Miami-Dade County’s new ADU Blueprint Gallery is now live — and if you’ve been thinking about adding an ADU to your property, it could significantly reduce the time it takes to get through permitting.
Here’s what the program actually does, what it doesn’t do, and what the process looks like from start to finish.
What Is the ADU Blueprint Gallery?
The ADU Blueprint Gallery is a collection of residential ADU designs that have already been reviewed and preapproved by the Miami-Dade County Building Department. Homeowners can browse available designs in different sizes, layouts, and architectural styles — and select one as the starting point for their project.
Because the structural design has already gone through County review, starting with a preapproved design can reduce the amount of building-plan review required for your individual permit application.
What “Preapproved” Does — and Doesn’t — Mean
This is the part that matters most before you get excited.
The preapproval applies to the building design — not to your specific property. Every permit application is still site-specific, which means the following still need to be reviewed and approved individually:
- Zoning and jurisdiction eligibility
- Lot size and coverage limits
- Setbacks
- Parking requirements
- Existing site conditions
Preapproved does not mean permit-free, and it does not guarantee that the design will be approved on your property. What it does mean is that one major step in the review process — the building plan review — may move faster.
How the Process Works
Here’s how a typical ADU project moves forward using the ADU Blueprint Gallery. If your property potentially qualifies, here’s how a typical ADU project moves forward under this program:
- Confirm your property qualifies. Before choosing a design, a review of your zoning, lot size, setbacks, and site conditions is essential. This step determines whether an ADU is even feasible on your property.
- Choose a preapproved design. Browse Miami-Dade’s ADU Blueprint Gallery and select a layout that fits your needs and works with your site.
- Bring in your General Contractor. This is where we come in. Procontractors reviews the site, the selected design, and your budget to confirm buildability — and coordinates the project with the design team through the permit process.
- Complete site-specific documents and submit for permit. Even with a preapproved design, a site-specific permit application is required. We manage this coordination to keep the process moving.
- Build. Once the permit is issued, construction begins — coordinated and managed by our team from start to finish.
Is This Right for Your Property?
That depends on a number of factors: where your property is located, how it’s zoned, what your lot looks like, and what you’re trying to accomplish with the ADU. Some properties are straightforward candidates. Others require more evaluation before committing to a design or a budget.
The best first step is a property evaluation — before selecting a design, before committing to a budget, and before submitting anything to the County.
Ready to Find Out If Your Property Qualifies?
Procontractors helps Miami-Dade homeowners navigate the ADU process from feasibility through construction — permits, coordination, and delivery included.
Send us a message to schedule a property evaluation and find out whether this program makes sense for your project.