Dock permits: what drawings you actually need.
Before a dock gets built, the plan usually gets reviewed. This is a plain-English look at what a permit application asks for — who looks at it, the drawings almost every jurisdiction wants, and the numbers a reviewer checks — so your submission goes in complete the first time.
Why a permit wants drawings
A reviewer can’t stand on your shoreline with a tape measure. The drawings are how they confirm — on paper — that the dock fits the rules for that stretch of water: that it doesn’t cross a property line, reach too far into the channel, or sit where it shouldn’t. Hand over a clear, scaled set and the review moves quickly; send a freehand sketch and it comes back with questions.
The good news: the same drawing you’d make to estimate materials is most of what a permit office wants. This guide covers the paperwork side; for the finished output, see permit-ready dock plans.
What a complete dock permit drawing set looks like, view by view.
Who reviews a dock permit
Permitting a dock is rarely one office. Depending on the water, a complete application can cross several desks — and each can ask for its own copies, but they want the same core drawings:
- Local. Zoning, shoreline setbacks, and size or coverage limits — sometimes with an HOA or lake association layered on top.
- State. An environmental or natural-resources agency: wetlands, submerged lands, and riparian (waterfront) rights.
- Federal. On navigable waters of the U.S., the Army Corps of Engineers — Section 10 of the Rivers and Harbors Act, plus Section 404 if you place fill — often handled through a general or nationwide permit.
The drawings almost every application wants
A scaled plan-view exhibit: the dock footprint on an aerial site, with property lines extended into the water, the shoreline / ordinary high-water mark, side-yard setbacks, overall dimensions, a north arrow, and a scale bar.
Three views do most of the work in a dock packet:
- Vicinity / location map — where the site is — nearby roads and landmarks, usually as a small locator inset.
- Plan view (the site plan) — the bird’s-eye drawing: property lines, the shoreline or ordinary high-water mark, setbacks, the dock footprint with overall dimensions, a north arrow, and a stated scale.
- Cross-section / elevation — the side view: water depth, the bed profile, pilings or floats, and deck height (freeboard) — all tied to a datum.
A cross-section / elevation exhibit: the dock seen from the side over a sloping lakebed, showing water depth, pilings or floats, deck height above the waterline (freeboard), and high- and low-water reference lines labelled to a datum.
The numbers a reviewer checks
Most of the back-and-forth is about a handful of measurements. Put them where they’re easy to find on the drawings and you remove most of a reviewer’s reasons to write back:
- Setbacks from each side property line, extended out into the water.
- How far the dock extends from shore, and the navigation clearance left in the channel.
- Overall size — and, in many places, a square-footage or coverage limit.
- Water depth at the end, referenced to a datum (ordinary high-water mark, or high/low water).
These are exactly the marks you place while drawing — getting the basemap, shoreline, and lot lines right up front is half the battle. See site & aerial map for anchoring a project to its real location.
Produce the whole set without a CAD seat
You don’t need a separate drafting tool for any of this. Working from one model in Dock Builder, you:
- Anchor the project to its real location on an aerial basemap, so scale and bearing are correct.
- Draw the dock to scale and mark property lines, the shoreline, and setbacks right on the plan.
- Export a scaled PDF set — plan and section views, a title block with applicant and engineer info, and a take-off page — straight from that model.
Because the exhibits come from the same design that produced your materials and quote, there’s nothing to keep in sync — fix a dimension and the drawing, the take-off, and the quote all follow. The step-by-step is in PDF export & permit plans.
- A dock permit can pass local, state, and — on navigable water — federal Army Corps review; each wants the same core drawings.
- Almost every application needs a scaled plan view, a cross-section / elevation, and a vicinity map.
- Reviewers focus on setbacks, distance from shore, navigation clearance, size limits, and water depth tied to a datum.
- Requirements vary by jurisdiction — confirm the exact checklist locally before you submit.
- Dock Builder exports the whole scaled set from one model, no separate CAD tool required.
Keep going
What a dock costs to build
What a new dock actually costs — the type, materials, water, site, and region that move the number — with real per-square-foot and total ranges from the US to overseas.
Floating, fixed & hybrid docks
Which dock your water actually allows — the trade-offs between a fixed piling dock, a floating dock, and the hybrid that joins them with a hinged gangway — plus a decision matrix to choose.
What a boat lift costs
Boat lift prices by type and capacity — from PWC and cantilever lifts to hydraulic — plus how to size one to your boat, the saltwater premium, and the extras that add up.