Emergency Tree Removal in Broward: Make-Safe vs a Permit vs the Statute

When a squall or a named storm rolls through Broward, the same sentence hits every crew: “I need this tree gone.” That sentence covers three different jobs. Mixing them up is how people get a citation, an insurance denial, or a climber in a stem that should have been a crane pick.

This is the after-the-storm decision page for emergency tree removal in Broward, not a city-by-city fee table (that lives on the tree removal permit guide) and not the service page for fallen-tree cleanup (that’s storm & emergency tree service). Call (954) 754-6673. Open daily 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM. Storm calls get priority scheduling, not a 24/7 promise.

Three forks, one phone call. Make the tree safe. Take the rest of it down under a city permit. Or show up with a signed F.S. 163.045 assessment. They are not interchangeable, and only the first one usually happens the night of the storm.

What is an emergency make-safe versus a permitted tree removal in Broward?

Make-safe is the work that gets people and the house out of the failure zone. Cut the limb off the roof. Drop the hung-up leader that’s over the only driveway. Clear the sidewalk so you can leave. The stump can wait. The rest of a still-standing trunk may wait. The city still exists in the morning.

A permitted removal is the full takedown of a tree, or of what’s left of it, when your city or the county wants a piece of paper first. Most standing trees in Broward yards still need that paper. Make-safe does not secretly convert into “we already took it down, so the permit is optional.” Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, and Fort Lauderdale all say the application is not permission to cut. Fees, replacements, and how you file sit with the city; we flag that on the estimate and point you at the permit guide rather than reprinting it here.

After a named storm, some cities open a debris or emergency window. That window is whatever the city posts that week. It is not a standing county waiver, and it is not F.S. 163.045. We will not invent a skip that is not on the city’s page.

On a typical Broward job the order is: make the load safe, photograph the damage, then treat the remainder as a tree removal with the usual permit check. Haul-off of what we cut is in the quote. Stump grinding is a separate line if you want the stump gone too, not required the night the tree is on the house.

Does Florida Statute 163.045 let me skip the permit after a storm?

No. Storm damage is not an automatic skip. Florida Statute 163.045 (2024) limits when a local government may require a notice, application, approval, permit, fee, or mitigation for pruning, trimming, or removing a tree on residential property.

As the statute is written, that path is narrow:

• Residential property means a single-family, detached building on a lot actively used for single-family residential purposes.
• A local government may not require that permit/fee/mitigation package if the owner already possesses documentation from an International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) certified arborist or a Florida-licensed landscape architect that the tree poses an unacceptable risk to persons or property.
• Documentation means a signed onsite assessment performed to Best Management Practices, Tree Risk Assessment, Second Edition (2017).
• Unacceptable risk means removal is the only practical way to get the risk below moderate, using those same procedures.
• Mangroves are a different statute (ss. 403.9321–403.9333). 163.045 does not cover them.

That is the statute, not a skip-the-counter card. Cities can still ask to see the paperwork. Without that signed onsite assessment, assume the ordinary city permit still applies. A tree that dropped one limb and is otherwise sound is often make-safe plus a permit, not a statute skip. A healthy oak you are tired of is never 163.045.

Broward Tree Services does not claim ISA certification or a landscape-architect license. We do not write 163.045 letters. If you already have that assessment from someone who does, bring it. If you don’t, we flag the ordinary permit path. We do not give legal opinions on 163.045. City contacts, published fees, and the longer statute walkthrough are on the Broward tree-removal permit page.

Is a dead or hazardous tree the same as “I just want it gone”?

No. Those are different jobs, and they do not share a queue.

Hazard / make-safe, the tree or a large leader is loading a house, garage, car, pool cage, or fence; the trunk is split; the root plate heaved and the stem is still hanging; a widow-maker is hung up over a walkway, driveway, or bedroom roof; the tree is blocking the only way off the lot. That is emergency tree removal in Broward as we mean it: get the load off people and the structure, then talk about the rest.

Dead or clearly failing, but not in the act of failing onto something. Often still a permitted removal. Dead is usually easier for a city to approve than a healthy shade tree. It is not, by itself, a 163.045 skip, and it is not a reason to fire up a chainsaw at 10 p.m. unless it is loading a structure.

“I just want it gone.” Leaf drop. Shade on the pool. HOA aesthetics. A tree that survived the storm looking messy. A healthy ficus that’s too close to the cage. That is a scheduled removal with the usual permit check. It does not jump the storm list. We will tell you that on the phone rather than burn a make-safe slot on a tree that can wait until Thursday.

Insurance follows the same split. A tree that hit a structure is often a claim; we can photograph the tree and the damage before we start. Taking a healthy tree you do not want is usually on you. For what a typical Broward takedown costs once the hazard is clear, see tree removal cost in Broward County. Storm and emergency work is priced on site by the hazard, not from a phone photo.

Crane or climbing, which fits a tight Broward lot after a storm?

Most Broward yards cannot drop a tree. Canal lots, zero-lot-line, pool cages, tile roofs, neighboring houses three feet off the drip line. Access, not species, decides the method.

Climbing and rigging when the tree is still structurally climbable. Pieces come down on ropes over the cage or the roof. Smaller footprint. Needs a stem you can trust with a climber’s weight. This is still the right call on a lot of canal and HOA lots if the canopy failed but the trunk did not.

Crane when the tree is too damaged to climb (split stem, hung-up leader, failed root plate), too large, or the only safe path is to pick sections over the house from the street or a neighbor’s drive. A crane needs a set-up pad. HOA gates, parked cars, low service lines, and wet soil after rain all kill a crane plan. Tell us those things before we roll.

Storm-failed trees are often the crane case because nobody should climb a compromised stem. We decide on site from access, lean, and whether anyone should be in that canopy. If the crane cannot set, the job waits or we piece what is still safe from the ground or a bucket, we will not put a climber in a tree that is coming apart.

What should I do before the emergency tree crew arrives?

1. Stay out from under hung-up wood. Do not chainsaw a tree off the roof. Do not pull on a hung-up leader with a truck strap.
2. If lines are down or you smell gas, call 911 and the utility (FPL for electric). We do not handle live wires.
3. Photograph the tree and the damage before anyone moves it. Wide shots and close-ups. That file is for your insurer, not for us to keep.
4. Move cars if it is safe. Unlock the gate. Bring pets in. Clear a pad for a chipper or a crane if you have one.
5. Tell us the constraints: pool cage, septic, neighbor fence, HOA gate code, whether anyone is still in the house, and whether the stem is split or still standing.
6. Do not pile brush in the street if the city has a posted debris route, ask first. Don’t block hydrants or the neighbor’s driveway.
7. Call (954) 754-6673. Open daily 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM. Storm calls go to the front of that day. We are not 24/7.

If the tree is still standing and hurricane season is the worry rather than a tree already on the house, that’s a different job: hurricane tree prep, not emergency removal.

How fast can you get here for emergency tree removal in Broward?

Priority, not magic. After a named storm every crew in the county is booked. We give a realistic window, not a fantasy ETA. Make-safe first; the remainder is a different ticket and may wait on a permit. We are open daily 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM. Storm and emergency calls go to the front of the list inside those hours.

A price is not firm until we have seen the tree, the access, and whether the job is make-safe, a permitted removal, or both. Photos help us roll with the right gear. They never replace the on-site look.

What will Broward Tree Services do, and refuse, after a storm?

We come look, tell you which of the three jobs you actually have, and hand you a firm, itemized price for the work we can do now. We chip and haul what we cut. We photograph storm damage when you need it for a claim. We flag permit needs on anything that is not make-safe.

We will not treat “I want it gone” as an emergency. We will not climb a stem that should be a crane pick. We will not claim ISA certification or write a 163.045 assessment. We will not tell you the statute replaced your city’s counter. Confirm with the city before a standing tree comes down.

Call (954) 754-6673 for a look in Fort Lauderdale, Hollywood, Coral Springs, Pembroke Pines, Davie, and across Broward County. Open daily 7:00 AM – 7:00 PM.

Not legal advice. Statute text: F.S. 163.045 (2024). City-by-city permit steps and published fees: tree removal permit, Broward County.