/ Field knowledge · IMC 103
The reviewer is not the code official.
IMC 103: the code official is the final authority — not the plan reviewer, not the inspector. Kitchen hood suppression and hazardous exhaust often sit in the fire queue. Submit to the wrong queue and the set sits unreviewed.
Educational 2024 IMC 103. Confirm the adopted edition and which office actually reviews mechanical. Distinct from 104 duties and Miami-Dade vs Broward. This is not a routing service.
- 103.1: each jurisdiction establishes a Code Compliance Agency, led by the code official, responsible for enforcing the IMC.
- 103.2: the code official is appointed by the jurisdiction’s chief authority (city, county, or state).
- 103.3: the code official can appoint deputies, inspectors, and technical staff.
If you disagree with a plan-review comment, the path is a meeting with the code official — not an argument with the reviewer. Split review is common: building department vs fire prevention. Fire-rated assemblies, smoke control, kitchen hood suppression, and hazardous exhaust may route separately. Unincorporated Miami-Dade is folio 30; cities have their own building officials.
City set in the county queue
Multi-jurisdiction projects without each authority on the cover sheet stall at routing. Name the AHJ and the mechanical-review office on M-001. Confirm residential vs commercial, mechanical vs fire-life-safety, before the upload.
Source: DCT 103 · official: 104 · apply: folio 30 how-to · AHJ: MD vs Broward.
What to send
The folio or city, and whether fire review is already in a separate queue.
If the set has been sitting with no reviewer
Send the process number and the city vs county. Masterbuild will say whether 103 even has the right office — or this is still the fire queue.
Send Project Background+1 (786) 398-6940 · osmany.portal@masterbuildconsulting.com
Masterbuild provides engineering services under a written scope. Nothing on this page is project-specific engineering advice, a code interpretation for your project, or a representation about permit approval. Confirm the adopted edition. Equation 4-9 and Ez-free rates below are 2024 IMC education from Daily Code Talk — not a sealed outdoor-air design.