WallDockDeck
Lauderdale-by-the-Sea · Broward County

Do I need a permit to repair a seawall in Lauderdale-by-the-Sea?

Yes, plus county licensetown permit + county license

Yes. Lauderdale-By-The-Sea adopts the Florida Building Code as the town's building code, and its seawall article covers new walls, substantial repairs and attached structures such as docks. A substantial repair must meet the town's tidal flood barrier height, and leaving a wall in disrepair is a civil infraction. Broward County also requires its own Environmental Resource License, often a general license for a repair in the same place.

Source: Lauderdale-By-The-Sea Code Secs. 6-1, 9-61, 9-62, 9-63 (Supp. 51); Broward County Code Ch. 27 Art. XI Secs. 27-333, 27-336 (Supp. 72); s. 403.813(1)(e), F.S. (2026); 33 CFR 322.3(a) · Verified 2026-10

The detail

City'The Florida Building Code is hereby adopted as the building code for the Town' - Code Sec. 6-1(a). The seawall article applies to new tidal flood barriers, substantial repair of shorelines and attached structures such as docks, but not seaward of the Coastal Construction Control Line - Sec. 9-61 (Ord. 2022-01). Substantial repair = work along more than 50% of the shoreline, or attached structures costing more than 50% of a tidal flood barrier - Sec. 9-62; then 5.0 ft NAVD88 (4.0 ft for applications before 1 Jan 2035), construction along the entire shoreline and limerock rip-rap at the face - Sec. 9-63(a), (d)(3), (d)(4). A wall in disrepair is a citable civil infraction under Chapter 6.5; the owner must show progress, as determined by the Town, within 60 days and finish within 365 days - Sec. 9-63(b). The town need not require a seawall where other flood protection measures are equally effective, and barriers that rise automatically before high tides are allowed if the automation needs no daily human intervention - Sec. 9-63(e), (f). No watercraft may moor or tie up to a private seawall without the owner's written permission - Sec. 5-53(a)
Broward CountyConstruction in regulated aquatic resources needs a county Environmental Resource License (ERL) - Broward County Code Sec. 27-333(a)(1). Repairing an existing functional seawall no more than 1 ft waterward of its authorized location, or a new wall within 1 ft of the old wet face with the old wall left in place, qualifies for a general license (Sec. 27-336(a)(1)b.), as do refacing, crack filling, seepage holes and other minor repairs (n.) and raising the cap in the same footprint (o.); the code says a general license is issued within 10 days of a complete application - Sec. 27-336(a)(1)
StateRestoring a seawall at its previous location, upland of it, or within 18 inches waterward is exempt from a state environmental resource permit; the exemption does not replace permission to use state-owned submerged land or county and city requirements, and does not cover chapter 161 coastal permits - s. 403.813(1), (1)(e), F.S.
FederalA U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Department of the Army) authorization is required for structures or work in or affecting navigable waters, unless exempt or covered by a nationwide or regional general permit - 33 CFR 322.3(a) (Rivers and Harbors Act s. 10)

Your city's height sheet

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The county rule behind this

What applies across Broward County, and where each city departs from it.

Broward CountySeawall requirements county-wide

The same question, nearby

The rule changes at the city line, not the county line.

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Twelve signs a seawall is failing

What to look for, where to look for it, and what it means when you find it. Walk your wall in twenty minutes.

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