Lots and zoning

Studio works from a lot's data: the parcel's outline and records, its zone and overlays, and the zone's standards. Where that data exists, an address is enough to start. See Current coverage, below, for where it exists today.

Start a project on a lot

1. Open the project picker and choose New project on a Miami lot….
2. Type the address in Address. The lookup runs when you stop typing, as a job with progress and Cancel.
3. Read the preview: the parcel's address, Folio, Lot area (the County's record), Zone and Overlays. If no parcel matches the address exactly, the nearest one is used and the preview warns you.
4. Choose Start in Design or Start in BIM and click Create project.

The parcel becomes the model's lot, with its sides typed as front, side, corner side or rear, and the zone's rules are loaded. Create uses the lookup you previewed: nothing is looked up again.

To put an existing project on a lot, choose Set lot address… from the project picker. Both refuse while a conversation is open, because the conversations' copies were made from the model a lot would change.

Clip

Read the rule checks

Press ⌘2 for the Regulation tab. It shows the zone, a line saying the standards are provisional, and the checks in four groups:

• Needs attention: rules that fail.
• Checked: rules that pass.
• Measured, not checked: values measured with no rule for them.
• Could not be checked: rules the model can't be measured for yet, with the reason.

Each rule shows its limit, the measured value and its source, with a link to the document it was read from. A number beside the tab counts failing rules; with nothing selected, the rules bar over the view sums the checks. The checks run again after every edit.

A rule marked Conditional holds only up to a height or under a condition shown under it; what lies beyond is not measured, and once the model passes that height the row says to check it by hand.

Fix the lot's sides

Setbacks are measured from typed lot lines. If a side is typed wrong:

1. Press S (Edit Lot Sides), or click Edit sides in the Regulation tab. The view turns to plan.
2. Click a lot line and pick Front, Corner side, Side or Rear.
3. Click Done.

The change is an ordinary edit you can undo.

Set a value the zone is missing

When a limit is Not loaded for the zone, you can give it one for this project:

1. Click Set a value… on the rule.
2. Type the value (any length form, or a percent) and save.

Your value is marked Set by you, never shown as the code's, and stays when the lot is set again. Edit and Remove change it.

Place the building on the lot

Press P for Place Building on Lot. The panel's North, South, East and West buttons move the whole building a foot (Shift: ten feet). It refuses while a conversation is open.

Ask the agent about a rule

Explain on a failing rule sends the agent the rule, the measured value, the limit and its source. See Agents and chat.

Overlays and incomplete standards

• A lot in an overlay district gets a warning, not a check: the warning names the overlay and says additional standards may apply and are not checked.
• A zone with incomplete standards says which values were not loaded, and which parent zone's values it uses.
• A zone with no standards says "No standards loaded for <zone> yet", never an empty all-clear.
• The lot area shows twice: the County's record and the area of the parcel's outline. Rules measure the outline. Both are provisional.

Building code items

The Regulation tab also has a Building code section: items from the Florida Building Code, Residential (8th edition), per room, door and stair (bedroom area, ceiling height, door clear width, stair risers and treads, guard height...). An item applies to a room once the room's Use is set, for example to bedroom.

Limit. None of these limits has been read from the code yet, so no building code item is checked: each is listed as not checked.

Note. Nothing in Studio says a design complies. Every zoning value is provisional until verified against the code in force, and the tab says so.

Where the rules come from

Rules come in packages, from more than one source, and none is required. Every package says where it came from:

• Urbium catalog: ships with Studio. See its current coverage, below.
• Your import and Your firm's library: packages in your own regulation library on this computer. When the library is running, Studio asks it for the lot's city and zone as it looks up the address. If it doesn't answer, Studio says so and offers the Urbium catalog alone.

Choose the packages for a project

The Regulation tab lists the packages offered for the lot under Regulation packages: each with its source, version, status and how many of its rules Studio can check.

1. Tick a package to apply it, or untick it to leave it out.
2. The zone checks run against exactly the ticked packages: unticking one takes its checks off the tab.

A package the library can't tell applies to the lot (for example, it needs a mapped area Studio doesn't know) is offered unticked, with what is missing. The project records which packages and versions it uses, so the pick stays when you open it again. The agent can make the same pick when you ask it to.

The Urbium catalog: current coverage

The catalog's rule limits ship with Studio and grow with new releases. Looking up an address needs an internet connection: parcels, zones and overlays come from online services.

• Parcels: any address in Miami-Dade County, Florida.
• Zones and rules: the jurisdictions in the table below. Every value is provisional, with the source it was read from.
• Other cities in Miami-Dade: the parcel, and no rules. Coral Gables, for example, shows "No zoning data for Coral Gables yet".
• Everywhere else: no parcel or zoning data yet. Start from a blank project, an IFC file or the sample.

The table is generated from the catalog that ships with this version of Studio:

Jurisdiction	Code	Zones	Limits read	Status
City of Miami, Florida	Miami 21	CI-HD, D1, D2, D3, T3-L, T3-O, T3-R, T4-L, T4-O, T4-R, T5-L, T5-O, T5-R, T6-12, T6-24, T6-36, T6-48, T6-60, T6-8-L, T6-8-O, T6-8-R, T6-80	118	provisional, 2018 text
City of Miami Beach, Florida	Miami Beach Resiliency Code	RS-1, RS-2, RS-3, RS-4	17	provisional, 2023 adopted ordinance
Unincorporated Miami-Dade County, Florida	Miami-Dade County Code, Chapter 33	EU-1, EU-2, EU-M, RU-1, RU-1MA, RU-2, RU-3M, RU-4L	54	provisional, 2025 county pages

Import your zoning rules

Bring the regulation you work with: your jurisdiction's zoning code, an official summary, or any document you have. Studio reads it with the regxa kit, using your own Claude account, and you review each rule before it applies.

1. Open a project with a lot, then choose Import your zoning rules… under Regulation packages on the Regulation tab, or File > Import Zoning Rules… (⌥⇧⌘R).
2. Pick the document: a PDF, a web page saved as HTML, or a text file. Reading it takes a few minutes for a long code.
3. Review the rules one by one. Each shows the text it was read from, word for word, a link to the document, and what Studio would check on this lot. Tick the rules that read right and leave the rest.
4. Choose Apply. The rules you accepted become a package labelled Your import, ticked for this project, and the zone checks run against them.

Imported packages are always provisional: you compared each rule with its text, but nobody checked it against the code in force, and Studio never marks an import as verified. The package is also kept in your own regulation library, so another project in the same zone is offered it too.

Importing needs Node.js 22 or later and the regxa kit on this computer: set REGXA_KIT to the kit's folder, or put its regxa command on your PATH. The kit runs on your Claude Code login, never on an Urbium account, and Urbium does not see your documents.

Coming soon: your firm's library

Note. Not available yet.

Rules your firm has imported, shared across its projects. Today, packages from a firm library show up when they are in the regulation library on your computer.