Permit plan · Dock, pier, lift or boathouse

Your permit plan: Dock, pier, lift or boathouse

Based on your answers. Cards are in the order you'll usually need them. Checked Oct 4, 2026.

Your answers (change any of them)

Who owns the water and the lakebed? A state park or Fish and Boat Commission lake · change
What are you doing? Repairing or replacing an existing dock, about the same size · change

State

Chapter 105: your project is a water obstruction

DEP, or your county conservation district if it has Chapter 105 delegation

Under Pennsylvania's Chapter 105 rules, a "body of water" includes any natural or artificial lake or pond, and a "water obstruction" includes a pier, wharf, wall, fill or other structure in, along, across or projecting into it. For ponds and lakes, a structure counts if, at normal pool level, it is in the water or touching the water's edge. The rules cover temporary structures as well as permanent ones. DEP says any change to a pond's cross-section that is not maintenance, such as a new dock, pier or island or making the pond bigger, needs a water obstruction and encroachment permit.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: 25 Pa. Code § 105.1, Definitions This may be outdated

State

General Permit 11 (GP-11): repair or replace an existing structure

DEP or your delegated county conservation district

Form: GP-11, 3150-PM-BWEW0511

Fee: $750

General Permit 11 (GP-11) covers maintenance, testing, repair, rehabilitation or replacement of existing, currently serviceable water obstructions and encroachments, allowing only minor changes with minimal environmental impact. The registration fee in the regulation is $750 plus disturbance review fees where they apply.

What to have ready

Photos of the existing structure as it is today.
What will change (materials, size, footprint), even if minor.

DEP: Chapter 105 General Permits

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Chapter 105 General Permits; fees from 25 Pa. Code § 105.13(c)(2) This may be outdated

Also check

Local

Also check with your municipality

Your township, borough or city (and county)

Ask about zoning, building and floodplain permits. Your county, township or municipal government may have its own rules, codes or permits for pond construction or maintenance, so check with every level of local government before you start, especially for a new pond.

Checked Oct 4, 2026 · Source: Pond Agencies and Permits in Pennsylvania: Local Government (updated May 19, 2025) This may be outdated

Owner

Public lake: the managing agency first

The agency that manages the lake (state park or PFBC)

Talk to the managing agency first; a DEP permit alone isn't enough. A state permit doesn't give you the right to build on public land or water.

A summary, not legal or engineering advice. The regulation, the permit documents and the product label control. Confirm with the agency before you start.

Pros for this work

Optional. We use it only to show pros who serve your area. It isn't saved with your plan.

Get this plan as a PDF, $9

Your cards plus a timeline counted back from your start date, a document checklist for each permit, a call list with links, questions to ask contractors and a tracker. Delivered instantly.

This is not a permit or an application. We don't file anything for you. Agency fees are paid only to the agency.

Pond & Shore PA plan · lakepennsylvania.us/plan/20m0 · Checked Oct 4, 2026

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