Florida Contractor License Requirements

What the state requires

Licence

Certified General Contractor (Division I; statewide certification). A registered general contractor is the local-jurisdiction-only alternative.

Issued by

Construction Industry Licensing Board, Department of Business and Professional RegulationFla. Stat. ch. 489, pt. I; Fla. Admin. Code ch. 61G4

Exam

Three tests: (1) business and financial management of a contracting firm, (2) contract administration, (3) project management. The contract administration and project management tests count as one test for fee purposes.

Exam fee

No verified figureThe $335 is a single combined application-and-examination fee, broken down by rule as $135 paid to the Department or its examination development vendor when the tests are scheduled, $80 per test administered (two test administrations for a general contractor, since contract administration and project management count as one test), and $40 to the Department for processing after the examination is passed. That arithmetic is what makes $335. Biennial renewal is $200. Qualifying a business organization costs a further $50 to apply and $50 per biennial renewal. The board does not publish its own separate exam-fee figure, and the DBPR site (www2.myfloridalicense.com) was behind a Cloudflare challenge, so exam_fee_usd is left null rather than guessed.

Application fee

$335

Initial licence fee

$200

Licence bond

Not requiredFlorida does not impose a flat licence bond on certified general contractors. Financial responsibility is proved by credit report and FICO score under Fla. Admin. Code r. 61G4-15.006; a bond only arises as an alternative for applicants who cannot meet that test, and no fixed figure for it was found on an official source.

General liability

$300,000The $300,000 public liability / $50,000 property damage figures are the aggregate amounts the board's rule sets specifically for the General Contractor category (Building Contractor is the same; Residential and the specialty trades are $100,000 / $25,000). The licensee signs an affidavit and must keep the coverage for the life of the licence; the board runs random audits by zip code and can demand the certificate of insurance within 30 days.

Workers compensation

Required

Experience

4 yearsFour years of active experience is the base route, of which at least 1 year must be as a foreman. A baccalaureate degree in engineering, architecture or building construction cuts it to 1 year of proven experience; a combination of college credits and experience is also allowed. For the general contractor category the board defines the experience as commercial work in four or more of: foundations/slabs over 20,000 sq ft, masonry walls, steel erection, elevated slabs, column erection, formwork for structural reinforced concrete — plus at least one year on structures not less than four stories in height. That four-story clause is the requirement most applicants miss.

Financial requirement

Credit report with a FICO-derived score of 660 or higher and no unsatisfied judgments or liens. An applicant below 660 can instead complete a 14-hour board-approved financial responsibility course.

Continuing education

14 hours every two years14 classroom hours of at least 50 minutes each per biennium, tied to the renewal cycle.

Renewal

Every 2 years

NASCLA exam

AcceptedThe Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board is on NASCLA's list of agencies that accept the NASCLA Accredited Examination for Commercial General Building Contractors. NASCLA's page does not state which Florida test parts it displaces, and the DBPR site was unreachable, so what exactly it replaces is not recorded here.

CILB