Florida · Remodeling licensing · official-source guide
Florida licenses remodeling at the state level. The Construction Industry Licensing Board, inside the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, issues contractor licenses under Chapter 489, Part I. Most remodelers hold a certified or registered residential, building, or general contractor license. The headline requirement: certification demands a passing board examination, proven experience, and proof of liability, property damage, and workers compensation coverage.
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Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board, Department of Business and Professional RegulationState-level license
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Verify a licenseVerified against agency sources on 2026-10-05. Rules and fees change; confirm with the named authority before relying on this guide.
Florida regulates remodeling at the state level. The Construction Industry Licensing Board, housed in the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, licenses and regulates construction contracting under Part I of Chapter 489, Florida Statutes. The statute names remodeling directly. Section 489.105(3) defines a contractor as 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. There is no separate Florida home improvement contractor registration sitting beside Chapter 489. A remodeler works under the same contractor law that governs new construction. Section 489.113(2) states that a person must be certified or registered in order to engage in the business of contracting in this state. Section 489.115(1) repeats it: no person may engage in the business of contracting without first being certified or registered in the proper classification. The board considers license applications, reviews disciplinary cases, conducts informal hearings on licensure and discipline, and writes the rules that fill in the statute. The department issues the license. One structural point shapes how a remodeling company is set up. The license is held by an individual. Section 489.119(2) requires an applicant who will contract as a partnership, corporation, business trust or other legal entity to apply for registration or certification as the qualifying agent of that business organization. Enforcement runs on two tracks. Under 489.113(2)(a) the department issues cease and desist orders against anyone contracting without the required license, and under 489.113(2)(b) a county, municipality or local licensing board created by special act may issue one as well.
Florida issues two statuses, and the difference decides where you can sell. Section 489.105(8) defines a certified contractor as any contractor who possesses a certificate of competency issued by the department and who is allowed to contract in any jurisdiction in the state without being required to fulfill the competency requirements of that jurisdiction. Section 489.105(10) defines a registered contractor as any contractor who has registered with the department after fulfilling the competency requirements in the jurisdiction for which the registration is issued, and registered contractors may contract only in such jurisdictions. The department codes them visibly: certified licenses carry an occupation code beginning with the letter C, registered licenses begin with R. Section 489.113(1) sets the rule. Anyone who wants to engage in contracting on a statewide basis must be certified, and competency is established by passing the appropriate examination approved by the board and certified by the department. Anyone who wants to contract on other than a statewide basis must be registered. Section 489.117(1)(a) says an examination is not required for registration. What the applicant files instead is the required fee plus evidence of successful compliance with the local examination and licensing requirements, if any, in the area for which registration is desired. Section 489.117(1)(b) then limits the registrant to the counties, municipalities or development districts where all local licensing requirements were met, and only for the type of work covered. Section 489.117(1)(c) requires a registrant to report each local jurisdiction and each category in which he or she holds a certificate of competency or license within 30 days of obtaining it. Section 489.13(1) closes the loop: persons working outside the geographical scope of their registration are guilty of unlicensed activity. For a remodeler bidding across county lines, certification is the only status that travels.
Section 489.105(3) subdivides contractors into Division I, consisting of the contractors defined in paragraphs (a) through (c), and Division II, consisting of those defined in paragraphs (d) through (q). Three Division I classes carry remodeling scope. A general contractor is a contractor whose services are unlimited as to the type of work he or she may do, who may contract for any activity requiring licensure under Part I and may perform any such work, except as otherwise expressly provided in 489.113. A building contractor is a contractor whose services are limited to construction of commercial buildings and single-dwelling or multiple-dwelling residential buildings not exceeding three stories in height, and accessory use structures in connection therewith, or a contractor whose services are limited to remodeling, repair, or improvement of any size building if the services do not affect the structural members of the building. A residential contractor is a contractor whose services are limited to construction, remodeling, repair, or improvement of one-family, two-family, or three-family residences not exceeding two habitable stories above no more than one uninhabitable story, and accessory use structures in connection therewith. Read the building class twice. Its second branch is a non-structural remodeling scope with no limit on building size, which is why interior remodelers who touch no structural members often hold it. The residential class is the usual fit for kitchen, bath, addition and whole-house work on houses, duplexes and triplexes inside the height limit. Section 489.113(3) requires a contractor to subcontract all electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool and air-conditioning work unless the contractor holds the state certificate or registration covering it. Section 489.113(2) allows a subcontractor who is not certified or registered to perform work under the supervision of a licensed contractor, within that contractor's scope and responsibility, so long as the work is not in the Division II categories listed in 489.105(3)(d) through (o).
