Short answer
Miami-Dade County had 433 architecture offices with paid employees in 2023, employing 2,275 people, according to the Census Bureau; 312 had fewer than five. Florida requires a licensed architect for most buildings except farm buildings, one- and two-family homes and townhouses, and buildings under $25,000 that aren't for public use. Any business offering architecture must be qualified by a registered architect, and condominium buildings of three or more stories need milestone inspections by an architect or engineer.
- 433 architecture offices in Miami-Dade employ 2,275 people, an average of 5.3 each against 8.3 nationally.
- Miami-Dade also has 430 interior design offices, almost one for every architecture office.
- Florida exempts one- and two-family homes and townhouses from needing an architect, regardless of cost.
- Condo and co-op buildings of three or more stories need a milestone inspection at 30 years, or 25 near salt water if the local agency says so.
- Florida public agencies may discuss an architect's fee only after ranking at least three firms on qualifications.
On this page
This report is for condominium boards, developers, businesses and homeowners hiring an architect in Miami-Dade, for architects and designers weighing local employers, and for B2B sellers whose customers are design firms.
Miami-Dade's architecture offices
County Business Patterns (CBP) 2023, NAICS 541310 (Architectural Services), Miami-Dade County, Florida:
| Measure (2023) | Miami-Dade County |
|---|---|
| Architecture offices | 433 |
| Employees | 2,275 |
| Annual payroll | $192,710,000 |
| Employees per office | 5.3 |
| Average annual pay | $84,708 |
| Share of US architecture offices | 1.9% of 22,805 |
| Employees at the office | Offices |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 312 |
| 5 to 9 | 74 |
| 10 to 19 | 26 |
| 20 to 49 | 15 |
| 50 to 99 | 5 |
| 100 or more | Not published |
Seven in ten offices have fewer than five people, and 412 of 433 have fewer than 20. Classes from 100 employees up aren't published, and subtracting the published classes from the total implies a single office that large. Average pay is about $14,000 below the US industry average of $98,717. CBP counts establishments with paid staff, so a firm with offices in Brickell and Coral Gables counts twice, and the many architects practicing alone don't appear.
Architect or interior designer?
The same Census release counts 430 interior design offices (541410) in Miami-Dade, nearly matching architecture's 433, plus 709 engineering offices and 356 commercial and institutional builders. Florida regulates both professions in the same chapter of its statutes, chapter 481, which lets a registered architect, or a firm holding a valid certificate of authorization for architecture, provide interior design and use the title "interior designer," and lets architects register as interior designers for a fee of no more than $30. For a fit-out with no structural or exit changes, a registered interior designer may be enough if your building department agrees; for anything structural, an addition or a new building, hire an architect.
When Florida requires an architect
Section 481.229 of the Florida Statutes says no one needs to be an architect to plan or supervise:
| Project | Architect required? |
|---|---|
| Any farm building for a farmer's use, at any cost | No |
| One-family or two-family home, townhouse, or their domestic outbuildings, at any cost | No |
| Any other building costing less than $25,000 | No, unless it's a school, auditorium or other building for public use |
| Everything else | Yes |
A general contractor may sign a design-build contract without being an architect, as long as a licensed architect provides the architectural services. Civil and structural engineers may perform architectural services only when they're purely incidental to their engineering.
Check the firm's qualification
Section 481.219 requires any business organization offering architecture to be qualified by a registered architect acting as its qualifying agent, and all of its staff who act as architects in Florida must be registered. If the qualifying agent leaves, the firm has 60 days to qualify a new one. Every set of final construction documents must carry the signature, seal and date of the licensee who prepared or approved it. Check both the firm and the architect with the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's license search. NCARB counts 12,439 Florida architect licenses in 2025, 53% held by people living in other states.
Milestone inspections for condominium buildings
Section 553.899 requires the owners of residential condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall to have a milestone inspection by 31 December of the year the building turns 30, and every ten years after. A local enforcement agency may move the first one to 25 years where conditions such as proximity to salt water warrant it. The inspection must be done by a Florida-licensed architect or engineer, who attests to the life safety and adequacy of the structural components. For a board, that means choosing an inspecting architect or engineer on structural experience, not just price.
