Installation means a lift going onto a dock, sized to a specific boat, at a specific spot on Lake of the Ozarks. The builder needs the boat and the slip. A model name from a lift catalog is not enough.
What to send with the request
- Boat type and length, and the weight from the boat’s capacity plate or the manufacturer’s spec sheet.
- Photos of the slip from the dock and, if you can do it safely, from the side. Include the wells and any existing lift hardware.
- Dock material and a rough age. Steel, aluminum, wood, and concrete carry a lift differently.
- Whether you want the lift inside a well or on the outside of the dock. Outside lifts change Ameren’s setback. A lift 15 feet or longer, set parallel to the shore, has to sit back at least one and a half times its length from the extended side property line. Shorter parallel lifts use a one-times setback. A lift perpendicular to the shore stays at least 5 feet inside that line. Those distances are in Appendix B of Ameren’s permitting guidelines.
- Your cove or arm and mile marker.
Use the sizing guide if you are not sure which of those measurements you have.
Permit before the dock changes
Ameren’s permitting page says construction may not proceed until a permit has been issued. A new dock or a modification is listed at $550. Adding a lift that changes slips, width, or flotation is the kind of modification the builder should submit before anyone welds or bolts it on. Replacing a lift in an existing well, with no change to the dock, can be a different job. Let the builder make that call from the photos. Do not start the work while you wait to see if Ameren objects.
The permit guide has the drawing list Ameren asks for: scaled drawings on 8½ by 11 inch paper, distances to the extended property lines, and distances to the neighboring docks and the center of the cove.
Power to the lift
A lift motor is electrical equipment over the water. Ameren’s dock requirements page says local fire districts and the Village of Four Seasons require an electrical inspection and permit for private docks that have power, in addition to Ameren’s dock permit. If your dock is already powered, say so. If it is not, say that too. The fee for the electrical permit is paid to the local district, not to Ameren, and Ameren does not publish one lake-wide electrical fee.
Timing
Ameren does not publish a guaranteed review time. Other lake quote sites describe permit review in a range of about 4 to 8 weeks and construction in about 4 to 10 weeks. Treat those as other people’s planning ranges, not a promise. Ameren does say a new dock or an approved modification must be finished within one year of the permit, with one possible six-month extension if nothing in the application has changed and the dock meets current guidelines. If you want the boat out of the water before Memorial Day, ask earlier than spring.