Section 489.103 lists the exemptions, and two of them get quoted at remodelers constantly. Subsection (9) exempts any work or operation of a casual, minor, or inconsequential nature in which the aggregate contract price for labor, materials, and all other items is less than $2,500. The statute then takes most of it back. The exemption does not apply if the construction, repair, remodeling, or improvement is part of a larger or major operation, whether undertaken by the same or a different contractor, or where a division of the operation is made into contracts of amounts less than $2,500 for the purpose of evading Part I. It also does not apply to a person who advertises that he or she is a contractor or otherwise represents that he or she is qualified to engage in contracting. Anyone running ads has already lost the exemption. Subsection (7)(a)1 covers owners of property acting as their own contractor and providing direct, onsite supervision themselves of all work not performed by licensed contractors, when building or improving farm outbuildings or one-family or two-family residences for the owner's own occupancy or use and not offered for sale or lease, or building or improving commercial buildings at a cost not to exceed $75,000. Proof of sale or lease, or of offering for sale or lease, within 1 year after completion supports an enforcement action. The disclosure statement the permitting authority collects tells the owner that a contractor is required by law to be licensed in Florida and to list license numbers on permits and contracts. Subsection (2) exempts an employee of a certificateholder or registrant acting within the scope of that license and with permission, but the employee loses the exemption where the employer is not licensed in that type of contracting and the employee holds himself or herself out as licensed or qualified, implies an ownership or management interest, or performs acts that constitute contracting.
Sourcesleg.state.fl.us
Section 489.111(2) sets eligibility for licensure by examination. The applicant must be 18 years of age, be of good moral character, and meet one of several criteria. The first is a baccalaureate degree from an accredited four-year college in the appropriate field of engineering, architecture, or building construction plus 1 year of proven experience in the category sought, with a minimum of 2,000 person-hours used to determine full-time equivalency. The second is a total of at least 4 years of active experience as a worker who learned the trade by serving an apprenticeship as a skilled worker able to command the rate of a mechanic in the particular trade, or as a foreman in charge of a group of workers, with at least 1 year of that active experience as a foreman. The third is a set of combinations: not less than 1 year as a foreman plus not less than 3 years of accredited college-level course credits; or 1 year as a skilled worker plus 1 year as a foreman plus not less than 2 years of credits; or 2 years as a skilled worker plus 1 year as a foreman plus not less than 1 year of credits. Junior college and community college courses count as accredited college-level courses. Section 489.1131 gives credit for relevant military training and education. Upgrade paths are written into the same section. An active certified residential contractor is eligible for a certified building contractor license after passing the building contractors' examination with a minimum of 3 years of proven experience in the certified classification, and for a certified general contractor license after passing that examination with 4 years. On the exam itself, 489.113(1) provides one shortcut: an applicant holding a baccalaureate degree in building construction from an accredited four-year college, or a related board-approved degree, with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, is only required to take and pass the business and finance portion.
Section 489.109 does not publish a price list. It directs the board to establish reasonable fees by rule for applications, certification and renewal, registration and renewal, and recordmaking and recordkeeping, and then caps them. For an applicant for a certificate, the initial application fee may not exceed $150, and if an examination cost is included in the application fee the combined amount may not exceed $350. The initial certification fee and the renewal fee may not exceed $250. An applicant who seeks certification by taking a practical examination must pay as an examination fee the actual cost the department incurs in developing, preparing, administering, scoring, score reporting and evaluating the examination, when the department conducts it. For an applicant for registration, the initial application fee may not exceed $100, and the initial registration fee and the renewal fee may not exceed $200. For an application for registration or certification to qualify a business organization, the initial application fee and the renewal fee are $50. Inactive status carries its own charge, and neither the inactive certification fee nor the inactive registration fee may exceed $50. The board may establish delinquency fees by rule, not to exceed the applicable renewal fee, for renewal applications made after the expiration date. Budget two line items rather than one: the individual license and the separate qualifying-agent filing for the entity. Then budget the local layer. Section 489.119(4) describes how a certified qualifying agent applying for a business tax receipt in a municipality or county makes the application with the tax collector in the name of the business organization and the qualifying agent, how the receipt is issued to the business organization upon payment of the licensing fee and exhibition of a valid certificate, and how the state license numbers are noted on it. The exact current amounts the department charges today are not published in the statute and are listed as a gap below.
