Read this first
Everything below is Georgia Power’s rule, not ours, taken from their own published shoreline material. We have set it out plainly because it is hard to find and harder to read, but they are the authority and their requirements do change.
Confirm anything you are going to spend money on with Georgia Power directly, through their Shoreline Management office. Nothing on this page is a permit and nothing on it is a promise that yours will be granted.
The rule that decides it
If you take one thing from this page, take this one. In Georgia Power’s words:
“Free standing boatlifts are not permitted on any Georgia Power lake except for Lake Oconee.”
Georgia Power, Oconee / Sinclair boathouse guidelines
Lake Sinclair is not Lake Oconee. So on this lake a lift for a boat cannot stand on its own in the water — it has to hang inside a boathouse.
That is why almost every boat lift on Sinclair is a flat-plate hoist hung from a boathouse beam, and it is why the first question we ask is what structure you already have.
The exception, and it is not one we sell
Free-standing aluminum PWC lifts — the in-the-water sort for a jet ski or a Sea-Doo — are a different product, and in practice on this lake they are allowed. So if you have seen one sitting out in the water and wondered how, that is the answer.
Two things to be straight about. We do not sell or fit those, so this is information rather than a sales line. And unlike everything else on this page, that distinction comes from what is actually happening on Lake Sinclair rather than from a sentence in Georgia Power’s published guidance — we looked, and it is not spelled out there. Check it with them before you buy one.
What we can do, if the boathouse suits it, is an overhead lift for one or two skis — hung from the structure like any other lift rather than sitting in the water. Same rules apply: it has to fit inside the existing building envelope. Ask us what your boathouse will take →
- You already have a boathouse. Then you are in the ordinary case. A lift goes in it, and the rest of this page is background rather than an obstacle.
- You have a dock but no boathouse. Then a lift means a boathouse first, and whether you can have one comes down to the frontage rules below.
- You have neither. Same answer, one step further back.
This is the single most useful thing to establish before anybody prices anything, and it takes one look at your shoreline.
Whether you can have a boathouse at all
Georgia Power sets a minimum amount of shoreline, measured straight line, pin to pin — not the wandering length of your waterfront. When the lot was platted changes the number.
| Lot platted | Minimum shoreline | What it may qualify for |
|---|---|---|
| After 2000 | 100 ft straight line (pin to pin) | Boathouse considered at all; 100 ft or more may qualify for a double stall |
| Before 2000 | 75 ft straight line, plus 75 ft width at the Georgia Power project boundary | Single stall |
“Considered” is Georgia Power’s word and it is doing real work — meeting the minimum is what gets your application looked at, not what guarantees approval.
There is a second condition people trip over, and it catches anyone buying a bare lot to build on later:
“A residential structure must be erected on lot (regardless of ownership type) for a boathouse to be permitted.”
Georgia Power, Oconee / Sinclair boathouse guidelines
The house comes first. A cleared lot with a beautiful piece of water on it does not get a boathouse until something has been built on it.
The permit
Georgia Power calls it an improvement permit, and their position is unambiguous:
“Before starting any of the activities listed below, a valid Georgia Power permit must be obtained by every homeowner for any activity on Georgia Power land.”
Georgia Power, Shoreline Management
Two things worth drawing out of that sentence. Every homeowner — it is yours to hold, not your contractor’s. And before starting — it is not something to sort out once the work is under way.
They also say that any change of plan after approval has to be approved as well, so a permit for one thing is not cover for a different thing.
The rest of the boathouse rules
These matter less for a lift, but they decide what the structure around it may look like, and people are regularly surprised by them.
- Open sides. Georgia Power requires open-sided boathouses on all lakes except the north Georgia ones. Sinclair is not one of those.
- Roof pitch between 3/12 and 5/12, hip or gable. Not steeper, not flatter.
- Roofing must be shingle, non-glare baked enamel or another non-glare surface. The lake is somebody else’s view too.
- No metal or aluminum carport covers used as boathouse shelters.
- No rooftop sundecks. Prohibited on Georgia Power lakes.
- One storage room, no bigger than 5 ft by 12 ft, under the roof line.
- No plumbing other than a water spigot.
- New builds get a single walkway from the shoreline to the structure, including dock and boathouse combinations.
And the one that catches people adding a jet-ski lift later: any accessory item — personal watercraft lifts included — has to fit inside the existing building envelope, behind the structure or under the roof line. It cannot spill outside the footprint you already have permitted.
What this means when you are buying a lift
Most of the time, nothing. If you have a permitted boathouse and you are putting a lift in it, you are doing the ordinary thing that these rules already contemplate, and it is a straightforward job.
Where it bites is at the edges, and they are worth checking before money moves:
- An older boathouse that was never permitted. These exist on this lake. It is your problem rather than ours, but it is much cheaper to find out now than after you have applied for something.
- A second lift, or a PWC lift, added later. It has to fit inside the existing envelope. Sometimes that is a modification question rather than a permit question — and sometimes it is both.
- A boathouse being widened to take a bigger boat. That is a change to the structure, and a change to the structure is Georgia Power’s business.
If you are not sure which of those you are in, tell us what you have got and we will tell you what we think, including when the answer is “ask Georgia Power before you do anything else.”
Common questions
Do I need permission from Georgia Power to add a boat lift?
Georgia Power requires a permit for any activity on their land, and they say it must be obtained before the work starts. A lift going into an existing permitted boathouse is a simpler case than new construction — but they are the authority on what needs a permit, and the requirements do change, so ask them rather than assuming.
The thing to establish first is more basic: on Lake Sinclair a lift has to belong to a boathouse, because free-standing lifts are not permitted on this lake.
Can I put a free-standing boat lift on Lake Sinclair?
No. Georgia Power’s guidance is that free-standing boat lifts are not permitted on any of their lakes except Lake Oconee. On Sinclair the lift belongs to a boathouse.
This surprises people who have seen free-standing lifts elsewhere, including on Oconee an hour up the road.
How much shoreline do I need for a boathouse?
It depends when the lot was platted, and it is measured straight line, pin to pin — not along the curve of your waterfront. A lot platted after 2000 needs at least 100 feet to be considered; 100 feet or more may qualify for a double stall. A lot platted before 2000 needs at least 75 feet, plus 75 feet of width at the Georgia Power project boundary, for a single stall.
Meeting the minimum is what gets the application considered. It is not approval.
I bought a lot but have not built yet. Can I put in the boathouse first?
No. Georgia Power requires a residential structure to be erected on the lot before a boathouse is permitted, whatever the ownership arrangement. The house comes first.
Can I add a jet-ski lift to what I already have?
Often yes, with one constraint that decides it: accessory items including PWC lifts have to fit inside the overall footprint of the existing building envelope — behind the structure or under the roof line. They cannot extend the footprint.
Whether yours fits is a question about your particular boathouse, and it is one we can look at.
Can I enclose the sides of my boathouse?
Not on this lake. Georgia Power requires open-sided boathouses on all their lakes except the north Georgia ones.
Does Georgia Power say who can do the work?
Nothing we have found in their published shoreline material names approved contractors for boat lift work, and the permit is the homeowner’s to hold rather than the contractor’s. Some project types call for erosion and sedimentation control certification. If you are being told a particular firm is required, check that with Georgia Power.
Related
Also worth reading
The water moves more than most people expect, and it changes how a lift should be set. And if you are new here, the orientation page covers the rest.
Water levels and the drawdown → The lake, arm by arm → New to the lake → Installation →