Question 1

What does the High Velocity Hurricane Zone actually require on a new build in Broward County?

Accepted Answer

Broward and Miami-Dade are the only two counties in Florida's High Velocity Hurricane Zone, and it is the strictest wind design and product-approval regime in the Florida Building Code. It governs windows, doors, shutters, roofing and other opening protection on new construction, not just replacement work. We don't have a citable dollar or percentage premium for building to HVHZ standard versus the rest of the state, so budget the product-approved materials and the design review as a real line item and get a current quote from your GC rather than relying on a statewide average. If your project also carries a fix and flip rehab scope alongside new construction, the same opening-protection rules apply to that work too.

Question 2

Does Florida's new $7,500 permit exemption help a Broward builder?

Accepted Answer

Not if your parcel touches a flood hazard area. HB 803, effective July 1, 2026, exempts work under $7,500 on a single-family dwelling from a building permit, but the enrolled text carves out "work on a property that is partially or entirely located in a flood hazard area as defined by the Florida Building Code," plus any electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical or gas work. We don't have a sourced figure for what share of Broward parcels sit inside a mapped flood hazard area, so don't assume the exemption applies until you've checked the specific parcel's flood zone with the local building department.

Question 3

How long does permit review take for a new build in Fort Lauderdale or elsewhere in Broward?

Accepted Answer

Florida sets a statutory backstop, not a courtesy target: 30 business days for a single-family permit under 7,500 sq ft, and 60 business days for a larger residential project or multifamily up to 50 units. The local government must give written notice of anything missing within 5 business days, and the permit fee drops 10% per business day of delay if the clock is blown. That's the statewide floor under Florida Statutes section 553.792. Fort Lauderdale permits run through the LauderBuild portal. No Broward jurisdiction publishes its own observed review times, so budget to the statutory clock and confirm the working timeline with the building department before you set a draw schedule.

Question 4

Is construction labor getting tighter or easier to find in Broward right now?

Accepted Answer

Construction employment in the Fort Lauderdale metro division has been flat to slightly down, not tightening further. Mining, logging and construction stood at 54,000 jobs in June 2026, down from 54,100 a year earlier and 55,300 two years earlier, while total nonfarm employment in the metro fell to 909,100. That's a real signal for anyone underwriting labor-driven cost overruns on a build schedule: the trade pool isn't shrinking fast, but it isn't expanding to meet new demand either, as of mid-2026.

Question 5

Should I factor flood risk into a new build even if the parcel isn't in a mapped high-risk zone?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Broward is exceptionally flat, low-lying and canal-drained, and county resilience planning explicitly models compound flooding from king tides, storm surge and heavy rainfall together, not just mapped riverine or coastal flood zones. Fort Lauderdale alone has installed roughly 200 tidal valves to stop seawater backing up through storm drains, and the county commission approved $20 million for canal repairs and drainage upgrades. We don't have a sourced figure for what share of Broward land sits inside a FEMA special flood hazard area, so don't assume a parcel is clear of flood risk just because it's outside the mapped zone; a flood determination is a financing question here, not only an insurance question, and it flows straight into your site work budget.

Question 6

Are impact fees or CDD assessments a factor when I underwrite a new build in Broward?

Accepted Answer

We don't have a citable impact fee schedule for Broward County or its municipalities to publish here. What's safe to say: Florida new construction carries impact fees on top of permit fees, and Broward is a largely built-out county with far less new master-planned Community Development District development than a corridor like Orlando's, so don't assume an Orlando-style CDD assessment story applies to a Broward parcel. Pull the current fee schedule from the specific city or county building department, and talk to your CPA about how impact fees factor into your cost basis, before you finalize a construction budget.

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