Services
Dock Construction in South Florida
Langley Coastal Construction designs and builds docks on the water we work every day. We are a Florida general contractor, license CGC1538377, family-owned across two generations, 35+ years of licensed construction, in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Manatee counties. This page is about the structure: a new dock or a full rebuild.
- What decides the design of your dock
- Decking, framing and fasteners that survive salt water
- Repair what is there, or tear it out and rebuild
- Permits for a private residential dock
- What a South Florida dock is built to take
- Where the boat lift fits
Written by Langley Coastal Construction, Florida general contractor license CGC1538377. Facts are linked to their sources; this is general information, not legal advice.
What decides the design of your dock
Cities cap the reach, tighter than most owners assume. Fort Lauderdale holds a dock or slip to 25 percent of the waterway's width or 25 feet from the property line, whichever is less. Mooring and dolphin piles get 30 percent or 25 feet, whichever is less. Past that you need a City Commission waiver, and no waiver may pass 30 percent. [fortlauderdale.elaws.us]
Depth decides where the boat sits, and that decides how far out the dock goes. Florida's general permit for a single-family dock needs two feet of water below mean low water at the mooring and at the navigational access. [law.cornell.edu]
Tide range sets the deck height. At the NOAA station at South Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale the mean range of tide is 2.5 feet, so a fixed deck has to clear the high water and still be a sane step down at the low. [api.tidesandcurrents.noaa.gov]
The bottom matters as much as the depth. Under the same permit the lift, the mooring locations and the terminal platform may not sit over grassbeds, coral communities or wetlands. A walkway may cross them, within limits. [law.cornell.edu]
Last, the shoreline. A dock tied into a seawall shares that wall's condition, so we look at the wall first.
Decking, framing and fasteners that survive salt water
Timber for the water is specified by Use Category, not by brand. Florida is UC5C, which the American Wood Protection Association calls Marine Use, Southern Waters: salt or brackish water south of Georgia. [awpa.com]
Composite decking is lower maintenance, not maintenance-free. In a field study of composite boards after 9.5 years outdoors, decay of the wood particles, moisture and heat drove the degradation. [research.fs.usda.gov]
Fasteners decide more than owners expect. In Forest Products Laboratory testing in ACQ-treated wood, hot-dip galvanized steel corroded fastest at 62 micrometres a year, carbon steel at 34 and aluminium at 22, while stainless steel's rate was indistinguishable from zero. [research.fs.usda.gov]
We use only top-grade materials built to withstand the elements. For how long treated timber lasts in Florida salt water, see how long dock pilings last.
| Choice | The honest trade-off |
|---|---|
| Pressure-treated timber decking | Organic, and in salt water; the treatment, not the species, holds the borers off |
| Composite decking | A surface, not a structure, and it loses strength over long wet exposure [research.fs.usda.gov] |
| Stainless fasteners and hardware | Costs more per connection than galvanized, which is the first thing to fail [research.fs.usda.gov] |
Repair what is there, or tear it out and rebuild
We do both, and we will tell you which one your dock needs. We replace worn deck boards and a bad piling on a dock that is otherwise sound. We also do complete tear-outs and rebuilds.
The line is structural, not cosmetic. Boards and railings are a repair. Framing that has lost its connections, or most of the pilings past their service life, is a rebuild, whatever you call it. One piling or two is its own job: see piling replacement.
