Docks and boat lifts · Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach
Docks and boat lifts for waterfront homes in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, built as one project with the house and the seawall. You pay the actual cost plus a fixed fee, and the contract sets the maximum price.
Dock builder
Florida Home Build is a general contractor and dock builder in Miami: we build docks and boat lifts for residential waterfront homes in Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach. We work inside a waterfront project: the dock sits in the same contract as the house or the seawall, and the city and county permits and inspections are ours to handle.
We coordinate the marine construction projects as your general contractor, with marine subcontractors who hold the license the job calls for, where one is required, so you deal with one contractor from the first site visit to the final inspection. Docks and boat lifts come as part of waterfront construction projects, which start at $250,000: a new home, a teardown and a new home, or a major renovation with a seawall. If you are planning only a dock, send us the address through the 5 questions, and we will tell you whether it fits a project.
What a dock project can include:
Your money
At signing, at the start of work, at the midpoint and at about 99% completion. Each payment is for a stage you have approved.
Cost plus a fixed fee, with a maximum price. Savings stay with you. Anything above the cap is paid by the builder.
A shared budget tracker shows each subcontractor bid, each change and each invoice.
The same permanent subcontractors on every job, and one company answering for all of them.
The warranty term is a number in your contract, and so is the list of what it does not cover.
By phone, WhatsApp, text or email, in English, Spanish or Russian.
Permits
A dock is approved on several levels: the county for work in tidal water, the state for the land under the water, and the federal government for work in navigable water, plus your city and, in many neighborhoods, your homeowners association. What each office decides depends on your waterway and your lot, so we map which of them apply at the first site visit and build the permit file before design is final. In Palm Beach County the levels are the same, and the exact office depends on your address.
| Office | What it decides for a dock |
|---|---|
| Miami-Dade County (DERM) | Typically a Class I permit for a dock in tidal water; the review checks the project against the county's Manatee Protection Plan |
| Broward County | The county's environmental permitting office, which licenses docks |
| State of Florida (FDEP) | The environmental resource permit, which a small private dock may be exempt from, and the right to use state-owned land under the water |
| U.S. Army Corps of Engineers | The federal review of work in the water; a general permit covers many docks, but not all |
| City and association | The building permit, the setbacks and, where there is one, the association's approval of the design |
An exemption from the state permit is not an exemption from the other lines of this table: state-owned land and local rules still apply. Building codes and regulations change, so we confirm the current requirements for your address before design. A seawall goes through the same offices, and its permits are described on our seawall contractor page.
After the keys
The term and the list of exclusions are written in your contract, not explained later.
As-built drawings, manuals, a maintenance schedule and manufacturer warranties registered in your name.
We walk the house with you and show how each system works before you move in.
Home maintenance by arrangement, with the same team that built it.
Design
Three things shape a dock design here before any piling is driven: manatees, mangroves and materials. We check all three at the start, next to the permit file, so the design does not change after approval.
In Miami-Dade, the county checks a Class I application against its Manatee Protection Plan, and whether your lot lies in the county's Essential Manatee Habitat is one of the first things we look at, because it can affect the size and layout of the dock.
Trimming or altering mangroves takes authorization from the state or a delegated local office, and herbicides are banned for removing leaves. State law exempts work covered by the dock exemption, and local offices can be stricter. We look at the mangrove line when the walkway is laid out.
Dock builders in Miami work with concrete or treated-wood pilings and with decking in treated marine wood, ipe, composite, plastic or fiberglass grating. Each stands up to Miami's salt, weather and water conditions differently and needs different maintenance, so the choice is made with you for the boat and the budget.
How the house itself is built against wind is on our page for storm-resistant houses in Florida, and a new house on the water is on our page for home building on Miami waterfront lots.
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FAQ
The price depends on the length of the dock and the depth of the water, the pilings and decking, a boat lift and its electrical supply, and the permits. We do not post a price or quote here: a dock is priced once we see the site, as one part of a waterfront project, and those projects start at $250,000. How the price cap works is on pricing and terms.
Usually from more than one office: the city and the county, and often the state and the federal government too. A small private dock can be exempt from the state environmental permit, but not from rights to state-owned land or from local rules. The table above shows which office covers what.
A dock builder lays out the dock, assembles the permit file, drives the pilings, builds the deck and installs the lift and its power. We run that as your general contractor, and marine subcontractors holding the license the job calls for, where one is required, do the work in the water, under the same contract as the house.
It can be, with the right approvals; the manatee and mangrove rules are in the cards above. We check both for your address before the layout is drawn.
For the state exemption, a private non-commercial dock may cover up to 1,000 square feet over the water (500 in Outstanding Florida Waters), on pilings or floating, with one such dock per 65 feet of shoreline. On state-owned land the dock also keeps a 25-foot setback inward from the edges of your riparian rights, roughly your side lot lines extended into the water, with exceptions for private single-family docks on short frontage, and a county or city can set tighter limits.
Yes. Docks, boat lifts and seawalls for waterfront homes are part of our turnkey projects, which start at $250,000, under one contract. Our page on waterfront construction in Miami covers the rest of the build on the water.
Homestead and the canals and Biscayne Bay shoreline of southern Miami-Dade lie in Miami-Dade, where we work. Send the address through the 5 questions, and we will tell you whether the project fits.
