Collect Your Documents
You will need the following documents in order to apply for a Sidewalk Café permit:
- Occupational License (Business Tax Receipt) as a restaurant or food establishment.
- Survey of the whole property (including the right of way in front of the property) prepared by a professional licensed surveyor. This may be no more than six months old.
- Liability Insurance naming City of Miami as additional insured.
- Certificate of Use.
- Photos of Proposed Outdoor Furniture.
- Scaled Layout Drawing of Sidewalk Cafe Area (we recommend you have this prepared by an architect/engineer).
Create Account
- If you don't yet have an iPW account, you must create one.
- You will be validated and notified of your login after creating an account.
- Select "Create User Account".
Create iPW Account
Apply for Permit
- Log in to your iPW account.
- Select "Apply for a New Permit"-- Sidewalk Café.
- Follow the steps and hit submit.
- You will be asked if you'd like to submit your documents online. If you hit "yes" follow the instructions below for submitting documents online.
- If you select "no" you can present your documents to The Department of Resilience and Public Works in person at: 444 SW 2nd Ave, 8th Floor. Miami, FL.
- You will be given an application number and a pdf of your application.
- NOTE: You will need to print and sign this final document. If you're uploading documents, you will scan this in along with your other required documents, above. If not, bring it with you in-person when you submit your other documents.
Pay Upfront Fees
You will be required to pay a Non‐Refundable Application Fee of $175 + inspection fee of $10. You can do that in "manage your application - pay now".
Pay Upfront Fees
NOTE: If you try to proceed without paying fees, your application will be rejected.
Create an ePlan/ProjectDox Account
After your fees are paid, if you said yes to uploading documents, you need to create an account in the ePlan/Project Dox system, or log into an existing account.
Log into ProjectDox
You will receive an email informing you of your ePlan login, once it has been received.
Name Your Files Properly
If you will not be submitting your documents online, simply bring the above documents + your signed application to The Department of Resilience and Public Works in-person at: 444 SW 2nd Ave, 8th Floor. Miami, FL.
If you are submitting documents online, in order to be accepted into ePlan/ProjectDox, documents must be named individually and correctly, following a naming convention of “Discipline Sheet Type Sheet Number Sheet Description” (i.e. G001 Cover Sheet or A200 Elevations).
Each drawing page must be submitted as a single file, other documents can be uploaded as multi-page.
Instructions for Naming Documents.
NOTE: Your application will not be accepted if the naming convention is not followed.
Submit/Upload your Documents
After submitting your permit application, you will receive an e-mail from eplans@miamigov.com with the subject line, “Applicant Upload Task.”
To complete this task, click on the login below, and you will see a screen of options.
How to Submit Documents Online
REMINDER: Each drawing and document must follow the standard naming convention (see above).
Upload Documents Here
Complete “Applicant Upload Task”
After you have uploaded your documents, you will need to alert the system that you have completed your task(s), so they may be reviewed.
- Select the checkbox verifying that you have uploaded your drawings and documents and named all documents as required.
- Select "Upload Complete - Send to The City of Miami".
- You will receive an email notifying you that your documents have been uploaded.
NOTE: This task MUST be completed for The City to begin the review process.
Await a Response
Once your drawings and documents have been received by the City of Miami, a permitting coordinator will review your submission.
- You will be notified via e-mail if there is a problem with your submission. Be sure to address any issues immediately (see below regarding revisions). A common mistake is not following the City’s standard file naming conventions (see above) or having more than one page per file for drawings (other documents can be more than one page).
- If all documents are submitted correctly, you will hear back from The City to schedule an inspection (see below), usually within ten working days of your application.
NOTE: If, at any time, you want to view the status of your application, go back to iPW, select "Manage Application Permit - View Permit Applications". Select this permit application number, and the "review history" tab to see the feedback on your submission and the review status.
Submit Revised Drawings and Documents
If corrections are required, you will receive an e-mail from eplans@MiamiGov.com with the subject “Resubmit Applicant Task” advising of the need to re-submit corrected sheets for additional reviews and approvals.
You will need to replace each sheet the reviewers applied a "Changemark" on or requested changes to in the comment checklist.
Submit Revisions
IMPORTANT NOTE: If you are re-submitting corrected pages, please name the correct page with the exact same name it had previously. The system will know it’s a new version of a previously submitted page and will review the new page accordingly.
NOTE: Resubmittals may occur multiple times for a single application to ensure that the plans and documents are compliant with the City code.
Schedule Inspection
Once your application has been reviewed and your documents have been submitted correctly, you will be contacted by The City to schedule an inspection.
NOTE: You should layout your furniture no more than 24 hours before the inspection. This staging must be ready for inspection, but cannot be put in place too far in advance, as you do not have a permit yet.
Address Changes
The inspector will notify you of any changes that need to be made, and you will receive another email entitled, "Resubmit Applicant Task" advising you of the necessary changes.
Make these changes immediately (usually revised drawings) in ProjectDox, and submit your revisions.
Await Feedback
If Public Works approves the above changes (or you pass your initial inspection), The City's other departments (planning, zoning, finance, fire, risk management and NET) will review your application.
If additional changes are required, you will again receive an email from ePlan instructing you to address these issues. Examples include updating your Certificate of Use, updating your insurance, resubmitting plans, etc.
Make these changes immediately, you will be given instructions depending on what department(s) has made the request.
Pay Final Fees
Once all departments have approved your application, you will receive a financial transaction statement via email listing the permit fees you owe with a link to pay. You will need your transaction ID # to pay (choose this option for payment when you login).
TIP: If your business is in Coconut Grove BID (Business Improvement District), then payment is made directly to that BID.
Pay Here
NOTE: If you are applying for a new sidewalk café, you will receive a separate email instructing you to pay a security deposit. You must pay this with a cashier check, in-person at The Department of Resilience and Public Works at: 444 SW 2nd Ave, 8th Floor. Miami, FL.
Download Permit
Once you have paid all fees, The City will make a final internal review, and your permit will be issued.
You will receive an email with instructions to download your permit from the "Approved" Folder in ProjectDox.
NOTE: Print your permit card and approved documents and keep them on-site at all times.