Fort Lauderdale, Broward County
Demolition in Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale's demolition checklist asks for more than a permit form. It wants a dewatering affidavit, a hold harmless agreement, a gas disconnect letter and a water meter removal letter from the city. Romco is headquartered here, and we assemble that file before a machine is booked.
The housing stock runs from the early houses of Sailboat Bend, a designated historic district on the New River, to postwar ranch homes and the canal lots of the Las Olas Isles, where a back yard ends at a seawall. Inside Sailboat Bend, demolition needs a Certificate of Appropriateness. The city's historic preservation staff decide whether it can be approved administratively or must go to the Historic Preservation Board, and the Building Division reviews the permit only after that.
The checklist states plainly that a demolition permit is not a land-clearing permit. Trees that stay need a protection barricade, inspected before work starts, and trees that must come out to reach the work need their own sub-permit. Commercial and multifamily jobs add an erosion and sediment control plan and a staging plan that covers truck routes, dust, noise and crane locations.
What usually goes wrong here is order. The FPL letter arrives, the gas letter does not, and the application sits incomplete. We track each letter as its own line in the schedule and file when the set is whole.
The permit in Fort Lauderdale
City of Fort Lauderdale, Development Services Department, Building Division
Applications go through LauderBuild, the city's online permitting portal, and the Building Division's Demolition Permitting Checklist lists every letter, affidavit and survey it expects. Check that you are working from the current revision before filing.
Official sourceGeneral information, not legal advice. When Romco is hired, we pull the permit as the contractor of record. Broward permit basics
What we quote in Fort Lauderdale
Any type of demolition, including
- Interior demolitionStrip-outs for tenant spaces, condos and homes, with live systems protected.Interior demolition in Broward →
- Selective demolitionWalls, openings, additions and stairs removed from buildings that stay standing.Selective demolition in Broward →
- Commercial demolitionWhole retail, office, warehouse and strip-center buildings, quoted at any size.Commercial demolition in Broward →
- House demolitionFull teardowns and knockdown-rebuild lots, with disconnects and permits planned.House demolition in Broward →
- Structural demolitionConcrete and steel frames, slabs and columns, removed in an engineered, shored order.Structural demolition in Broward →
- Concrete and slab removalSlabs, driveways, patios and footings removed, with the ground below accounted for.Concrete and slab removal in Broward →
- Pool removalFull removal or partial fill-in, with what each leaves in the ground stated plainly.Pool removal in Broward →
- Mobile home demolitionMobile and manufactured homes taken down, frame and tie-downs out, lot left clean.Mobile home demolition in Broward →
- Storm damage demolitionStorm-damaged and unsafe structures, recorded for the insurer before anything moves.Storm damage demolition in Broward →
- Site clearingStructures, slabs, pavement and debris cleared, with locates and tree permits flagged.Site clearing in Broward →
- Asbestos survey and abatement coordinationAsbestos surveys and abatement by licensed firms, coordinated before demolition.Asbestos survey and abatement coordination in Broward →
- Garage, shed and carport demolitionGarages, sheds, carports and screen enclosures removed, slab and wiring included.Garage, shed and carport demolition in Broward →
- Something else?We quote any type of demolition, at any size. If yours is not listed, call and describe it.Call (954) 947-4881 →
How a job runs
Six steps, in this order
Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. The order below is the same for a shed and for a building.
Send the address and the scope
Call, or use the quote form with photos or drawings. Tell us what has to go and what has to stay.
We walk the site
We look at the structure, the utilities, access for equipment and trucks, and what sits next door.
Written scope and quote
The quote names what is removed, what is protected, what is hauled away, and what depends on survey results.
Surveys, permit and disconnects
Asbestos survey where required, utility disconnects, and the demolition permit from your city's building department.
Demolition and haul-off
Work follows the agreed sequence. Debris is hauled to permitted disposal facilities, with the load records kept.
Final inspection
The building department closes the permit. You get a clear site, or the shell you asked for.
Questions
Demolition in Fort Lauderdale
Does a house in Sailboat Bend need extra approval before demolition?
Yes. Sailboat Bend is a designated historic district, and demolition there needs a Certificate of Appropriateness before the building permit is reviewed. The city's historic preservation staff decide whether staff can approve it or the Historic Preservation Board must hear it. Confirm the current process with the city's Urban Design and Planning staff before you set a schedule.
What does a demolition cost?
Every job is quoted from a site visit, or from photos and drawings when that is enough to see the scope. The number depends on what the building is made of, its size and height, what the asbestos survey finds, which utilities must be disconnected, access for equipment, how close the neighbors are, what stays and what goes, and where the debris is hauled. We do not publish prices, because two jobs that look alike rarely are.
What happens with asbestos before demolition?
The building is surveyed first by an independent licensed consultant, because federal rules require a thorough asbestos inspection before a regulated demolition and the county's notice depends on it. If the survey finds asbestos that the work will disturb, a licensed abatement firm removes it. Romco coordinates both; we are not an abatement contractor.
How long does a demolition take?
We do not quote durations before the facts are in. The schedule depends on permit review in your city, how quickly the utility disconnect letters arrive, what the asbestos survey finds and any notice period that follows, association approvals, and the size and construction of the building. Once those are known, we give you a sequence with the dependencies named.
Other Broward cities: Hollywood · Pompano Beach · Coral Springs · Pembroke Pines · Plantation · Davie · Sunrise · Deerfield Beach · Miramar · Weston · Tamarac · Margate · Coconut Creek · Lauderhill · Oakland Park · Wilton Manors · Lauderdale-By-The-Sea · Hallandale Beach · Dania Beach · Lighthouse Point · Parkland
Any type, any size, anywhere in Broward County
Send the address and what has to go. We will price the work.
Romco Builders is a licensed Florida general contractor, headquartered in Fort Lauderdale. One interior wall or a whole building: every job gets a written scope and a quote.