Condo & High-Rise Renovation

Overview

A condo renovation is two projects running at once. There is the construction, which is broadly the same as any interior renovation. And there is the building — an association with its own rules, its own approval process, its own insurance requirements, and the power to shut your job down on day one if the paperwork is not right.

We have been doing this in South Florida buildings long enough to know what a board is going to ask for before they ask. The certificates of insurance your association requires, arranged as additional insured. A scope letter. Floor plans marked with what is moving. Sound-transmission compliance for hard flooring. Confirmation of working hours, elevator protection and where debris will go. Getting that package right the first time is often the difference between starting in three weeks and starting in three months.

What your board will ask for

In most Miami buildings: a written scope, marked-up plans, a licensed contractor on file, a certificate of insurance with the association named as additional insured, an acoustic underlayment specification for any hard flooring, and an agreement on working hours and elevator use. Some buildings also require a deposit against damage to common areas. Our full guide covers the whole list.

The constraints that actually shape the design

In a high-rise you usually cannot move a waste stack, and often cannot core the slab — which means a bathroom or kitchen can only move so far. Knowing that at the sketch stage saves paying a designer to draw something the building will never approve. We walk the unit early and tell you what is genuinely possible.