HOA approval for a bathroom remodel in Florida

Almost every Florida association wants to approve a bathroom remodel before it starts. The packet is usually routine. What catches people out is how long it sits waiting, and how often it comes back for one missing document.

What an approval packet normally contains

• An application form from the management company
• A written scope of work describing what is being changed
• The contractor licence and a certificate of insurance, often naming the association as additional insured
• A plan or sketch when plumbing or walls move
• Proposed working dates and hours

Buildings differ, and the only authority on your building is your building. Ask management for the current renovation package rather than relying on what a neighbour did two years ago.

Approval is not the same as a permit

Association approval is a private matter between you and the building. A permit is a public one, issued by the city or county, and plumbing or electrical changes generally require it in South Florida. The two run in parallel and neither replaces the other. Confirm what your municipality requires for the specific work you are doing.

Three things that get applications sent back

An insurance certificate that names the wrong entity or has expired. A scope so vague that the board cannot tell whether plumbing is moving. And dates that fall inside a period when the building does not permit work, such as a holiday window. All three are avoidable, and all three cost a week or more.

Plan the calendar backwards

Once approval is granted there is usually a start window rather than an open invitation. Materials should be on hand before it opens, particularly anything cut to size, because a slab that arrives late can push the job past the window and into a fresh application. This is the same reason a condo remodel is sequenced around the building rather than around the trades.

What we provide

We hand you the documents the packet asks of a contractor, and a written scope specific enough for a board to read. Everything else, cost included, works the way it does on any job, and the factors behind the price do not change because a board is involved.