/ Miami-Dade · Height exemptions
A parapet more than five feet is height. 306.5 is still access.
Chimneys, cooling towers, and mechanical enclosures do not count toward building height. A parapet more than five feet above the limit does. Neither one is 306.5 access. Original Masterbuild writing — not a copy of Article III. Default in 33-52: thirty-five feet, two stories, unless the district or a public hearing says otherwise. Confirm live.
Packet: height exemptions PDF · ES. Access: 306.5. Edge: 304.11. Screening: parapet vs 306.5.
- 33-55(a) does not count, among others: chimneys, cooling towers, elevator bulkheads, enclosures for mechanical equipment, tanks, water towers, solar, and a parapet extending not more than five feet above the limited height.
- Height exemption is zoning. Getting onto the roof is mechanical. We do not invent a clearance number here.
- 33-55(b): roof recreation on buildings other than one- or two-family — enclosed portion not more than 60 percent of the roof, not more than one story or twenty feet. A pool bar is not an RTU screen.
- 33-57: in BU-2, BU-3, IU-1, IU-2, IU-3, the portion between 35 and 40 feet picks up at least 25 feet from the street lot line, then one additional foot per five feet of additional height. Confirm live. Exhaust moves with that wall.
- 33-56: FAA and airport zoning still apply. We do not do obstruction analysis. Say so if the site is in an airport zone.
Seven-foot parapet on a 35-foot building, no ladder, Zoning calling the screen height
Two codes. One roof.
What to send
Building height as drawn, parapet/screen height, how you get onto the roof, and whether any floor is residential.
If the screen is already taller than five feet and there is no way onto the roof
Send the roof plan. Masterbuild will say whether access still has no row — not whether Zoning will accept the height.
Send Project Background+1 (786) 398-6940 · osmany.portal@masterbuildconsulting.com
Masterbuild provides engineering services under a written scope. Nothing on this page is a height variance, an FAA determination, or a 306.5 finding for your roof. Confirm live 33-52 and 33-55. This is not legal advice.