Commercial Compliance Hub
Check requirements

Broward County

Broward County Planning and Development Management Division (Building Services and Zoning)

In short

Broward County Planning and Development Management Division (Building Services and Zoning) issues 2 permits we publish for Broward County, last verified 2026-09-28. Each carries the fee as the agency publishes it, with a link to the schedule it was read from.

What this agency issues

Permits required, with issuing agency, fee, renewal term and the date each record was last verified against its source
Certificate of Use (CU)Broward County Planning and Development Management Division (Building Services and Zoning)$265–$425 one-time, by business or use type, plus a separate non-refundable $15 processing chargeone-time, unless ownership, the occupant or the business name changes, which triggers a new CU2026-09-28
Unincorporated-Area Alcoholic Beverage Zoning Layer (separation distances)only if it applies to youBroward County Planning and Development Management Division (Building Services and Zoning)No feenot applicable - this is a zoning separation-distance standard enforced through the Certificate of Use process, not a license with its own term2026-09-28

Fees shown as a range or formula are set that way by the issuing agency — we do not average them into a single number.

About each permit

Certificate of Use (CU)

A Certificate of Use is required for any new tenant or change of occupancy in commercial, retail, office or industrial space in UNINCORPORATED Broward County before opening, and it certifies Florida Building Code, Broward Zoning Code and Fire Marshal compliance together in one review. This requirement applies only in the unincorporated area — every incorporated Broward city runs its own certificate-of-occupancy or zoning-compliance process instead, and a CU is neither required nor available inside a municipality. The fee runs $265 to $425 depending on the business or use type, plus a separately charged $15 non-refundable processing fee; a second independent search pass cross-confirmed these figures against the county's own fee-schedule and application listings, raising confidence in them. The CU is one-time once issued, but a change of ownership, occupant or business name triggers a brand-new CU and a new fee. Holding a Local Business Tax Receipt does not substitute for a Certificate of Use, and the two are checked separately.

Unincorporated-Area Alcoholic Beverage Zoning Layer (separation distances)

No separate fee applies to this zoning layer; compliance is checked as part of the Certificate of Use process, whose own fee is recorded as a separate requirement. An establishment selling or dispensing alcohol, or allowing on-premises consumption, in UNINCORPORATED Broward must sit at least 500 lineal feet from another alcoholic beverage establishment and at least 1,000 lineal feet from any educational center, place of worship or child care center, under §39-196, on top of the state ABT license required under Fla. Stat. Ch. 561/562. Distance is measured as a straight line between the nearest building points and must be certified by a Florida-registered surveyor; exceptions exist for hotels, motels, resorts and convention centers, and for permitted outdoor events, and §39-197 grandfathers an existing establishment if a school, church or child care center later locates within 1,000 feet of it. Do not confuse this with Broward's separate Adult Entertainment Code distance rules (Ch. 20, Art. XVI), a different ordinance that happens to use similar-sounding numbers. This layer applies only in unincorporated Broward; each incorporated city sets its own alcohol-zoning rules, or none, instead. Separately, Broward County Code §3-1 sets hours of sale for establishments outside incorporated municipalities at roughly 8 a.m. to 2 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and noon to 3 a.m. on Sundays.

Contact

Jurisdiction
Broward County
Phone
Not verified — use the website

Contact details are taken from the agency’s own site or its published fee schedule. Where we have not verified a phone number we leave it blank rather than guess.

Sources

Every fee and term above was read from one of these government pages on the date shown.

  1. Broward County Code §3-1 — Hours of Sale (unincorporated area)Broward County (elaws mirror) · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
  2. Broward County Code of OrdinancesMunicode / Broward County · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28
  3. Certificate of Use FAQsBroward County Planning and Development Management Division · primary source · retrieved 2026-09-28

Other offices serving Broward County

The full permit list for this jurisdiction

Industry permit lists that include this agency

Florida jurisdictions

Commercial Compliance Hub publishes information, not legal advice. Requirements change — confirm anything you rely on with the issuing agency before you file.