Seawall, dock and boat lift work in Pinellas County

One county authority for work in the water

Pinellas is unusual: the county's Water and Navigation section reviews docks and work in the water across the whole county, including inside the cities. Its review covers:

• new docks and boat lifts, and changes to existing docks
• seawalls, riprap and other shoreline stabilization
• dredging and work on submerged land

Inside a city, the county looks at navigation, environmental resources, the effect on the waterway and public safety. Your city handles its own approvals and building permits. Applications go through the Pinellas County Access Portal. The Pinellas permits page has the details.

Seawall heights

Unlike Broward County, Pinellas has no countywide minimum seawall height that we could find. The direction of travel is clear, though:

• St. Pete Beach published three template designs in 2026 that let homeowners raise seawalls to 5 ft NAVD with one permit instead of four.
• The city says most walls there sit at about 3.8–4 ft, and that king tides will reach the streets unless they're raised to 5 ft.

If you're rebuilding a wall anyway, ask your contractor to quote the existing and finished cap height in NAVD88.

After Helene and Milton

Hurricane Helene's surge in September 2024, followed by Milton two weeks later, damaged seawalls, docks and lifts along the barrier islands and the bay. Some repairs made in a hurry are now due for permanent work. If your wall was patched rather than rebuilt, it's worth an inspection. See seawall repair in Pinellas.

What we can help with

Cities we cover

• St. Petersburg
• Clearwater
• St. Pete Beach
• Treasure Island

We also pass on requests from Madeira Beach, Indian Rocks Beach, Tierra Verde, Seminole, Largo, Dunedin, Tarpon Springs and the rest of Pinellas County.

The contractors we work with

Before we pass a request to a contractor, we check three things:

• a current licence for marine work, either a Florida state licence or one from the Pinellas County Construction Licensing Board
• insurance
• a track record in public reviews

Each request goes to one contractor. Contractors pay us a fee for it, and homeowners pay nothing. How it works.