General Contractor near iMater Academy
General contractor near iMater Academy means building on Hialeah's single-family blocks, where a converted garage or a second kitchen is judged twice: by the permit when it goes in, and by the city's re-occupancy inspector when the house is sold.
Built once, inspected twice
iMater's middle and high school campus sits at 651 W. 20th Street, on land Hialeah zones for industry. The houses start a block or two away, and to the north and east much of the grid is R-1, the city's one-family district. Miami Springs, a separate city, begins a few blocks southwest. Hialeah zoning decides more of an in-law project here than the drawings do, so look your lot up on the city's Online Zoning Application first.
Does this apply to your project?
In scope
Out of scope
What Hialeah's re-occupancy inspection is looking for
In Hialeah, a house that has been lived in cannot change hands without a certificate of re-occupancy. Section 98-415 of the city code makes it unlawful to buy, sell or transfer title to a single-family home, a duplex or a townhouse without one, and it has applied to closings since May 1, 2002. The seller has to disclose it in writing and deliver it before the sale.
The inspection is about use, not construction, and in R-1 the answer is binary: the code says the certificate “shall not be issued for the presence or existence of more than one dwelling or residence.” The city's re-occupancy page adds that it is “neither a structural, electrical, plumbing, nor mechanical inspection,” and that an approved one “does not validate any unknown alterations.”
The code also spells out what looks like a second dwelling. Under Section 98-496, extra fixtures or appliances, or habitable rooms that cannot be reached from one another, create a rebuttable presumption that the house holds a second residence. A garage with a stove and a door that only opens to the yard fits it, whether or not anyone lives there.
The application costs $100 for an inspection within 30 days or $300 for one within 10. A violation holds the certificate until a re-inspection confirms the fix, and when the fix runs past the closing the city can issue a conditional one with a compliance date. A re-occupancy certificate lasts six months and is recorded with the deed. Do not confuse it with the certificate of occupancy that closes a building permit, which is a separate document.
Can an in-law suite in Hialeah have its own kitchen?
It can, and the kitchen stays until the house is sold. Under Hialeah's Extended Family Living Quarters exception, an in-law suite in an R-1 house may include a stove, microwave, hot plate, refrigerator, air conditioning and floor and wall kitchen cabinets, as long as the occupants are immediate family, the owner lives there on homestead, and every room connects inside the house. When the sale needs a re-occupancy certificate, the second kitchen comes out.
Two lawful ways to house a second household
Hialeah's one-family district allows a second household in two cases: the city's family-quarters exception in Section 98-496, and the Elderly Homeowners Relief Act in Section 98-416. Both start with the owner living in the house, and both end at the sale.
Either way, the construction needs its own permits. The family rule lists them: an extra bathroom, plumbing pipes, valves, electrical alterations and exterior doors. It also bars turning a laundry room or wet bar into the second kitchen or bath. So the garage conversion permit is the first document of the project, not the last. Under the senior rule, the space only qualifies once a finalized permit stands behind it.
If the garage was converted before you bought the house
Hialeah's Building Relief Program lets an owner correct unpermitted work with reduced penalties, on two conditions: you report all of it yourself, and you do it before the city starts enforcement. Once a Notice of Civil Violation has been issued, the program is closed to that property. The application needs as-built plans and a certificate from a Florida-registered architect or professional engineer who has inspected the structure and states it can be legalized, and permits issued under it are not charged double fees.
We do not sell that paperwork on its own. When the correction plan calls for construction, such as a wall reopened, a kitchen taken out or a door moved, that part is general contractor work, and it is ours.
An in-law suite addition, in six phases
These are the six phases we run on every job. For a suite, the first two carry most of the weight, because the paperwork decides what it may contain.
Discovery and design
We start from the folio and the zoning district, confirm the homestead, and measure. The plan keeps every room reachable from inside the house, because a suite that only opens to the yard is the presumption the code describes.
Permitting
Hialeah adopts the Florida Building Code by reference, and the drawings are reviewed against it. We pull the permit as the general contractor of record, covering the bath, plumbing, electrical and any exterior door, while the family-quarters application goes to the Planning division alongside it.
Demolition and rough-ins
In a garage conversion the door opening is framed in and the new drain and supply runs laid out. Rough-ins are inspected before any wall closes.
Primary installation
Cabinets, fixtures and appliances go in after the inspections pass. We set the suite's kitchen so it can be taken out cleanly, because at the sale it will be.
Finishes and fixtures
Tile, trim, hardware and lighting, in the order each one depends on the last.
Final inspection
It closes the permit against the folio, which is the record a future buyer and a re-occupancy inspector can both find.
When the suite is an addition rather than a conversion, the R-1 district sets the envelope: 20-foot front and rear yards, side yards of 10 percent of the lot's average width (between 5 feet 1 inch and 7½ feet), and a height limit of 2½ stories or 35 feet. We draw the addition inside those lines first.
From iMater Academy to our office
We are at 8200 NW 41st St, Suite 200-4, Doral, FL 33166, just over four miles from the campus.
Who signs off on what
A licensed contractor on the site sketch
The senior rental rule is unusual because it names the trade: its application asks for a site sketch prepared by a licensed general contractor, engineer, architect or architect intern. Gaven Constructions is a Florida Certified General Contractor, license CGC1524886. When we build the unit, we draw that sketch with the permit set, and you can check the license on the state's site before you sign.
Beyond the family suite
A suite is one kind of addition. Rear additions, whole-home remodels and new construction run under the same general contractor license, through the six phases described above.
Building near iMater Academy
Is the neighborhood around iMater Academy zoned for a family suite?
Much of it is. The campus sits on industrial land, but large parts of the grid to the north and east are R-1, where the family-quarters rule applies. Southwest of it, Miami Springs is a separate city. Zoning goes lot by lot, so check yours on the city's zoning application.
Can a detached building behind the house become living quarters?
Not as family quarters, unless it was permitted as a guesthouse when it was built. The senior rental rule is the exception: an owner aged 55 or older may rent out a garage or accessory building, if a finalized building permit stands behind it.
What happens to an in-law suite when we sell?
The extra fixtures and the second kitchen come out when the sale needs a re-occupancy certificate, and a senior rental's tenant certificate cancels on its own. The new owner starts from a one-family house.
How long does the Hialeah re-occupancy inspection take?
Up to 30 days, or 10 with the expedited inspection. Someone should be home between 9 AM and 3 PM, and a violation adds a re-inspection, so apply well before the closing.
The garage was converted before we bought the house. What can we do?
Check the permit history before you list. If it was never permitted, the city's Building Relief Program is the route, but only until enforcement starts. An architect or engineer certifies the as-built plans, and we build the corrections.
Are you a licensed general contractor near iMater Academy?
Yes. Gaven Constructions holds Florida Certified General Contractor license CGC1524886, and our Doral office is just over four miles from the campus. The license is public on the state's licensee search. The site visit and written quote are free, with no trip fee.
Send us the folio and the floor plan
Two things tell us most of what we need: the folio number from your property record and a sketch of the house as it is laid out today. Send them, call, or come by 8200 NW 41st St, Suite 200-4, Doral, FL 33166, Monday through Friday from 7 AM to 10 PM. We will tell you which of the two rules fits your project before anything is drawn.
Last updated October 2026.