A Broward County demolition permit is pulled by your general contractor or by you as the property owner, through the city or county office that covers your address. If you are planning a bathroom gut, a kitchen tear-out or a shed teardown, the paperwork question usually comes before anything else.
Rapid Haul is based in Hollywood and does most of its work in Broward. We do the tear-out and haul-away, and we do not pull permits. This guide shows you where to apply, who can sign, what Broward checklists actually ask for, and what to sort out before a crew shows up.
01Who pulls a Broward County demolition permit?
A Broward County demolition permit is pulled by the general contractor running the project or by the property owner acting as an owner-builder. On a remodel with a GC, the GC pulls one permit for the whole job, tear-out included, and schedules the inspections. Rapid Haul then comes in to tear out, load and haul on the GC's schedule.
If there is no GC, Florida's owner-builder exemption in section 489.103, Florida Statutes, lets owners improve a one- or two-family home for their own use. The owner must personally appear and sign the permit application, sign a disclosure statement, and directly supervise the work. Selling or leasing within one year of completion creates a presumption that the work was done for sale. Rapid Haul is never the permit holder.
02Which building department handles my address in Broward?
Your city's building department handles your address if you live inside a city, and Broward County's office handles the rest. The county's Building Code Division says it provides permitting for the Broward Municipal Services District (unincorporated Broward) and for cities it contracts with.
To confirm which applies, look up the address on the Property Appraiser site or check your tax bill. Davie's demolition checklist even asks applicants to include the property search and ownership record from that site. Cities such as Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood and Davie publish their own permit forms and checklists for addresses inside their limits, while a city that contracts with the county sends you to the county. Either way, call the permit desk for your address. They are the source of truth, not a hauler.
Do this before you collect any paperwork. Checklists differ from one city to the next, and forms filled out for the wrong office have to be redone.
03What does a Broward County demolition permit checklist ask for?
A Broward County demolition permit checklist usually asks for a survey, utility disconnect letters and an asbestos statement, plus a few city-specific forms. Fort Lauderdale's demolition checklist and the Town of Davie's demolition checklist both include items like these:
- Broward County's Statement of Responsibilities Regarding Asbestos (Fort Lauderdale) or asbestos notification to Broward County (Davie)
- A current or signed and sealed survey showing what will be demolished
- Disconnect letters from the utilities serving the property for a complete demolition, including FPL in Fort Lauderdale
- A sewer cap or septic abandonment permit, and a letter on refrigerant or Freon removal from A/C units
- A Notice of Commencement when the job is over $5,000 (Fort Lauderdale says when demolition cost is more than $5,000; Davie says when the job exceeds $5,000)
- An Owner Builder Disclosure Statement if the owner applies (Davie)
04Does a kitchen or bathroom tear-out need its own Broward County demolition permit?
A kitchen or bathroom tear-out in Broward does not always need its own Broward County demolition permit; it may fall under the remodel permit, and your city decides. Hollywood's permit forms page lists separate checklists for a Kitchen Remodel, a Bathroom Remodel, a Shed and a Demolition, plus an Owner-Builder Disclosure Statement and asbestos certificate information. That tells you each job type has its own path, so ask which one your project falls under.
Asbestos paperwork goes through the county. Broward's Air Program says all Statements of Responsibilities Regarding Asbestos are processed online only through ePermits.broward.org. Whoever holds the permit handles that filing, not the tear-out crew.
The same goes for decks, sheds and pool decks outside the house. Bring photos and the rough size of what is coming out when you ask, because the answer often depends on what the structure is and how it is attached.
05Who can haul the debris, and other things to settle first
Some Broward cities limit who may haul construction and demolition debris. Pembroke Pines says on its sanitation FAQ that it has an exclusive franchise with Waste Pro for all construction and demolition debris, that residents and businesses may not contract with any other hauler for it, and that owners who use their own vehicles or roll-off containers may use those instead. Ask your city who may haul before you hire anyone, us included.
Then line up the rest before tear-out day:
- The permit status settled, and the permit card posted where the inspector can see it
- Utilities to the work area shut off or capped by the right trade
- Condo or HOA approval in writing, with their work hours and any proof of insurance they need (Rapid Haul carries $1M general liability with NEXT Insurance)
- A clear list of what comes out and what stays
06Where to start, and where Rapid Haul fits in
Start with the property search, then call the building department it points to and settle who holds the permit. Ask for the checklist that matches your job before anyone books a crew.
Once the paperwork is sorted, Rapid Haul does the non-structural tear-out and the haul: kitchens, bathrooms, flooring, non-structural walls, decks, sheds, fences, hot tubs, pool decks and concrete. We do not remove walls or framing that carry the building, and we haul roofing debris only. Room demo starts at $750, deck demo at $550 and shed removal at $350, each one flat, all-in price including disposal. Jobs of $1,000 and over take a 50% deposit. See how interior demolition works, check the cities we cover in Broward County, or text Dany at (754) 249-1015. Ready to book? Start with our demolition service.
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