Where it goes wrong · Permitting
More Agencies Than the Building
Horizontal work touches more agencies than the building does, and the approvals frequently run in sequence.
The survey, the geotechnical report and what you intend to build. That is enough to tell you what the site work involves.
Retention
In Florida it takes real acreage, before the building
Self-perform
Dewatering and deep foundations in house
Yield
The site work decides how much you can build
Licensed
General contractor, licensed in the state of Florida
Site permits gate the whole project
A building permit gets attention because the building is the point. But site work has to be permitted first, by more bodies, and until it is approved nothing can start. A program that treats site permitting as an activity running alongside design is a program that has not started when it thinks it has.
What can be involved
- Local site plan and engineering review.
- Water management district approval for stormwater.
- County or municipal environmental review.
- Utility approvals for connections and extensions.
- Right-of-way permits for any work in the road.
How we handle it
- 01Establish the full permitting path before programming.
- 02Program each approval with a real duration.
- 03Coordinate with the civil engineer through review.
- 04Build to the approved plans without site variation.
Establish the full permitting path before drawing the program. Site work involves more agencies than the building, they frequently run in sequence, and until site approval exists nothing on the project can start.
Said plainly
Where we stop
This is general information rather than regulatory advice. Your civil engineer and the reviewing agencies determine what applies to your specific site.
FAQ
Common questions
- Does site work need its own permits?
- Yes, from more agencies than the building, and frequently in sequence.
- Can we start before site approval?
- No. Until site approval exists, nothing starts.
- Who approves stormwater?
- The water management district for the location, alongside local review.
- Is this regulatory advice?
- No. Your civil engineer and the agencies determine what applies.
What we do
Clearing & Demolition
The first package on any site, and the one that reveals what the survey did not show.
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Mass Grading & Earthwork
Shaping the site to the design grades, where the cost is decided by whether the earthwork balances.
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Stormwater
Florida requires stormwater to be managed on site, and doing so consumes a genuine share of the land.
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Utilities
Water, sewer, electric, gas and telecommunications, and whether the capacity you need exists at the boundary.
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Paving & Hardscape
Parking, drives, sidewalks and hardscape, where the failures come from the subgrade and the drainage rather than from the asphalt.
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Site Restoration
Landscape, irrigation, and putting the site back — the last package built and the first thing anybody sees.
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More where it goes wrong
The Geotechnical Report
A few thousand dollars of borings routinely prevents hundreds of thousands in change orders, and it is still the thing owners economize on.
Read more →
The Water Table
Florida's water table is close to the surface, and on coastal sites it moves with the tide.
Read more →
Unsuitable Material
Organic soils, uncontrolled fill and material that will not support the works. It has to come out, and something has to go back in.
Read more →
Next step
Find out what is actually wrong with it.
An inspection, photographs of what we found, and a written scope. If the honest answer is that it can wait another season, that is the answer you will get.