How public agencies hire
Florida's Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act, section 287.055, governs how agencies buy architecture above set thresholds. The agency evaluates at least three firms, ranks at least three in order of preference on factors such as the ability of their people, past performance, time and budget record and workload, and may consider compensation only in the negotiation that follows, starting with the top-ranked firm. Every contract must also include a warranty that the architect hasn't paid anyone other than a bona fide employee a fee contingent on winning it. That matters to anyone selling business development help to firms: success fees for winning these public contracts are off the table.
Private clients can use the same order. Rank firms on qualifications, negotiate with the first, and sign a standard agreement; AIA's B105-2017 short form suits a small residential or commercial project and B101-2017 a large one.
Finding a firm, finding a job
AIA Miami's member directory is a starting list, and the chapter posts jobs and resumes. BLS counted 1,810 architects in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro in May 2025, at a mean wage of $103,700 and a median of $97,500, plus 1,740 architectural and civil drafters at a mean of $63,540. SEC records list no public architecture company based in the county.
Selling to Miami architecture firms
With 386 offices under ten employees, the principal is the buyer, the designer and the bookkeeper. Milestone inspections are recurring work: every qualifying building needs one every ten years, and the firms that do them need help to scale.
Illustrative example. The company, prices and results are invented.
Biscayne Aerial Survey (biscayneaerial.example) flies drones along condominium facades and delivers photo maps that inspecting architects use to plan their phase one walk-throughs. It targets the 115 offices with five to 49 employees, keeps the 40 whose sites mention milestone inspections or recertification, and calls each principal. Ten conversations lead to six first jobs at $4,500. Finding those 40 among 433 offices is the research Bebop does for each account in a list.
Subject: Facade photo maps for your next milestone inspection Hi [first name], I saw [firm] handles milestone inspections. We fly the full facade of a condominium tower in a day and deliver a mapped photo set you can mark up before your walk-through, so you spend site time where the problems are. Could I send a sample from a similar building? [Your name] [Company], [postal address]
Next step: see the contractors who build and repair Miami's towers in construction companies in Miami.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Florida Statutes 481.219, Qualification of business organizations, The Florida Senate, accessed 30 October 2026
- Florida Statutes 481.229, Exceptions; exemptions from licensure, The Florida Senate, accessed 30 October 2026
- Florida Statutes 553.899, Mandatory structural inspections for condominium and cooperative buildings, The Florida Senate, accessed 30 October 2026
- Florida Statutes 287.055, Acquisition of professional architectural, engineering, landscape architectural, or surveying and mapping services, The Florida Senate, accessed 30 October 2026
- License search, Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation, accessed 30 October 2026
- Member directory and jobs and resumes, AIA Miami, accessed 30 October 2026
- List of all current AIA Contract Documents, AIA Contract Documents, accessed 30 October 2026
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, metropolitan area estimates, US Bureau of Labor Statistics, accessed 30 October 2026
- NCARB by the Numbers 2026: jurisdictions, National Council of Architectural Registration Boards, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many architecture firms are in Miami?
The Census Bureau counted 433 architecture offices with paid employees in Miami-Dade County in 2023, employing 2,275 people. They averaged 5.3 employees, and 312 had fewer than five. The county also had 430 interior design offices. The count is of office locations with staff, so architects practicing alone without employees aren't included and firms with several offices count once per office.
Do I need an architect in Florida?
Not for every project. Section 481.229 of the Florida Statutes exempts farm buildings, one- and two-family homes, townhouses and their outbuildings at any cost, and other buildings costing under $25,000 unless they're schools, auditoriums or buildings for public use. Everything else needs a licensed architect, and your building department may require sealed engineering drawings even for exempt work.
Who can perform a milestone inspection in Florida?
Section 553.899 says a milestone inspection must be done by an architect licensed under chapter 481 or an engineer licensed under chapter 471, authorized to practice in Florida. It applies to residential condominium and cooperative buildings three or more habitable stories tall, by the end of the year they turn 30, or 25 where the local agency requires it, and every ten years after.
How do I check an architecture firm in Florida?
Use the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's license search. Florida requires any business organization offering architecture to be qualified by a registered architect acting as its qualifying agent, so search the firm and the architect who will seal your drawings. If the qualifying agent leaves, the firm must qualify a replacement within 60 days.
How much do architects make in Miami?
The Bureau of Labor Statistics put the mean annual wage for architects in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach metro at $103,700 in May 2025, with a median of $97,500 and 1,810 employed. Architectural and civil drafters averaged $63,540. Census payroll data give $84,708 per employee at Miami-Dade architecture offices in 2023, which counts every employee.