How We Rank Marine Contractors
Read the rankings as a record of local permit activity. The November 2025 through October 2026 collection tracks 2,540 Cape Coral and Lee County permits plus 784 City of Marco Island permits, with 193 contractor names and 44 contractor profiles. Use the counts and job mix to choose who to call, then check the license and compare quotes. A permit count tells you who is active, not how well a dock was built.
The short version
- Rankings count local dock, lift and seawall permit activity; they do not score workmanship, service or customer satisfaction.
- Read the area note: some town rankings use ZIP codes, while others use county or nearby regional records.
- Declared permit values describe the filed work; only the contractor who sees your shoreline can price your project.
The public records and collection window
The main sources are City of Cape Coral Marine Improvement permits, Lee County Dock and Shoreline permits and City of Marco Island Dock / Lift and Seawall permits. The collection includes 1,904 Cape Coral permits, 636 Lee County permits and 784 Marco Island permits. City of North Port Residential Marine records are included where present.
Keep reading
For Cape Coral, the window uses permits issued from November 2025 through October 2026. For Lee County, it uses permits filed during that window. Marco Island uses issued permits, or filed permits where they have not been issued yet, during the same window. The data is refreshed monthly. Issued and filed describe different steps, so a count from one office should be read with its source and date. These counts do not list every construction job finished during those months.
Cape Coral's public EnerGov search shows the description, declared value, status, inspections and Building Contractor. Lee County's Accela search shows the description, status, job value and licensed professional with a state license number. Marco Island's Dock / Lift and Seawall records are also in EnerGov. You can use the public searches to read a record behind a listing. Cape Coral also lets you search by address without a login.
How a permit becomes a contractor entry
We use the Building Contractor field in Cape Coral, the licensed professional field in Lee County and the contractor named on the Marco Island permit. Name variants and DBA names belonging to the same company are grouped. Owner-builder permits are left out of the contractor ranking.
Keep reading
Each permit is sorted from its description into dock with lift, dock, seawall, boat lift, lift cover or canopy, seawall alternative on new-home lots, or other marine work. These categories let you compare the work behind a total. A company with many canopy permits has a different recorded job mix from one whose permits mainly describe seawall replacements.
Read the mix alongside your own scope. If you need a dock and lift together, look for that combined category as well as the total. If your work is a seawall repair, ask about repair work rather than relying on a broad marine count. The description is the source for the category; it is not a separate inspection of the finished structure.
What determines the order
The order follows dock, lift and seawall permits in the ranking area. Lift covers and seawall alternatives count toward the permit total but rank lower. Ties go to the larger permit count. The order describes recorded local activity.
Keep reading
Honc Docks & Lifts has 302 permits in the regional records, including 130 dock-and-lift permits. WB Williamson Bros has 294 permits, including 93 seawall permits. Those figures show volume and job mix. They do not establish which company will suit your shoreline, schedule or written scope. Check the license and compare quotes before you make that decision.
A place near the start of the table is a reason to read the underlying categories, not a substitute for your own checks. Ask each contractor to quote the same work, including removal of the old structure and the proposed materials. Keep the comparison tied to your canal access, pilings, decking, lift equipment or seawall, rather than treating the rank as a workmanship score.
How a town gets its ranking area
Cape Coral and Marco Island use their own city permits. Lee County towns use permits matched to their ZIP codes when there are at least 10 records; otherwise they use the county. Towns whose permits we have not collected use Cape Coral and Lee County records.
Keep reading
The town label tells you where you are looking for help, while the source note tells you where the counted work was recorded. Read both. A county ranking covers more ground than an individual canal neighborhood. A regional ranking can show nearby activity without showing a company's own permit count inside the town named at the top of the page.
The collection does not yet include City of Fort Myers, Bonita Springs, Estero, Charlotte County, Punta Gorda, Collier County, Naples, Sarasota County and Venice permit records. Their pages use the nearest records we track, Cape Coral and Lee County. Ask the contractor about work near your property; the regional count alone cannot answer that local question.
Reading declared values and completion status
A permit value is the amount declared when the permit was filed, not a final invoice. The median is the middle declared value. The middle half runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, showing the spread around that median.
Keep reading
The value calculation keeps declared amounts from $500 to $1.5 million. For example, the Cape Coral dock-and-lift median declared permit value is $47,959. That describes a group of filed projects. It is not a quote for your home. Dock size, decking, pilings, lift capacity, removal work and access change the scope that a contractor must inspect and price.
Finaled means a permit passed final inspection in Cape Coral or closed with a certificate of completion in Lee County. The records show 1,348 finaled Cape Coral permits and 312 in Lee County. A finaled share reports recorded status, not customer satisfaction. For your job, get the permit number and check that the permit shows the final before the last payment.
Limits to keep beside the numbers
A permit can be filed and later withdrawn or expire. Values are filed estimates, and coverage does not yet include every nearby office. Counts measure activity within the collected records, so they cannot settle questions about workmanship or service.
Keep reading
Read a contractor's status figures with the collection window in mind. A permit without a recorded final is a status to check, not proof of a bad job. Open the public record when a specific project matters to your decision. Its description, status and available inspection information give you a firmer basis for a question than a ranking position alone.
Check a Florida contractor license at myfloridalicense.com. Where a license number appears on Lee County permits, it identifies the number shown in those records. It does not replace your current license check. Keep written quotes on the same scope, ask who will handle the permit, and agree on payment terms that let you verify the final before the last payment.
Contact options and record corrections
Rankings are never paid. Contractors in our network pay a fee when a referred job passes final inspection. Partners get call and quote buttons. Those contact options are separate from the permit counts and the order of the table.
Keep reading
Use the quote form to pick up to 3 contractors and they will contact you to look at the job. The contractor you hire handles the contract, price, permit and construction work. Bring the same description to each conversation so the quotes address the same dock, lift or seawall scope. Contact buttons help start that exchange; the records help you decide whom to approach.
Readers and contractors can send corrections through the contact page. Identify the page, contractor and permit detail that needs attention. A specific permit number or name variation makes the issue clear. Use the public record as the reference when describing a status, description or identity question, and keep your own project decisions tied to current records and the contractor's written proposal.
Common questions
Does a larger permit count mean better work?
No. It means more recorded activity in the ranking area and window. Read the job mix to see whether that activity matches your project. Then check the license and compare written quotes on the same scope. Permit totals do not measure workmanship, service or customer satisfaction.
Why does my town show records from somewhere else?
Some town permit collections are not in the data yet. Those pages show Cape Coral and Lee County, the nearest records we track. Lee County towns also use the county ranking when their ZIP codes have fewer than 10 records. The area note explains which geography the count covers.
Can I use a median permit value as my project price?
No. The median comes from values declared on permits when filed, rather than final invoices. It describes the collected projects. Your dock dimensions, lift equipment, seawall scope, demolition and shoreline access need a site visit. The contractor who sees the property provides the price for that work.
How can I check a permit behind a listing?
Use Cape Coral's public EnerGov search for Marine Improvement records, Lee County's Accela search for Dock and Shoreline records or Marco Island's public EnerGov search for Dock / Lift and Seawall records. Read the description, contractor field and status. For a Cape Coral property, you can search by address without a login. Send record corrections through the site's contact page.
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