Lift repair is a different request from a new lift. The dock and the permit may already be fine. The thing that failed is the cable, the motor, the hydraulics, the bunks, or the structure that holds the boat.
Say what failed. “Lift does not work” leaves the builder planning a site visit with no parts. These details shorten that visit:
- The lift raises, lowers, or does neither.
- One side hangs lower than the other.
- You can see broken cable, a burnt motor smell, or hydraulic fluid.
- The boat scrapes a bunk, or the bunks are split.
- The problem started after a storm, a drawdown, or a new boat.
Photos of the lift, the motor or pump, and the capacity plate are optional and useful. Do not climb on a failed lift to get them.
Repair versus a lift that is too small
If the boat was replaced with a heavier one, the lift may not be broken. It may be undersized. Put the old boat and the new boat in the notes, with lengths. The sizing guide explains why the working weight, not the brochure length, is the number that matters. We do not publish capacity charts. The plate on your lift and the plate on your boat are the documents.
When repair touches the dock
A motor swap on an existing lift is not, by itself, a new dock. A repair that replaces flotation, lengthens a slip, or moves the lift outside the original footprint can become a modification. Ameren’s fee schedule lists $550 for a new dock or a modification, and construction waits for the permit. If you are unsure, choose lift repair on the form and describe the dock in the notes. The builder can tell you if the job has crossed into a permit.
Storm damage has a separate, narrow rule. Appendix B allows emergency temporary repairs to protect people and property, and those repairs have to be reported to Ameren’s Shoreline Management office within 48 hours. That is not a substitute for a permit when the dock itself has to be rebuilt. Read the storm-damage note before you treat a weekend patch as finished work.
Safety around a powered lift
Ameren’s dock safety notes say not to reset a GFCI or a breaker while someone is in the water, and not to swim at a dock where breakers are tripping. If the lift or the dock is giving a shock, stay out of the water and say that clearly in the request. Electrical inspections for docks with power are handled by the local fire district or the Village of Four Seasons, not by this website.