How digital signatures work for electronic permit plans and why scanned seals often fail intake in Miami-Dade and South Florida.
A seal image and a digital signature are not the same thing
A visible professional seal may appear on the sheet, but electronic permitting also requires a way to verify who signed the file and whether the PDF changed after signing. That is the role of the digital certificate and signature.
Miami-Dade explicitly states that scanned copies of professional documents are not an accepted method for electronic plan submittal. City of Miami, Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale also publish digital-signature requirements for professional documents.
Why modifying the PDF after signing can create a problem
A valid digital signature protects document integrity. If someone merges, edits, flattens or otherwise changes the PDF after the professional signs it, the signature can become invalid or show that the file was modified.
The best workflow is to complete coordination first, create the final permit PDF, then have the responsible professional apply the digital signature and seal as the last document-control step.
Different jurisdictions organize signed files differently
Miami-Dade, City of Miami, Coral Gables and Fort Lauderdale each publish their own electronic submittal rules. One jurisdiction may want separate sheet files, while another may organize one PDF per discipline. Stamp-space and file-naming rules also vary.
That is why a plan package prepared for one city should not automatically be uploaded to another portal without checking the destination requirements.
Common digital-signature mistakes
Problems include expired certificates, scanned wet signatures, post-signing edits, password-protected PDFs, incorrect file combinations and uploading the unsigned working copy instead of the final permit file. These are administrative errors, but they can stop technical review from starting.
Permit-ready document control
MIA Express coordinates the final plan package so the correct signed file reaches the correct jurisdiction in the expected format. When revised plans are needed, we also help preserve document version control so the approved and superseded files do not get mixed.
Official resources
Permit requirements change. For current forms, portal instructions and agency-specific rules, verify the project against the applicable government source: