§ Why new additions pros in Miami use Estimate.Pro
THE BID ENGINE.
## Estimating Additions in Miami Is Not Like Estimating Them Anywhere Else
Miami-Dade County sits in the highest wind speed zone in the continental United States. Every room addition, garage conversion, or second-story build-out you price has to account for Florida Building Code 2023 High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) requirements — hurricane-rated impact windows, reinforced roof-to-wall connections, and continuous load path engineering. Miss those line items and your bid is wrong before you hand it over.
Estimate.Pro is built so you do not miss them.
## What Makes Addition Bids Hard in Miami
**Permit fees and approval timelines add real cost.** Miami-Dade Building Department charges plan review fees on a sliding scale tied to project valuation. A 400 sq ft addition valued at $120,000 carries a plan review fee in the range of $800–$1,200, plus separate zoning, fire, and MEP sub-permit fees. Those costs belong in your estimate, not absorbed into your margin after the fact.
**Labor rates are specific to this market.** Framing, concrete, and finish trades in the Miami metro run higher than Florida statewide averages. Expecting statewide average numbers will cost you on every job.
**Materials move with hurricane season.** Demand for impact-rated windows, structural connectors, and concrete masonry units spikes before and after named storms. If your saved material costs are stale, your bids are stale. Estimate.Pro keeps a saved material cost workspace so you update prices once and every future estimate reflects current market rates.
**Soil conditions affect foundation scope.** Much of Miami-Dade sits on Miami Limestone or sandy fill. Addition footings frequently require deeper pours or grade beams versus slab-on-grade. A walkthrough that captures existing foundation type and soil observations lets you scope foundation work accurately before you commit to a number.
## How Estimate.Pro Works for Addition Contractors
You walk the site. The app captures measurements — on supported devices using ONNX-assisted live AR measurement; on others, camera and photo measurements are flagged as estimates. Either way, you have dimensioned data tied to the actual space.
From the walkthrough, the AI generates a scope-of-work draft organized by trade division: concrete, framing, sheathing, roofing, windows, insulation, drywall, electrical rough and finish, plumbing rough and finish, HVAC, and final finishes. For Miami additions that means the scope automatically surfaces impact glazing, hurricane straps, and continuous load path notes as line items — not afterthoughts.
You review, adjust quantities, apply your saved South Florida labor and material rates, and send. Median time from walkthrough to sendable bid: 8 minutes.
The Free tier is free forever, no credit card required. When you are ready for Stripe Connect payment collection and invoice exports, those are available on Elite at $79 per seat per month. Crew pricing at $399 per month flat covers the whole crew.
## Miami-Dade Specifics You Need to Know Before You Bid
Miami-Dade enforces the Florida Building Code 2023 with locally adopted HVHZ amendments. Addition permits require signed and sealed engineered drawings for most structural work. Contractors holding a Florida Certified General Contractor or Certified Building Contractor license can pull addition permits county-wide. A Registered contractor license limits you to the municipality that registered you — relevant if you work across Miami, Coral Gables, Hialeah, or Doral.
Zoning setbacks in unincorporated Miami-Dade, City of Miami, and each municipality vary. A rear addition that is legal in one jurisdiction may be non-conforming in the next. Verify the applicable code before scoping, then price the survey and zoning review into your pre-construction services line.
Miami-Dade also requires a Notice of Commencement for addition work. Recording fees run approximately $10–$15 and the form must be posted on site. Small item, real cost, belongs in the estimate.
## 25 Trades, One Platform
Estimate.Pro supports 25 trades. If you sub out your electrical, plumbing, or HVAC on a complex addition, your subs can run their own scopes in the same platform and feed back into your master bid. No re-keying numbers from emailed PDFs.
Bid the additions Miami is actually building — ADUs, second stories, garage conversions, mother-in-law suites — with numbers that hold up when the permit comes back and the inspector shows up.