Permitting Resource
Grease Trap Permitting Planning for Food Service Projects
This page explains how grease trap permitting questions can affect restaurant leases, design, installation, replacement, inspections, and opening schedules. It includes official Miami-Dade FOG links and Genesis Prime Group's practical construction planning notes.
Last Reviewed: August 31, 2026
Official Miami-Dade Context
FOG permitting is not just a plumbing detail.
Miami-Dade County states that a non-residential facility that handles, prepares, or processes food and discharges, or has the potential to discharge, fats, oils, or grease to the public sanitary sewer system requires a FOG Discharge Control operating permit. The County identifies these facilities as FOG generators and lists examples such as restaurants, cafeterias, supermarkets, schools, banquet halls, and food courts.
The County also states that FOG operating permits are renewed annually and are non-transferable. For restaurants and food service tenants, those two points matter during lease negotiation, business sale, relocation, tenant improvement, and change-of-use planning.
Official sources: FOG Discharge Control Operating Permit and Miami-Dade Fats, Oils and Grease.
Planning Sequence
A practical permit path starts before excavation.
- Confirm the useIdentify the business type, menu, seating, takeout volume, fixtures, dishwashing, and whether the facility may be a FOG generator.
- Review local timingMiami-Dade's permit page notes that facilities within a city or municipality first apply for the Municipal Occupational License and/or Certificate of Use before submitting the FOG permit application.
- Organize design inputsCollect drawings, photos, equipment schedules, fixture information, proposed interceptor location, and maintenance access constraints.
- Coordinate commentsTrack comments from the County, municipality, landlord, design professional, plumbing reviewer, health reviewer, or other applicable parties.
- Build the approved scopeMove from documents into excavation, plumbing coordination, interceptor setting, surface restoration, inspection support, and closeout according to the approved path.
What To Avoid
Do not wait until the opening date to ask the grease question.
Grease trap permitting can affect tenant budgets and schedules because the answer may require drawings, a larger interceptor, excavation, surface restoration, access coordination, or additional review. A restaurant lease or buildout budget should not assume that an old interceptor can be reused, that a small indoor device is enough, or that the permit path is identical across cities and counties.
Genesis can help owners organize project facts and construction constraints, but Genesis cannot grant agency approval or waive official requirements. For Miami-Dade specifics, the deeper DERM resource should be used alongside the official County pages.
Project Records
Permit planning improves when the project team collects evidence early.
Useful records can include the proposed menu, seating count, takeout assumptions, fixture schedule, equipment plan, existing interceptor records, pump-out history, prior permits, site photos, utility sketches, landlord comments, and any municipal or County correspondence. Genesis uses those facts to organize the construction conversation before the team assumes a tank size, location, or schedule.
For Miami-Dade projects, official County pages should remain the governing reference for current FOG permit requirements. Genesis can explain construction implications, help organize submittal information, and coordinate the work path, but the County and other authorities control their own reviews and approvals.
Sizing Input
Use the calculator to organize assumptions before permit discussions.
The calculator is not a permit approval tool. It helps collect food service assumptions that are useful when Genesis reviews scope, constructability, and next steps.
Official Links