09/22/2026
That “cheap dock guy” can cost you the dock, the boat, and the house.
Waterfront owners in Panama City, PCB, Lynn Haven, and Bay County: read this before you hire anyone for a dock, piles, boat lift, boathouse, or seawall.
Unlicensed marine work is not a bargain. The risk lands on you.
A dock is not a backyard deck. After a storm, an insurer, buyer, or FDEP will ask who built it and whether it was permitted. An unlicensed crew cannot legally pull the building permit here and often skips FDEP / submerged-lands approvals too. Then you own it:
• Job stopped, inspections refused
• Structure ordered removed — at your expense
• Insurance claim denied on unpermitted work
• Sale or refinance killed by the survey
• Injured worker with no workers’ comp — and you get pulled in
Florida’s Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund only helps if you hired a licensed contractor. Hire unlicensed and that safety net is gone.
Red flags: cash only, no license number on the bid, “we’ll pull the permit later,” a license that is expired or belongs to someone else, a COI they printed themselves.
Verify the license first (free):
https://www.myfloridalicense.com/
How-to: https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/how-to-verify-a-license/
Look for Current / Active, the right name, and a class that covers marine work. Then confirm they can pull permits in your city or unincorporated Bay County:
https://www.baycountyfl.gov/157
Check the company:
https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/ByName
Insurance:
Workers’ comp does have a public lookup:
https://dwcdataportal.fldfs.com/POCData.aspx
Search the company or FEIN. If they say they’re exempt, check the exemption search on that same site.
There is no statewide public lookup for general liability. Have the agent email the COI, then call the carrier and confirm the policy is active. Regular land GL often excludes work on the water. No COI, no start date.
Before any deposit: license number on the proposal → DBPR check → Sunbiz match → workers’ comp/exemption confirmed → GL verified by phone → who is pulling the permit and handling FDEP?
If they get mad when you check, you just dodged a six-figure problem.
Questions on a bid you already have? Send us the license number.
Four Sons Construction LLC
Panama City / Bay County
Docks • Piles • Boat lifts • Boathouses • Decking
