What Can a Miami HOA Control in a Kitchen Remodel?

What can a Miami HOA control in a kitchen remodel comes down to one test: whether the work shows from outside. Florida law bars an association from placing requirements on the interior of a home that is not visible from the street, a neighboring parcel or a common area. A new window, a relocated vent or a changed gas entry is fair game. Your cabinets, counters and layout are not.

Where the Association's Authority Stops

Homeowners' associations in Florida run under Chapter 720 of the state statutes, which covers communities of parcels: houses and townhouses standing on their own lots. Condominiums run under a different chapter and work on different reasoning.

Chapter 720 puts an outer boundary on what an architectural committee may adopt in the first place. Under Florida Statute 720.3035, an association or its architectural committee "may not enforce or adopt a covenant, rule, or guideline that" limits or places requirements on "the interior of a structure that is not visible from the parcel's frontage or an adjacent parcel, an adjacent common area, or a community golf course."

That one sentence settles most of what people are really asking when they ask whether they need HOA approval for interior renovations. Cabinet boxes and door styles. Countertop material. Where the sink goes and how long the island runs. None of it is visible from the frontage, so none of it is something the committee may write a rule about.

The same paragraph carries a second limit that lands inside a kitchen. A committee may not require review of plans for a central air-conditioning, refrigeration, heating or ventilating system that is not visible from those same points and is "substantially similar to a system that is approved or recommended by the association."

The Parts of a Kitchen That Still Show

The exterior half of the job is a different matter, and a full remodel usually has one.

A wider window over the sink changes the elevation. So does a new exterior door onto a terrace. A range hood ducted through an outside wall or the roof leaves a cap and a penetration that reads from the yard. Moving the cooktop can move where the gas line enters the house, and a make-up air intake or a relocated condenser is equipment sitting outdoors.

Each of those is exactly what the architectural committee exists to review, and each is what the HOA approval process should be aimed at. Sending the committee a cabinet spec wastes everyone's week; sending it an elevation with the new window on it does not.

One more limit applies to that submittal. Where the declaration already publishes options for material, size, design or location, the statute says the association may not restrict an owner's right to select among the options it published. A declaration that lists three approved window profiles has three approved window profiles.

If the Committee Says No

A denial is not supposed to arrive as one word. Where a request to build a structure or improvement on a parcel is denied, Chapter 720 requires the association to give the owner written notice "stating with specificity the rule or covenant on which the association or committee relied" and the specific part of the proposed improvement that does not conform to it.

That matters on a schedule. A denial naming the covenant and the offending detail tells the designer what to change; one that names neither leaves the next submittal a guess.

The statute also settles the order of operations, which is where the question of whether an HOA can deny a renovation usually gets stuck. An association may not require that a building permit already be issued by a governmental authority as a prerequisite for its own review. You are not expected to spend the permit cycle first and find out the committee's answer second.

Approval Is Not a Permit in Miami-Dade

Committee approval and a building permit are separate, and neither one substitutes for the other.

Miami-Dade County states that any owner, authorized agent or contractor who intends to "construct, enlarge, alter, repair, move, demolish or change the occupancy" of a structure "must first submit an application and obtain the required permit for the work." The county also states who may hold it: permits "are issued in the name of the person(s) performing the work; only licensed contractors, or Owner-Builders may obtain a permit."

So an approval letter from the association does not open the job, and a permit in hand does not excuse a submittal the declaration required.

Planning the Approvals Into the Job

Both tracks belong in the schedule at the start, which is why they are drawn into the plan for a full kitchen remodel in Miami rather than handled as they surface. Pulling the permit and carrying the job to final inspection is the work of a licensed general contractor. Gaven Constructions holds Florida license CGC1524886 and works from 8200 NW 41st St, Suite 200-4, Doral, FL 33166.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does new kitchen flooring need HOA approval?

Inside a house, generally no. Flooring is not visible from the street or an adjacent parcel, so it sits outside what an architectural committee may write rules about under Chapter 720. Flooring in a condominium is a different question, because sound transmission to the unit below is a common-element concern.

Can an HOA fine you for interior kitchen work?

A fine has to rest on a covenant, and Chapter 720 bars an association from adopting one that places requirements on an interior no one can see from outside. If a citation arrives anyway, the statute requires a denial to name the specific rule and the specific part that does not conform.

Does the same rule apply in a Miami condo?

No. Condominiums run under Chapter 718, not Chapter 720, and the reasoning is different: a board's reach comes from the common elements your work touches, not from what the street can see. Interior kitchen work in a condo usually still needs written board consent.

Bring the Elevation, Not the Cabinet Catalog

Before anything goes to the committee, work out which parts of the remodel leave the inside of the house, and read what the declaration actually publishes about windows, doors and exterior equipment. Call (786) 397-8380 with that list, Monday through Friday from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM. If the drawings are already on paper, the office is at 8200 NW 41st St, Suite 200-4, Doral, FL 33166, and we will mark up which sheets the committee is going to want.