looking at buying a house in fort walton beach fl. the house is on the water with a dock. the dock has to be modified for my boat to fit .how would one go about finding out if the dock could be modified ( STATE AND LOCAL REGULATIONS)before making a bid on the house.the last thing a would need is a dock i can't use. the house is in a sub called lighthouse point

Contact the local permit office.

Call Meredith Lumber at (850) 934-3355. They sell sea wall and boat lift building supplies in the area. They should be able to put you in touch w/ someone local that can help you.

Dan

Make the offer contingent upon your dock modifications being allowed, with a 10 day period to find out.

That way you have an out on the contract, and prevent anyone else from buying it in the meantime, assuming you really like the property.

Your real estate agent should be able to find out, or get a different agent.

simply because you apply for a permit doesn't mean you will have it granted.....confirm the ordinances and restrictions with the building department as far as what is accepted..... you will need to contact DERM as well if it is in navigable waters because the US Corp of Engineers have to approve it...........usually you will need to give them dimensions or a plan of what you propose to build....then they can give you an idea if it complies with the restrictions and a guess as to whether it will be accepted or not

Exactly,
There are # of different organizations in Fl that get a look @ your dock permits. And anyone of them can say no. And yes, you can get a permit, and still have the state/ feds come in afterwards and say it's out of complaince. It can be challenging to build a dock in Fl.......

Contact the local city or county (city if your within coty limits or county if not) It's a good thing that there is already a dock in place because it should make it a little easier to get a re-furb type permit. Around here 1000 s.f. is the limit for dock before you need to get approval from the water management and/or army corps of eng. However, we're on a lake so it maybe different in your area. You can also contact your area's DEP department and they can answer all your potential questions.

Here's the link to the DEP Southeast department:

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/southeast/

Good luck.

Whoops i knew there was something i forgot .But hay that was over 5 years now .Shhhhh.

I am in NE Flordia area and any "repairs" do not require any aditional Permits ...The permits would be thru the State not local goverment. As posted try to get in touch with a reputable dock builder in the area and they will know for sure ....m

! They will tell you exactlly what you need to know