Plain-English definitions of the terms that turn up when you are dealing with a seawall, a dock or a code notice. Where a definition states a figure or what the law requires, it names the primary source and the date we checked it.
How high floodwater is expected to reach in the 1-percent-annual-chance flood.
TermA survey of what lives on the bottom where in-water work is planned.
TermThe zero point a height is measured from. A seawall height means nothing without one.
TermA buried block behind the wall that a tie-back rod pulls against.
TermFlorida's permit for work in, on or over wetlands and other surface waters.
TermGeotextile behind the wall that lets water through and keeps soil in.
TermFEMA's official flood map: where your flood zone and BFE come from.
TermAn everyday name for exceptionally high tides, not a scientific term.
TermA shoreline stabilised with natural materials such as plants, sand or rock.
TermThe vertical datum most South Florida cities now use to state a seawall height.
TermThe older vertical datum still found on old surveys, permits and flood maps.
TermThe form an owner records and posts before work starts, under s. 713.13.
TermA subcontractor's or supplier's notice that protects their right to a lien.
TermA signed waiver of lien rights for work already paid for, on the statutory form.
TermLoose rock at the base of a seawall that absorbs wave energy and protects the toe.
TermThe concrete beam along the top of a seawall, and usually the part a height rule measures.
TermInterlocking panels driven into the ground to form the wall itself.
TermState-owned land under navigable water, which needs state consent to build on.
TermThe threshold that pulls the whole wall, not just the repair, up to the current rule.
TermThe broader term Broward codes use: a seawall, or anything else doing the same job.
TermA rod or cable from the back of the wall into the ground, holding the wall upright.
TermA drainage opening low in the wall that lets trapped water out as the tide falls.
Which agencies are involved, what each one wants, and the order they want it in.
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