Permitting & AHCA Compliance
Healthcare construction lives or dies on regulatory review. We have been through it enough times to plan around it instead of reacting to it.
The approval path is part of the schedule
On an ordinary commercial job, permitting is a step. On a Florida healthcare project it is a parallel track that can determine your opening date, and treating it as an afterthought is how projects lose quarters.
Healthcare facilities in Florida are reviewed by the Agency for Health Care Administration against the Florida Building Code, life safety requirements and AHCA's own standards. Plan review comments have to be resolved, construction has to match what was approved, and the facility has to pass inspection before it can be licensed and occupied. Each of those has a duration, and the durations have to be built into the schedule from the start.
PeakCM is AHCA certified and has delivered renovation work inside operating healthcare facilities for Steward Health Care, Broward Health and Northwestern Medical Center - including emergency departments, medical office buildings, a family birthing centre and an electrophysiology lab. That work is done under infection control protocols, in occupied buildings, with clinical operations continuing around it.
What we handle
- AHCA plan review coordination Submittals prepared and comments resolved with the design team, tracked against the schedule rather than left open.
- Life safety compliance Egress, fire rated assemblies, smoke compartments and alarm systems built and documented to match the approved drawings.
- Infection control (ICRA) Risk assessments, hard barriers, negative air and monitored containment for construction inside operating facilities.
- Building permits Local jurisdiction permitting across Central and South Florida and northern Vermont.
- Inspection coordination Sequencing inspections so trades are not idle waiting for an inspector, and issues are caught before they are covered up.
- Certificate of occupancy and licensure support Documentation packages, final inspections and the paperwork the facility needs to open.
How we plan the approval path
- Jurisdiction mapping We identify every authority with a say - AHCA, local building department, fire marshal, health department - and what each will need.
- Schedule integration Review durations are put into the critical path as real activities, not assumptions.
- Submittal and comment resolution Comments tracked to closure with the design team, with schedule impact reported as it happens.
- Construction to approved documents Field work matched to what was approved, because a deviation found at final inspection is expensive.
- Inspection and turnover Inspections sequenced, deficiencies closed, and the documentation the facility needs to be licensed delivered complete.
Healthcare work under AHCA review
Steward Healthcare - Rockledge Electrophysiology Lab Renovation Phase I
Rockledge, FL · 2023
Steward Healthcare - Coral Gables North Emergency Department Renovations Phase I
Coral Gables, Florida · 2023
Broward Health BH-100 Medical Office Renovation
Pompano Beach, FL · 2024
Northwest Medical Center, Family Birthing Center Renovations
St. Albans, Vermont · 2018Permitting & AHCA Compliance FAQs
What does AHCA certified mean for a contractor?
It means we have delivered projects through the Agency for Health Care Administration's plan review and inspection process and understand what that process requires - how submittals are structured, what plan reviewers ask for, and how field construction has to match approved documents to pass final inspection.
How long does AHCA plan review take?
It varies with project type, completeness of the submittal and current agency workload, so we do not quote a fixed duration. What we do is build the review into the schedule as a real activity with a realistic range, identify what could extend it, and keep comment resolution moving rather than letting a submittal sit.
Can construction happen while the facility stays open?
Yes - most of our healthcare work is exactly that. It requires an infection control risk assessment, physical containment, negative air pressure with monitoring, protected egress routes, and often night and weekend work sequenced around clinical schedules. We plan those constraints into the cost and schedule up front.
Do you handle permitting outside healthcare?
Yes. Every project we build goes through building permits and inspections, and we manage that on commercial, hospitality, entertainment and education work as a matter of course. The AHCA experience is an additional layer for healthcare clients, not the whole of what we do.
Other Services
Talk to us about your project
Offices in Orlando, Florida and St Albans, Vermont. Licensed CGC#1522055 and CCC#1334096.