Free planning tool
Land-Clearing Site Checklist
Use this printable checklist before calling, submitting a request, or comparing proposals. It organizes the property details, work limits, finish, stump and debris decisions, access, and official checks that can change the scope.
This checklist does not determine whether a permit is required, teach equipment operation, or replace a survey, locate, site plan, professional design, wildlife review, or provider inspection.
1. Property and authorization
- Property address
- Parcel number
- City, county, and ZIP
- Jurisdiction identified: City of Ocala, another municipality, or unincorporated county
- You are the owner or have written authority to authorize the work
- Survey, site plan, deed sketch, or other property information available
- Easements, shared drives, leases, tenant rights, or access agreements identified
2. Work limits and features to preserve
- Clearing boundary marked from reliable property or project information
- Trees to preserve individually flagged
- Keep areas, buffers, fences, structures, wells, septic, drainage features, and landscaping marked
- Areas that must not be entered or disturbed identified
- Property-boundary questions resolved before work near a line
- Public right-of-way or road connection identified
Notes: __________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. Current site condition
- Approximate acreage or corridor length and width
- Vegetation type: grass, weeds, vines, palmetto, brush, saplings, mature trees, mixed growth
- Approximate largest stem or tree diameter
- Density: light, moderate, heavy, or inaccessible
- Existing stumps and visible roots
- Rocks, ruts, holes, concrete, dumped material, or demolition debris
- Active or abandoned fence wire and posts
- Wet, soft, steep, eroded, or unstable-looking ground
- Suspected gopher-tortoise burrows or other protected features observed from a safe distance
4. Finish definition
- Mulched: selected vegetation processed and left onsite; roots and some stump material remain
- Cut or bush-hogged: suitable vegetation reduced above ground; roots, stumps, and cut material may remain
- Cleared: selected vegetation removed from a defined area; stump and root condition must still be stated
- Stump-free: specified stumps ground or removed to a stated depth or extent
- Grubbed: specified stumps, root balls, or root mass excavated from the work area
- Rough-graded: broad elevations and slopes shaped for the next phase; not automatically a certified pad
- Finish-graded: surface refined to a measurable condition for seed, sod, gravel, landscaping, or another stated next step
- Other measurable handoff condition: ______________________________
5. Stumps and roots
- Existing stumps left in place
- Selected stumps ground; target depth stated
- Selected stumps grubbed or excavated; removal extent stated
- Root raking or area grubbing included
- Roots in a drive, building, utility, septic, pool, or fence-post area identified
- Chips, root balls, and excavated material disposition stated
- Void backfill material stated
- Compaction or testing requirement stated, if applicable
- Expected settlement and follow-up terms stated
6. Debris plan
- Mulch left across the work area
- Material chipped
- Material stacked in an agreed location
- Material hauled from the property
- Authorized land-clearing burn considered only after current approval and conditions are confirmed
- Mixed debris separated from vegetative material
- Disposal charges, load classification, extra haul, and measurement method stated
- Final pile, mulch, and cleanup condition stated
7. Access and staging
- Entrance width measured
- Gate width and height measured
- Overhead power or communication lines identified
- Culvert, bridge, shoulder, or driveway limitations identified
- Soft or wet ground identified
- Slope and cross-slope noted
- Turnaround and equipment staging available
- Neighbor, traffic, livestock, child, and pet access controlled
- Access-route restoration standard stated
8. Utilities and private facilities
- Public underground-facility locate responsibility assigned to the excavating party
- Sunshine 811 timing included: notice at least two full business days before qualifying excavation
- Ticket maintenance responsibility stated
- Private electric, water, irrigation, propane, lighting, gate, or communication lines identified
- Well, septic tank, drainfield, pump, and associated lines identified
- Owner knows that the public 811 process may not mark privately owned facilities
- Work near marked facilities has a separate safe-work plan from the excavating provider
9. Official checks to run
- City or county issuing office contacted for the actual parcel and scope
- Tree-removal or planning application route checked
- Public right-of-way or driveway permit checked where access or work meets the road
- FWC gopher-tortoise avoidance or permit route checked when burrows or development activity are involved
- Construction-stormwater screen checked for one acre or more and smaller sites in a larger common plan, along with current program conditions
- Wetlands, other surface waters, drainage, and Environmental Resource Permitting screened
- Florida Forest Service authorization and current daily conditions checked if land-clearing burning is proposed
- Section 163.045, Florida Statutes, used only when its residential-property and qualifying tree-risk documentation conditions are actually met
- Any building, septic, well, floodplain, environmental, or project-specific approval identified
10. Comparing written proposals
- Same work boundary
- Same vegetation and tree scope
- Same keeps and protected areas
- Same stump and root treatment
- Same debris route
- Same access and restoration expectation
- Same rough or finish grade
- Same imported/exported material assumptions
- Same permit, locate, and pre-work responsibility allocation
- Same handoff condition
- Same exclusions
- Same change-order approval process
11. Change-order questions
- What conditions trigger a change order?
- Who must approve it before extra work begins?
- How are hidden wire, concrete, debris, oversized stems, unsuitable soil, or extra stumps handled?
- How are extra haul, disposal, fill, machine time, or hand work measured and priced?
- What happens if access or ground conditions prevent the planned equipment from reaching part of the work area?
- What happens if a permit, utility, wildlife, wetland, right-of-way, or design issue changes the scope?
- Is any return visit or settlement correction included?
12. Request summary
- Property location: ______________________________________________
- Approximate work area: __________________________________________
- Current vegetation and largest material: ___________________________
- Required finish: _________________________________________________
- Stump/root decision: _____________________________________________
- Debris decision: _________________________________________________
- Known access or hazard issue: ____________________________________
- Intended next use: _______________________________________________
- Preferred timing: ________________________________________________
Use the Ocala and Marion County land-clearing permit guide for the local routing details.
How to use this checklist
Walk only the areas that can be observed safely. Do not enter unstable ground, dense unsafe vegetation, an active work zone, or a suspected wildlife burrow. Take wide photos of access, work limits, vegetation, and obstacles from safe locations.
Bring the completed checklist to the first conversation. The more precisely the finish, stumps, debris, access, and next use are defined, the easier it is to compare proposals on the same terms.
Field definitions
- Clearing limits: the boundary of the authorized work area, ideally tied to a survey, site plan, stakes, or other reliable information.
- Keep: a tree, structure, feature, buffer, or area that must remain and be protected.
- Locate: the underground-facility notification and marking process. For qualifying excavation, the excavating party has the statutory notice duty.
- Private utility: an owner-controlled facility that may not be marked by public utility members through the 811 process.
- Rough grade: broad shaping; it does not by itself establish certified compaction, engineered elevations, or construction readiness.
- Handoff condition: the measurable state of the work area when the provider leaves and the next phase begins.
Limitations and safety note
This checklist organizes a request. It is not legal, engineering, environmental, agricultural, arboricultural, permitting, or safety advice. Rules and property conditions vary. The issuing agency decides permit applicability, the excavating party controls the locate duty, and the provider confirms its own equipment, method, capability, credentials, insurance, price, and terms.