Miami-Dade Water Remetering: What Multifamily Property Managers Need to Know
Water submetering can give multifamily property owners better visibility into individual-unit consumption and provide a method for billing residents based on measured usage.
In Miami-Dade County, however, water remetering can involve more than installing submeters and sending monthly bills.
Miami-Dade has a specific water-remetering program that includes registration requirements, billing rules, meter standards, testing procedures, recordkeeping requirements, and resident protections for covered properties and remetering companies.
For property managers, owners, and developers, the first question should therefore not simply be:
“Can we install submeters?”
It should be:
“What rules apply to this property, this water provider, and this billing arrangement?”
This guide explains the key Miami-Dade water-remetering requirements multifamily operators should understand before starting or managing a resident water-billing program.
What Does Miami-Dade Mean by Water Remetering?
Miami-Dade County uses the term water remetering to describe an arrangement in which water service is purchased through a master meter and then resold to residents or tenants based on consumption measured by individual submeters.
In a typical multifamily property, the water utility measures the property's overall consumption at the master meter. Individual submeters then measure water use within each unit, allowing the property to determine each resident's measured consumption for billing purposes.
The basic flow looks like this:
Utility Provider → Master Meter → Property Water System → Individual Unit Submeters → Resident Water Bills
This distinction matters because re-metering is not the same thing as a resident having an individual account directly with the water utility. It is also different from allocating a master water bill using a formula that does not rely on actual unit-level meter readings.
For properties covered by Miami-Dade's water re-metering requirements, understanding that distinction is the starting point for determining what registration, metering, billing, and compliance requirements may apply.
Does This Apply to Every Multifamily Property in Miami-Dade?
Not necessarily.
A property's location in Miami-Dade County alone does not tell a property manager everything needed to determine which water-remetering requirements apply.
Miami-Dade's published water re-metering program specifically addresses multiple-unit properties where water is purchased through a master meter and then resold to residents or tenants through individual submeters. The property's water provider and billing arrangement therefore matter.
Before starting or changing a resident water-billing program, property managers should identify several basic facts:
Who provides water service to the property?
Is the property served through a master meter?
Are individual unit submeters being used to measure consumption?
Who is the customer of record with the water utility?
Who reads the submeters and produces the resident bills?
Is the owner or billing company required to register with Miami-Dade County?
These distinctions are important because a property located within Miami-Dade County may have a different utility provider, meter configuration, or billing arrangement than another property only a few miles away.
The compliance question begins with the property itself—not simply the county name.
Who Must Register for Water Remetering in Miami-Dade?
For properties that fall under Miami-Dade County’s Water Remetering program, registration is an important part of the process.
Miami-Dade County states that multiple-unit property owners who re-meter water service for residents or tenants must register with the County’s Consumer Protection Division. Companies that provide billing services for remetered properties must also register.
This means compliance can involve both sides of the operation: the property responsible for the re-metering program and the company performing the resident billing.
Registration is more than providing basic contact information. Miami-Dade’s property-owner application asks for documentation that helps the County understand how the entire remetering and billing program operates, including:
Property and management information
Submeter type and specifications
Meter-testing equipment specifications
A sample lease or condominium agreement
A sample resident billing format
A comparison of the property’s water-and-sewer bill with resident billing
Applicable plumbing or electrical permits
For property managers, this is an important distinction: Miami-Dade treats water remetering as an operating and billing system—not simply the installation of individual meters.
What Are Miami-Dade’s Water Submeter Requirements?
For covered water remetering properties, Miami-Dade County establishes specific requirements for the submeters used to measure resident water consumption.
Under the County’s remetering ordinance, the owner or remeterer is responsible for providing, installing, and maintaining the necessary submeters in good working condition. The meters must also conform to applicable American Water Works Association (AWWA) standards identified by the County.
Some of the key requirements include:
Meter specifications: Submeters must meet the applicable AWWA standards and be rated for at least 150 psi working pressure.
Shutoff valve: A shutoff valve must be installed on the inlet side of the submeter.
Tamper protection: The installation must include a clearly noticeable tamper-proof seal or device.
Readable measurements: The meter display must clearly indicate the gallons and/or CCF used to bill the resident.
Accessibility: Submeters and shutoff valves must be positioned so they can be read, tested, and inspected with minimal interference to the resident.
Ongoing maintenance: The owner or remeterer is responsible for keeping the submeters in proper working condition.
These requirements illustrate why submetering is not simply a matter of installing a device and beginning to bill residents. The meter becomes part of an ongoing measurement, billing, maintenance, and compliance process.
