How to Verify a Contractor's License in Florida

Licensing in Florida

WORKING WITHOUT THE LICENCE IS A CRIME IN FLORIDA, AND SO IS OFFERING TO. Section 489.127(1), Florida Statutes, opens "No person shall:" and then lists, at paragraph (f), "Engage in the business or act in the capacity of a contractor or advertise himself or herself or a business organization as available to engage in the business or act in the capacity of a contractor without being duly registered or certified". READ "ADVERTISE" AND "AVAILABLE TO ENGAGE": the breach is complete when an unlicensed person holds themselves out, before any work is done and before you have paid anything. Section 489.127(2)(a) sets the level: "Any unlicensed person who violates any of the provisions of subsection (1) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083." Note also that the paragraph says "registered OR certified" — in Florida those are two different things, which is the next point.

"LICENSED IN FLORIDA" IS AMBIGUOUS, AND THE AMBIGUITY IS WHERE HOMEOWNERS GET CAUGHT. The statute defines two kinds. Section 489.105(8): a "Certified contractor" means "any contractor who possesses a certificate of competency issued by the department and who shall be allowed to contract in any jurisdiction in the state without being required to fulfill the competency requirements of that jurisdiction." Section 489.105(10): a "Registered contractor" means "any contractor who has registered with the department pursuant to fulfilling the competency requirements in the jurisdiction for which the registration is issued. Registered contractors may contract only in such jurisdictions." SO A REGISTERED CONTRACTOR IS LICENSED, GENUINELY, AND STILL MAY NOT LAWFULLY TAKE YOUR JOB IF YOUR JOB IS IN A DIFFERENT JURISDICTION. Both appear in the department's records; a record alone does not tell you which one you are looking at, so the question to ask is not "are you licensed" but "certified or registered, and registered where".

THE STATUTE GIVES THE HOMEOWNER A REMEDY, AND IT POINTS ONE WAY ONLY. Section 489.128 is headed "Contracts entered into by unlicensed contractors unenforceable" and provides at subsection (1): "As a matter of public policy, contracts entered into on or after October 1, 1990, by an unlicensed contractor shall be unenforceable in law or in equity by the unlicensed contractor." THE ASYMMETRY IS THE POINT — it disables the UNLICENSED CONTRACTOR'S ability to enforce the contract, rather than voiding the bargain against you. Paragraph (1)(a) says who counts: "an individual is unlicensed if the individual does not have a license required by this part concerning the scope of the work to be performed under the contract. A business organization is unlicensed if the business organization does not have a primary or secondary qualifying agent in accordance with this part concerning the scope of the work to be performed under the contract." AND IT CARVES OUT THE CASE WHERE NO LICENCE IS NEEDED AT ALL: "For purposes of this section, if a state license is not required for the scope of work to be performed under the contract, the individual performing that work is not considered unlicensed." So the test is scope-by-scope, not person-by-person. WHETHER ANY PARTICULAR JOB REQUIRES A STATE LICENCE IS NOT SETTLED BY THIS SECTION and is not resolved on the pages read for this guide.

THE DEFINITION IS BROAD AT THE FRONT AND NARROWED AT THE BACK, AND BOTH HALVES MATTER. Section 489.105(3) defines "Contractor" as "the person who is qualified for, and is only responsible for, the project contracted for and means, except as exempted in this part, the person who, for compensation, undertakes to, submits a bid to, or does himself or herself or by others construct, repair, alter, remodel, add to, demolish, subtract from, or improve any building or structure, including related improvements to real estate, for others or for resale to others; and whose job scope is substantially similar to the job scope described in one of the paragraphs of this subsection." THREE THINGS TO NOTICE. "Submits a bid to" puts the bidder inside the definition before any work begins. "Or by others" reaches the person who subcontracts the whole job out. And the closing clause — "substantially similar to the job scope described in one of the paragraphs of this subsection" — means the definition is CLOSED BY AN ENUMERATED LIST OF JOB SCOPES that this guide has not reproduced, so a trade that does not match one of those paragraphs is not automatically inside it. The opening words "except as exempted in this part" point at a further set of exemptions also not reproduced here.

Why It Matters

An unlicensed contractor can cost you more than the job. Inspectors can red-tag the work, insurers may decline a claim arising from it, and the recovery funds that exist in some states are open only to people who hired a licensed contractor. Checking the credential before work starts is the cheapest step in the whole project.