damage and Substantial Improvement Support
The Building Division will support the City’s process for receiving, reviewing, issuing, and providing access to substantial damage and substantial improvement letters. The process must allow property owners to access applicable letters online and provide an email address to receive digital copies.
When recovery-related permit activity involves properties that may be subject to substantial damage or substantial improvement requirements, Building Division staff will coordinate the appropriate review before permit issuance or as otherwise required by applicable procedures. Public guidance will explain how property owners may access the online option and receive digital copies of applicable letters.
Section 12. Demobilization and Return to Normal Operations
The Development Services Director may direct the Building Division to begin transitioning back to normal operations at any time based on operational conditions, recovery needs, staffing availability, public demand, or Citywide priorities. The Development Services Director may also direct the Building Division to restart or expand recovery operations if conditions change or additional recovery permitting support is needed.
As recovery operations wind down, the Building Division will reduce alternate location support, transition team personnel back to normal assignments, and determine when incident tagging or recovery permit prioritization is no longer necessary. Any records created through manual or temporary procedures must be reconciled and entered into the City’s permitting system before the recovery operation is closed.
Section 13. Annual Review and Continuous Improvement
The Building Division Post Incident Permitting Preparedness and Response Plan will be reviewed annually no later than May 1. The review will be coordinated by the Assistant Director of Building Administration and may include input from the Building Official, Trade Chiefs, Permits Manager, Permits Supervisor, and other assigned staff.
The plan may also be updated outside the annual review cycle when changes in law, City procedures, staffing, technology, or lessons learned from recovery operations require earlier revisions.
Section 14. Disaster Debris Management Plan
The City has established a Disaster Debris Management Plan through the public works department to promote expeditious debris removal following a hurricane or tropical storm. To this end, the City also maintains contracts with vendors and property owners to remove and relocate debris to pre-determined locations throughout the city as well as outside city limits. The purpose of the debris management plan is to provide for effective and efficient management of disaster-generated debris. The plan is intended to be an evolving document that provides a comprehensive approach to preparing for and implementing debris management operations following a major disaster and to unify the efforts of public and private organizations for a comprehensive and effective approach to:
- Provide organizational structure, guidance, and standardized guidelines for the clearance, removal, and disposal of debris caused by a major debris-generating event.
- Establish the most efficient and cost effective methods to resolve disaster debris removal and disposal issues.
- Implement and coordinate private sector debris removal and disposal contracts to maximize clean-up efficiencies and minimize or control debris management costs.
- Expedite debris removal and disposal efforts that provide visible signs of recovery designed to mitigate the threat to the health and safety of City of Coral Gables residents.
- Coordinate partnering relationships through communications and pre-planning with local, State, and Federal agencies that have debris management responsibilities.