TDS Contractors has been building condo remodels in Highland Beach since 1999. We're 6 miles south down A1A, so our trucks know the barrier-island traffic, the seasonal patterns, and the town's exceptional construction-rule regime. Highland Beach is roughly 1.3 square miles of oceanfront and intracoastal where condominiums are the dominant housing type — Toscana, Highland Beach Club, Boca Highlands, 45 Ocean, Parker Highland, Regency Highland. Almost every project here runs through a condo board first and the Town's Chapter 12 Construction Sites ordinance second.
Highland Beach is a narrow, 1.3-square-mile barrier island. Because the housing stock is overwhelmingly high-rise condominiums, the town's permit process is highly regulated. The Building Department at 3616 S. Ocean Blvd forces every permit through a rigorous multi-agency review (planning, zoning, engineering, fire, environmental, FL DOH). The system is 100% digital—they haven't touched paper applications since 2019.
The Chapter 12 Construction Sites ordinance enforces the strictest work-hour regime in Palm Beach County. Active construction is locked to 8am–6pm Monday through Friday. Saturday work is heavily restricted (and frequently revised by the Town Council), so we clear Saturday schedules directly with the Building Department before assuming we can work. Sundays and holidays are strictly prohibited. The town expressly bans construction music, forces all contractor vehicles to park on-site (or at police-approved off-site lots), and requires a damage bond for any project over $10,000.
Your biggest hurdle is the Coastal Construction Control Line (CCCL). Most oceanfront parcels east of A1A sit seaward of the CCCL, triggering a separate Florida DEP state permit for any structural work alongside your town permits. Because these are VE flood zones, structural members must sit above Base Flood Elevation. We navigate the state CCCL package, the local municipal permit, and your specific condo board's architectural review process simultaneously.
Highland Beach is essentially a condo remodel market — the single-family segment is tiny. Our condo remodeling discipline is the relevant one for most Highland Beach projects; the notes below describe the A1A-specific wrinkles per service.
The main event. Alteration agreement, COI with tower board as AI, freight-elevator reservation, 8am–6pm Monday–Friday work window with the Town's restricted Saturday rule confirmed before each schedule, IIC-50 sound-compliant floors, pre-hurricane closeout. Every Highland Beach tower has its own written rules layered on top of Town Ch. 12; we file per-building.
Within the existing condo plumbing stack. Compressed work-hour window means typical 10-week kitchen runs 12–14 weeks. We plan long-lead orders at board approval so material clock runs parallel to pre-construction.
Schluter or Laticrete waterproofing; 24-hour flood test. Stack constraints lock the footprint. For VE-zone buildings, any structural mods require lowest-horizontal-member elevation verification.
Multi-trade whole-unit gut under one project agreement. Work-hour constraints extend the build — a typical 14-week Boca gut runs 18–22 weeks here. Seasonal residents often schedule the build during the months they're out of state.
True SFR additions are rare in Highland Beach — most lots are already built-out against CCCL. What's common instead is balcony, lanai, and terrace work on condo units: hurricane-shutter retrofits, screen-to-conditioned-space conversions on enclosed balconies, glazing upgrades to impact-rated systems. These are handled as condo alterations under the building's board rules and common-element governance, not as traditional additions — but they shift square footage and use, so we still file under the Town's permit process. SFR additions, when feasible, run a multi-month state-level CCCL process alongside town permits.
Highland Beach is small but its permit process is uncommonly serious. Every line below is a fact we verify on Highland Beach projects as our standard practice — typically before scope commit.
| Topic | Town of Highland Beach |
|---|---|
| Building department | Town of Highland Beach Building Department3616 S. Ocean Blvd. · 561-278-4540 · alt 561-278-2606 (highlandbeach.us/211) |
| Permit portal | 100% digitalmgoconnect.org/cp?JID=462 · no paper since Jan 2019 |
| Permit application | PBC UniversalJan 2024 edition |
| Residential permit turnaround | 4–8+ weeksMulti-agency review · CCCL adds months |
| County | Palm BeachState of Florida |
| Distance from our office | ~6 miles10–15 min via A1A; longer in season |
| Housing profile | Dominantly condoOverwhelmingly condominium in a ~1.3 sq mi barrier-island town · CBS + poured-concrete high-rise |
| HOA / condo governance | Near-universalAlmost every unit sits under a condo association with ARB |
| Work hours (§12-6) | 8a–6p M–FSat restricted · No Sun/holidays · No music (library.municode.com/fl/highland_beach) |
| Parking / vehicles | On-site or approved altBuilding + Police approval required |
| Damage bond | >$10K projectsUnder construction management plan |
| Flood zones | VE (ocean) / AE (rest)Effectively zero Zone X · Dec 2024 FIRM active (FEMA MSC) |
| CCCL (FDEP) | East of A1ASeparate state permit for structural / additions / excavation (floridadep.gov/CCCL) |
Highland Beach is a condo market — these are the kinds of towers where we work. Each building has its own ARB, COI, elevator, and work-hour specifics on top of the Town's Chapter 12 rules. If you're in one of these or a similar oceanfront/intracoastal tower, the process is familiar.
Three towers, 423 residences, 16–18 floors, intracoastal side with a private beach club across A1A. Price range $500K–$4M+. Full-service building with rigorous ARB process and freight-elevator controls. Large remodel volume in this community; we keep a current file.
200 residences on 12 oceanfront acres; built 1997. VE flood zone, CCCL applicable to much of the envelope. Condo association with structured ARB calendar; we schedule material deliveries around tower-wide move-in/move-out calendars.
Waterfront condo and marina community at the Boca Raton / Highland Beach border. Intracoastal exposure. Mix of condo and boat-slip-adjacent remodels; marina-side work sometimes triggers additional FDEP Environmental Resource permits.
Boutique luxury oceanfront condominium with a small number of high-end residences. CCCL applicable; VE flood zone. Smaller building footprint typically means tighter freight-elevator scheduling and more intensive neighbor-coordination during demo.
Mid-rise oceanfront building with established condo association. Typical mid-rise logistics — fewer elevators, more concentrated work-window demand, rigorous ARB on exterior changes (which are rare but tracked).
Established oceanfront condo building with an active board. Unit age mixes original finishes with a long history of unit-level remodels — sound-transmission compliance (IIC 50) is actively enforced on floor changes.