Broward County site plan requirements vary across Florida’s second most populous county, which contains 31 municipalities, each with its own building department. Understanding Broward County site plan requirements starts with identifying the correct jurisdiction for your property, as permit processes, formatting standards, and zoning regulations can differ between cities.
Broward County Site Plan Requirements: Building Department Structure
One of the most important aspects of Broward County site plan requirements is determining which municipality has authority over your property.
Unlike Miami-Dade (which has a unified county building department), Broward’s 31 municipalities handle their own permits. If you’re in Fort Lauderdale, you deal with Fort Lauderdale Building Services. If you’re in Pembroke Pines, you deal with the Pembroke Pines Building Division.
Unincorporated Broward County: Handled by the Broward County Building Division (broward.org/building).
Incorporated cities (partial list with building department websites):
- Fort Lauderdale: fortlauderdale.gov/departments/building
- Hollywood: hollywoodfl.org
- Pembroke Pines: ppines.com
- Deerfield Beach: deerfield-beach.com
- Miramar: miramarfl.gov
- Coral Springs: coralsprings.org
- Plantation: plantation.org
HVHZ Requirements Affecting Broward County Site Plan Requirements
Broward, like Miami-Dade, is in the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) under the Florida Building Code. This means:
- Higher wind speed design requirements (140–165 mph depending on location)
- Stricter product approval requirements
- Structures must use HVHZ-compliant materials and methods
- Products must have Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance (NOA), yes, even in Broward, the NOA from Miami-Dade is the standard used.
This doesn’t directly change what goes on your site plan, but it affects the overall permit package your contractor submits.
Understanding these HVHZ standards is important when preparing Broward County site plan requirements for permit approval.
General Broward Site Plan Requirements
While each municipality has specific requirements, the general Broward County site plan elements are:
- Lot boundaries with dimensions
- Legal description and parcel ID (Folio number)
- All existing structures with dimensions
- Proposed construction with dimensions
- All setbacks labeled
- North arrow, scale (typically 1″=20′)
- Impervious surface calculation
- Flood zone designation (significant portions of Broward are Zone AE)
Broward County Setback Requirements (Unincorporated)
RS-3 residential zone:
- Front: 25 feet
- Rear: 25 feet
- Sides: 7.5 feet
- Corner lot side facing street: 15 feet
Pool setbacks in Broward (unincorporated):
- 5 feet from the rear and side property lines
- 25 feet from the front property line
For municipal Broward properties, setbacks vary by city and zone. Fort Lauderdale has its own zoning code. Coral Springs has its own. These can differ from the unincorporated Broward’s rules.
Fort Lauderdale Site Plan Specifics
Fort Lauderdale is Broward’s largest city and processes thousands of permits per year.
Fort Lauderdale Building Division portal: Online through the city’s OpenGov Permitting system.
Fort Lauderdale has some of the most specific formatting requirements in Broward. Their site plan checklist (available at fortlauderdale.gov) details exactly what must be included.
Fort Lauderdale pool setbacks (RS-8 zone):
- 5 feet from the rear and side property lines
- 20 feet from the front property line
Hollywood, Florida Site Plan Requirements
Hollywood is one of Broward’s most active construction markets, particularly for pool and outdoor renovation permits.
Hollywood setbacks (RS-6 zone):
- Front: 25 feet
- Rear: 20 feet
- Sides: 7.5 feet
Hollywood uses an online portal for permit submission. Their building department is generally responsive, and turnaround on residential plan reviews is typically 2–3 weeks.
Common Broward County Rejection Reasons
- Missing HVHZ compliance documentation, especially for structural permits. While this doesn’t affect the site plan itself, the overall permit package must address HVHZ compliance.
- Wrong flood zone notation: large portions of Broward are in Zone AE. Missing flood zone notation is an automatic rejection.
- Impervious surface calculation missing: required in all Broward jurisdictions.
- Wrong municipality’s format: submitting a plan formatted for unincorporated Broward to the City of Hollywood (different portal, different requirements).
Get Your Broward County Site Plan
We prepare permit-ready drawings that meet Broward County site plan requirements for all municipalities, including Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Miramar, Pembroke Pines, Deerfield Beach, and others.
Standard residential: $79 PE-stamped commercial: $499
We know Broward’s individual municipality requirements and format each plan accordingly.
