Short answer: a genuine like-for-like repair usually falls under an exemption at the state level, but that does not mean nobody needs to know about it. Change the size, the footprint or the location and you are in a different process entirely.
Here is how it breaks down. Confirm the specifics with St. Johns County before work starts, because local rules sit on top of state ones and they do change.
Who Has a Say
Dock work in St. Johns County can involve up to four separate authorities:
- St. Johns County for building permits, setbacks and local land development rules
- Florida Department of Environmental Protection for environmental resource permitting and, where the water is state owned, for use of sovereign submerged lands
- St. Johns River Water Management District depending on the location and scope
- US Army Corps of Engineers for federal authorization in navigable waters
A homeowner association or a deed restriction can add a fifth. Those are private, but they can stop a project just as effectively.
The Repair Exemption
Florida law provides an exemption for repairing and replacing existing docks and piers. The conditions are specific and worth reading carefully, because they are where most people get caught.
Under section 403.813(1)(d) of the Florida Statutes, the exemption covers replacement or repair of an existing dock or pier as long as:
- No fill material is used
- The replaced or repaired structure is within five feet of the same location
- It is no larger in size than the existing dock or pier
The statute does allow different construction materials and minor deviations to bring a structure up to current structural and design standards. So swapping wood decking for composite on the same footprint is generally fine. Adding four feet of width is not.
Where a New Dock Sits
If you are building rather than repairing, the relevant exemption is section 403.813(1)(b), which covers private docks of:
- 1,000 square feet or less of over-water surface area in most waters
- 500 square feet or less in Outstanding Florida Waters
with conditions attached, including that the structure is on pilings or floating without fill, that it is used for recreational noncommercial mooring or storage of boats, and that it is the sole dock built under that exemption within 65 feet measured along the shoreline.
Parts of St. Johns County sit in or near Outstanding Florida Waters, which is why the smaller threshold matters here more than it does in some other counties.
The Repairs That Quietly Become New Construction
This is the trap. Each of these turns an exempt repair into something that needs authorization:
- Making the dock longer to reach deeper water
- Widening the deck or adding a platform
- Adding a boat lift where there was not one
- Moving the structure more than five feet from where it was
- Adding a roof or covered area
- Rebuilding a dock that has been gone long enough that the county no longer treats it as existing
That last one catches people after storms. A dock that was destroyed and left for a few years may not qualify as an existing structure anymore.
Questions Homeowners Ask
Does an exemption mean I do not have to tell anyone?
Not necessarily. A state level exemption from environmental resource permitting is separate from a county building permit, and separate again from federal authorization. Check all of them.
What happens if work is done without the right approval?
It ranges from having to apply after the fact to having to remove the work. It also tends to surface at the worst possible moment, which is during a property sale.
Who normally handles the paperwork?
On our jobs we handle it as part of the project rather than leaving a homeowner to work out which of four agencies wants what.
Before You Start
If the plan is genuinely to put back what was there, you are probably in exemption territory. If any part of it is an improvement on what was there, treat it as a permitted project from day one. Finding out halfway through is the expensive version.
We do dock repair in St. Augustine and across St. Johns County, and we handle permitting on new dock construction as part of the build. Our full coverage map is on the service areas page.