Official Resource: Miami-Dade County Code § 8A-386 — Submeters
How Must Water Submeters Be Tested and Maintained?
Installing a compliant submeter is only the beginning. Miami-Dade’s water remetering requirements also address ongoing meter accuracy, testing, maintenance, and resident requests for verification.
For covered properties, submeters must be tested and inspected at intervals consistent with the applicable AWWA recommendations for the meter’s size and type. The owner is also responsible for maintaining the meters in good working condition.
If a resident has concerns about the accuracy of a submeter, the County’s rules provide a process for requesting a meter test. Key requirements include:
Resident-requested testing: A resident may make a reasonable written request to have the submeter tested for accuracy.
Qualified testing: Testing must be performed by an accredited and certified water-meter-testing facility.
Written results: The resident must be notified of the test results in writing within 60 days.
Testing charges: If the meter falls outside the applicable accuracy standards, the resident cannot be charged for the test.
Accurate meters: If the meter is within the applicable accuracy standard, a reasonable testing and plumbing charge may be assessed.
Replacement documentation: When a meter is removed and replaced, required information about the replacement meter must be reported to the County.
The ordinance also establishes requirements for testing equipment, calibration, certification, and retention of certain testing records.
For property managers, the practical lesson is important: a resident billing dispute may ultimately become a meter-data and meter-accuracy question. Maintaining reliable records can be just as important as maintaining the meter itself.
Official Resource: Miami-Dade County Code § 8A-386 — Submeters
What Can Appear on a Miami-Dade Remetered Water Bill?
For properties covered by Miami-Dade County’s water-remetering program, the resident water bill is subject to specific billing requirements.
Miami-Dade County’s current guidance states that a remetered bill may include charges for water, sewer, applicable taxes, and a permitted late fee. The County also specifies information that should appear on the bill so residents can understand how their charges were calculated.
A remetered water bill should provide information such as the previous and current meter readings, the amount of water consumed, the billing period, and contact information for questions or disputes. If an estimated meter reading is used, the bill must identify it as estimated.
A Miami‑Dade Remetered Water BillCAN INCLUDE:
Water charges
Sewer charges
Applicable taxes
A permitted late fee
This is where the distinction between Florida law and Miami-Dade’s local re-metering requirements becomes especially important.
Florida Statute §367.022(9) recognizes, for certain water-resale arrangements, actual meter-reading and billing costs up to 9% of the actual cost of water and wastewater service. That statewide provision should not be interpreted as a universal authorization to add a 9% “administrative fee” to every resident utility bill.
Miami-Dade’s re-metering program adds its own local billing and no-profit requirements for covered water re-metering arrangements. As a result, property managers should evaluate the specific property, water provider, billing structure, and applicable requirements before adding separate resident-facing fees.
A fee being listed separately on a resident bill does not, by itself, make the fee permissible.
Important
Utility type matters. The rules discussed here concern water and wastewater re-metering. Florida’s rules governing master-metered electricity and natural gas are different and should not be treated as interchangeable with water re-metering requirements.
This is strongly supported by the research: electric and gas rules exclude owner billing costs in circumstances where the water statute contains its limited meter-reading/billing-cost provision.
Official Sources:
Miami-Dade County Water Remeterin
Florida Statute §367.022
What Happens When a Resident Disputes a Water Bill?
Questions about a water bill can involve more than the amount due. A resident may question the meter reading, consumption shown on the bill, an estimated reading, the accuracy of the submeter, or how the charge was calculated.
Miami-Dade’s water-remetering program provides residents with a process for questioning remetered water bills. According to the County, residents should first contact the owner or remetering company using the contact information provided on the bill.
When a billing dispute is submitted in writing, the owner or remetering company must investigate the complaint and provide the resident with the results of that investigation in writing within 30 days.
If the dispute involves the accuracy of the submeter itself, separate meter-testing requirements may also apply.
When a Resident Questions a Bill
Resident identifies a billing or meter concern
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Resident contacts the owner or remetering company
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Written complaint is investigated
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Written results are provided within 30 days
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Meter testing may follow when accuracy is disputed
For property managers, this makes documentation especially important. Meter readings, billing calculations, resident communications, adjustments, and testing records can all become part of resolving a dispute.
A strong billing operation should be able to explain not only what a resident owes, but how the charge was calculated and what meter data supports it.
Official Resource: Miami-Dade County Water Remetering
WHAT RECORDS SHOULD PROPERTY MANAGERS KEEP FOR WATER REMETERING?