Permitting treats the two differently, which often settles it. FDEP's online self-certification covers three things at no fee: a new dock with or without a lift, repair or replacement of an existing dock, and adding a lift to an existing dock. [floridadep.gov]
Repair and replacement sit under their own statutory exemption, at the same thresholds as the dock already there. Enlarge it and you are applying as a new dock. [floridadep.gov]
Permits for a private residential dock
One application sets off three reviews: the environmental resource review, the proprietary review (the land under navigable waters in Florida is state-owned, held in trust for the public), and the State Programmatic General Permit, which carries the federal authorization. [floridadep.gov]
- State exemption. Section 403.813(1)(b), Florida Statutes exempts a private dock of 1,000 square feet or less over the water, 500 in Outstanding Florida Waters: on pilings or floating, no filling or dredging beyond the pilings, no navigational hazard, recreational and noncommercial, and the only dock claimed under that exemption along 65 feet of shoreline. [flsenate.gov]
- State general permit, for a dock past the exemption. Up to 2,000 square feet over the water, no more than two vessels, two feet below mean low water at the mooring and the access, nothing over grassbeds, coral or wetlands. [law.cornell.edu]
- Broward County licenses work in, on or under its surface waters — docks, seawalls, dredge and fill, mangrove trimming. [broward.org]
- Miami-Dade County requires a DERM Class I permit for work in, on, over or upon tidal waters or coastal wetlands. [miamidade.gov]
- Palm Beach County handles docks under a Type 8 permit, which also covers seawalls, boat lifts, boathouses and dune walkovers. [discover.pbc.gov]
- The local building permit sits on top of that. The Florida Building Code makes anyone who constructs, alters or repairs a structure, or installs or replaces an electrical system it regulates, apply to the building official first. Our dock permit guide goes county by county. [up.codes]
What a South Florida dock is built to take
Broward and Miami-Dade are the state's High Velocity Hurricane Zone. The 2023 Florida Building Code, Building, sets the wind velocity used in structural calculations at 170 miles per hour, three-second gust, in Broward and 175 in Miami-Dade, for ordinary Risk Category II construction. [up.codes]
Wind is half of it. FEMA's guidance for waterfront facilities calls for the deck frame, deck and superstructure to be reinforced against wave uplift, splash, high winds and flooding, and for scour protection at the pile toes. [fema.gov]
Docks here rarely fail because the timber snapped. They fail at the connections, when the deck lifts off the framing or the framing off the piling.
Where the boat lift fits
If a lift is in your plans at all, design it in at the start. The lift pilings go in with the dock pilings and the motor circuit runs with the dock electrical. Adding it later means a second mobilization and whatever the existing pilings will carry.
We work with boatlift manufacturers to supply the boat or PWC lift that suits the boat and the space. Sizing is on the boat lift installation page.
Questions we hear about this
Do I need a permit to build a dock at my house?
Yes. A private dock of 1,000 square feet or less over the water, or 500 in Outstanding Florida Waters, is exempt from the state permit if it meets Section 403.813(1)(b), Florida Statutes: on pilings or floating, no dredging beyond the pilings, no navigational hazard, recreational and noncommercial. [source]
Should I repair my dock or rebuild it?
Boards, railings and a single bad piling are a repair. Framing that has lost its connections, or most of the pilings past their service life, is a rebuild. Permitting follows: repair and replacement keep the existing dock's thresholds, and enlarging it makes it a new dock. [source]
How far can my dock stick out into the canal?
In Fort Lauderdale a dock or slip may reach no more than 25 percent of the waterway's width or 25 feet from the property line, whichever is less. Mooring and dolphin piles get 30 percent or 25 feet, whichever is less. More takes a City Commission waiver, capped at 30 percent. We check your city's rule before a layout is set. [source]
Is composite decking better than wood on a dock?
It is lower maintenance, not permanent. Forest Products Laboratory research found composites still lose strength and stiffness to moisture, and some boards tested after 9.5 years outdoors held 15 percent of their original flexural strength. Composite is a surface; the structure under it is still timber or concrete. [source]
How deep does the water need to be at my dock?
At least two feet below mean low water where the boat sits and where it gets in and out, if you want the state's general permit for a single-family dock. We check the depth at your dock line before committing to a layout. [source]
Can you build the dock now and add the boat lift later?
Yes, and FDEP's self-certification has a separate path for adding a lift to an existing dock. It works better to design it in from the start: the lift pilings go in with the dock pilings and the motor circuit runs with the dock electrical. [source]
What our customers say about Dock Construction & Rebuilds, South Florida
Working with LCC was a great experience. We needed work done on our dock and didn't know who to go with. After reviewing many companies we found the right one!
Talk to a licensed marine contractor
Call (954) 406-0696 or send the form. We serve Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade and Manatee counties.
Guides
Sourced answers to the questions we hear most.
- Boat Lift Installation, South Florida →
- Boat Lift Maintenance, South Florida →
- Boat Lift Sizing and Capacity, Florida →
- Dock Cost Factors in Florida →
- Dock Insurance & Storm Repair, Florida →
- Dock Materials for Florida Salt Water →
- Dock Permits in South Florida, Explained →
- Dock Piling Lifespan in Salt Water →
- Floating Dock Systems, South Florida →
- Piling Services, South Florida →
- Hurricane Cleanup & Marine Salvage, Florida →