Southeast Florida · HVHZ · County guide
Permit Expediting in Broward County
Broward County's own building department permits almost nothing. Twenty-nine municipalities run their own, and the county's direct jurisdiction is essentially a handful of unincorporated enclaves plus the airport.
Why Broward is not one jurisdiction
Broward is one of only two counties in Florida operating under the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone provisions, and it is also the county where “file with the county” is almost always the wrong instruction. Both facts change how a submittal has to be built.
High-Velocity Hurricane Zone
Broward, with Miami-Dade, is one of only two Florida counties subject to the Florida Building Code's High-Velocity Hurricane Zone provisions in Chapter 16. HVHZ sets different wind-velocity design standards from the rest of the state, and building envelope products have to carry approval demonstrating impact and cyclic pressure performance — there is no prescriptive path around it.
The county permits almost nothing directly
Broward County's Building Code Division has direct permitting jurisdiction over the Broward Municipal Services District enclaves — Boulevard Gardens, Broadview Park, Franklin Park, Hillsboro Pines, Hillsboro Ranches, Roosevelt Gardens and Washington Park — plus Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. Every other incorporated municipality runs its own department.
County Certificates of Competency
Broward independently licenses trades — electrical, plumbing, LP gas, mechanical and building construction — through its own Certificate of Competency process, with its own seminars and its own complaint handling. Complaints against county-certified contractors go to the county; complaints against state-licensed contractors go to DBPR.
Elevator permitting is countywide
The Building Code Division performs elevator safety permitting and enforcement across the whole county, which is a different footprint from its very limited general building permitting scope. Elevator work in a city that otherwise self-permits still comes back to the county.
Every parcel is in the South Florida Water Management District
All of Broward County falls under SFWMD jurisdiction for environmental resource and water-use permitting, which matters as soon as a project involves site work, drainage or dewatering.
Who reviews your permit in Broward County
Twenty-nine municipalities are listed by the county as running their own building departments. A few of the smallest link back to the county's ePermits OneStop from their own sites, so those we confirm directly rather than assume.
| Jurisdiction | Notes |
|---|---|
| Fort Lauderdale | Own department |
| Hollywood | Own department |
| Pembroke Pines | Own department |
| Coral Springs | Own department |
| Miramar | Own department |
| Pompano Beach | Own department |
| Davie | Own department |
| Plantation | Own department |
| Sunrise | Own department |
| Deerfield Beach | Own department |
| Weston | Own department |
| Coconut Creek | Own department |
| Margate | Own department |
| Tamarac | Links to county ePermits — confirm |
| Lauderhill | Own department |
| Oakland Park | Own department |
| Dania Beach | Own department |
| Hallandale Beach | Own Building Division |
| Parkland | Own department |
| Cooper City | Own department |
| Wilton Manors | Own department |
| Lauderdale Lakes | Own department |
| North Lauderdale | Links to county ePermits — confirm |
| Lighthouse Point | Own department |
| Southwest Ranches | Own department |
| West Park | Confirm |
| Pembroke Park | Confirm |
| Hillsboro Beach | Confirm |
| Lauderdale-by-the-Sea | Links to county ePermits — confirm |
Filing with Broward County Building Code Division, Resilient Environment Department
Unincorporated Broward County submittals go through ePermits OneStop.
A Broward submittal starts by establishing which of thirty possible authorities controls the parcel, then by confirming HVHZ product approval for every envelope component before drawings go out. Getting the product approval documentation assembled correctly at intake is what separates a one-cycle approval from three.
Contractor registration in Broward County
Broward runs its own Certificate of Competency licensing for multiple trades, administered separately from state DBPR licensure. Which one applies depends on the trade and how the contractor is licensed, and municipalities may layer their own registration on top.
Whatever the jurisdiction, the work itself is the same set of services: see the full list of permitting services, or start with permit facilitation and filing if the permit simply needs to get filed and driven to issuance.
Department procedures, fee schedules and review timelines in Broward County change, and municipal requirements change independently of the county's. Everything above reflects published guidance and our own filing experience as of this writing, and should be confirmed with the authority having jurisdiction for your specific project. If you need the current position on a specific question, call us — we will find out rather than guess.
Permitting in Broward County — common questions
What does HVHZ change about my Broward County permit?
Broward and Miami-Dade are the only two Florida counties under the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone provisions of Florida Building Code Chapter 16. Design wind standards are higher, and envelope products — windows, doors, roofing, skylights — need approval documenting impact and cyclic pressure testing. There is no prescriptive substitute.
Do I file with Broward County or with a city?
Almost certainly a city. The county's own direct permitting jurisdiction covers the Broward Municipal Services District enclaves and the airport; the other twenty-nine municipalities run their own departments. We confirm the controlling authority by parcel before anything is prepared.
Do I need a Broward County licence as well as a state licence?
It depends on the trade. Broward independently licenses electrical, plumbing, LP gas, mechanical and building construction through its own Certificate of Competency programme. Complaints and enforcement for those run through the county rather than DBPR.
Who permits elevator work in Broward County?
The county. Broward's Building Code Division handles elevator safety permitting and enforcement countywide, including inside cities that otherwise run their own building departments.
What we file most in Broward County
Permit Facilitation & Filing
You have a crew scheduled, a client asking for dates, and a permit sitting somewhere in a queue you cannot see. We file it, we track it, and we push i…
Learn more40-Year Recertification & Milestone
A recertification notice arrives with a deadline attached, and missing it escalates fast — unsafe structure notices, fines, and in the worst cases an …
Learn morePlan Review Coordination
A permit in plan review is not one queue. On a commercial project it can be six queues, each with its own reviewer, its own comments and its own idea …
Learn more/services/revisions-resubmittals/
Learn moreCities in Broward County we file in
Each of these runs its own building department with its own requirements. Guidance for Broward County does not carry inside their limits.
Permit Expediting in Fort Lauderdale
City guide: who reviews it, what the local requirements are, and how to tell whether your parcel is really inside the city.
See the city guideGet a free quote for Broward County
Tell us the address and what is happening. We will tell you which jurisdiction controls it and what it takes.
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