Miami-Dade’s water-remetering requirements make recordkeeping an important part of operating a compliant resident water-billing program.
Property managers and remetering companies may need records not only to prepare monthly bills, but also to document how a charge was calculated, investigate a resident complaint, verify meter accuracy, and demonstrate that required procedures were followed.
A well-documented water-remetering operation should maintain organized records that may include:
Meter readings and consumption history — Records of the readings used to calculate resident water consumption and prepare bills.
Resident billing records — Copies or accessible records of bills showing the applicable billing period, consumption, charges, and other required information.
Meter installation and equipment information — Documentation identifying the submeters being used, their specifications, and relevant installation or replacement information.
Meter testing and maintenance records — Records of testing, inspection, calibration, repairs, replacements, and other work performed on the metering system.
Resident communications and billing disputes — Written complaints, responses, adjustments, meter-test requests, and documentation showing how billing questions were investigated and resolved.
Property and remetering documentation — Applicable registration information and other records supporting the property’s water-remetering and billing arrangement.
For a property manager, these records serve a larger purpose than administrative housekeeping. They create the documentation trail connecting the meter reading to the resident bill and, when necessary, from the resident bill back to the meter.
That becomes particularly important when a resident questions consumption, disputes a charge, or requests verification of a submeter.
WATER REMETERING
DOCUMENTATION
✓ Meter readings
✓ Resident bills
✓ Meter specifications
✓ Testing & maintenance
✓ Resident communications
✓ Billing adjustments
✓ Registration records
Meter → Data → Bill → Documentation
BEFORE STARTING OR CHANGING A WATER-REMETERING PROGRAM
Before installing submeters, changing billing providers, or modifying how residents are billed for water, property managers should first understand the specific utility and billing arrangement at the property.
Two multifamily properties located only a few miles apart may not operate under exactly the same circumstances. The water provider, master-meter arrangement, existing equipment, resident billing method, and party responsible for remetering can all affect what needs to be evaluated.
Before making a change, start with seven questions:
1. Who provides water service to the property?
Identify the utility serving the property and confirm how the master account is structured.
2. How is the property currently metered?
Determine whether the property uses a master meter, individual submeters, or another configuration.
3. Who is responsible for the water account?
Confirm the customer of record and understand the relationship between the utility account, property owner, and residents.
4. How are residents currently billed?
Determine whether charges are based on actual submeter readings or another billing methodology.
5. Who reads, maintains, and tests the submeters?
Establish responsibility for meter data, equipment maintenance, testing, replacements, and documentation.
6. What registration and billing requirements apply?
Determine whether the property owner, remetering company, or both must satisfy Miami-Dade registration or other applicable requirements.
7. What happens when something goes wrong?
Know who handles missing readings, equipment failures, estimated readings, resident disputes, meter-test requests, billing corrections, and documentation.
These questions turn water remetering from an equipment decision into an operational decision.
A successful program must connect the physical meters, meter data, resident billing, customer support, field service, documentation, and applicable requirements into one working system.
That is why evaluating a water-remetering program should begin with the entire utility operation—not simply the meter.
HOW CAN IMR HELP WITH WATER REMETERING IN MIAMI-DADE?
Understanding Miami-Dade’s water-remetering requirements is one part of operating a successful program. The other is making sure the day-to-day operation actually works.
IMR Billing Services helps multifamily property owners and managers manage the operational side of utility billing and submetering—from meter data and resident billing to customer support, field service, and ongoing system monitoring.
Rather than treating each part of the process separately, we help connect the pieces into one utility-management operation:
Submetering & Meter Data
We work with submetered properties to collect, review, and manage the meter information used for resident utility billing.
Resident Utility Billing
IMR prepares resident bills based on the applicable property billing structure and maintains the billing records needed to support the process.
Resident Customer Support
When residents have questions about consumption, meter readings, payments, or charges, they have a dedicated place to get answers instead of sending every utility question back to property management.
Field Service & Meter Support
When equipment requires inspection, troubleshooting, maintenance, or replacement, the problem can be connected to the field-service process rather than remaining only a billing exception.
Water-Usage Monitoring
Meter data can also provide insight beyond the monthly bill. IMR's Leak Alert Resolution System (LARS) analyzes water-consumption patterns to help identify abnormal usage and potential water-loss events that may require attention.
For property managers, the objective is straightforward: connect the meter, the data, the resident bill, customer support, and field response so that the utility program can be managed as one operation.