Fort Lauderdale, FL Environmental Rules: Flood Zones (2026)

Chapter 14, the city's Floodplain Management Ordinance, applies to the subdivision of land, filling and grading, utility work, construction or alteration of buildings and structures exempt from the Florida Building Code, manufactured homes, tanks, recreational vehicles, swimming pools and any other development inside a flood hazard area. Sec. 14-3(c) sets the mapping basis: the Flood Insurance Study for Broward County dated August 18, 2014, plus its Flood Insurance Rate Maps, both kept on file at the Development Services Department, 700 NW 19th Avenue. Sec. 14-3(d) lets the floodplain administrator require surveyed topography where ground appears to sit below the closest base flood elevation even outside a mapped special flood hazard area, in which case the site is still regulated as a flood hazard area; ground surveyed above the base flood elevation can only be excused through a formal letter of map change.

Sec. 14-5 requires an applicant proposing regulated development to file with the floodplain administrator and obtain a floodplain development permit, in addition to any building permit, before starting work; the application must include a site plan, a statement of the work's valuation, and, for certain below-grade enclosures, a recorded non-conversion declaration. A permit becomes invalid if work does not start within 180 days of issuance or is suspended for 180 days, though 180-day extensions can be requested in writing for justifiable cause, and the administrator can suspend or revoke a permit issued on incorrect information.