Sourcesleg.state.fl.us
Section 489.115(5)(a) makes insurance a condition of getting and keeping the license. As a prerequisite to the initial issuance or the renewal of a certificate or registration, the applicant submits a board-form affidavit attesting that he or she has obtained workers' compensation insurance as required by Chapter 440, public liability insurance, and property damage insurance for the safety and welfare of the public, in amounts determined by rule of the board. The board must establish a procedure to verify the accuracy of those affidavits using a random sample method. Rule 61G4-15.003, Florida Administrative Code, sets the amounts. A residential contractor must carry $100,000 public liability and $25,000 property damage. A general contractor and a building contractor must each carry $300,000 public liability and $50,000 property damage. Specialty contractors, unless specified otherwise, carry $100,000 and $25,000. The rule states that it is a violation for any licensee to fail to continually maintain liability and property damage insurance in the amounts set forth. The certificate holder named on the certificate of insurance must be the State of Florida, Department of Business and Professional Regulation, Construction Industry Licensing Board. Audits are run by zip code area, and a selected licensee has thirty days from the mailing of a certified-mail request to submit proof of coverage. The certificate must show the exact name of the business organization qualified by the applicant plus any fictitious name, the insurance agent and company, the policy number, and the effective and expiration dates. Section 489.114 makes evidence of workers' compensation coverage a condition precedent to issuance or renewal, and the Division of Workers' Compensation reports policy cancellations to the department by license number. Section 489.115(5)(b) adds that initial certification requires a credit report from a nationally recognized credit agency and evidence of financial responsibility, credit and business reputation, with board rules defining financial responsibility by credit history, ability to be bonded, and bankruptcy history.
Section 489.115(4)(a) puts every Part I contractor on a two-year cycle: each certificateholder or registrant shall renew the certificate or registration every 2 years, and the department mails each licensee a renewal application. Section 489.115(4)(b)1 requires proof of at least 14 classroom hours of at least 50 minutes each of continuing education completed during each biennium since the issuance or renewal of the license. The statute directs the board to require that a portion of the 14 hours deal with workers' compensation, business practices, workplace safety, and, for applicable licensure categories, wind mitigation methodologies, with 1 hour on laws and rules. A person who has been licensed for less than an entire biennium is not required to complete the full 14 hours. Rule 61G4-18.001, Florida Administrative Code, spells out the breakdown. All registered and certified contractors complete 14 hours each renewal cycle, with 1 hour required in each of the following: a specialized or advanced module course approved by the Florida Building Commission or the board; workplace safety; business practices; workers' compensation; and laws and rules regulating the construction industry. One hour on wind mitigation methodologies is required if the license is general, building, residential, roofing, specialty structure, or glass and glazing. One hour on cementitious cladding, stucco, plastering and lath application and repair methodologies is required if the license is general, building, or residential. That last hour lands on remodelers specifically. Up to four hours of the 14 may be earned by attending a board meeting at which disciplinary cases are considered, with at least seven days advance notice of intent to attend, check-in with board staff, sign-in and sign-out at breaks and lunch, and submission of the attendance certificate to the department within five days of its issuance. No credit is given when the licensee attends as a party to a disciplinary action. Renewal also runs through the insurance affidavit, so a coverage lapse becomes a renewal problem.
A license from another state does not let anyone remodel in Florida. Section 489.115(1) is unqualified: no person may engage in the business of contracting in this state without first being certified or registered in the proper classification. The route in for an experienced out-of-state contractor is 489.115(3), certification by endorsement. The board shall certify as qualified for certification by endorsement any applicant who meets the requirements for certification set forth in that section, has passed a national, regional, state, or United States territorial licensing examination that is substantially equivalent to the examination required by Part I, and has satisfied the requirements set forth in 489.111. The department publishes endorsement and reciprocity material, including information on substantially equivalent exams, on its construction industry page. Section 489.1131 gives credit for relevant military training and education toward licensure. Which specific states Florida treats as having substantially equivalent examinations was not verified from a primary source for this page, so no state names appear here. For a company rather than a person, the entity question comes first. Section 489.119(2) requires an applicant proposing to engage in contracting as a business organization, including any partnership, corporation, business trust or other legal entity, or under any name other than the applicant's legal name or a sole-proprietor fictitious name, to apply for registration or certification as the qualifying agent of that business organization, and to state the names of partners or officers. Section 489.119(3)(b) requires a qualifying agent to inform the department in writing when he or she proposes to contract in his or her own name or in affiliation with another business organization. Section 489.127(1)(g) prohibits operating a business organization engaged in contracting after 60 days following the termination of its only qualifying agent without designating another primary qualifying agent. Section 489.113(1) stays the dividing line: statewide contracting requires certification, not registration.
Florida puts your license number on your marketing by statute. Section 489.119(5)(b) provides that the registration or certification number of each contractor shall appear in each offer of services, business proposal, bid, contract, or advertisement, regardless of medium, as defined by board rule, used by that contractor or business organization in the practice of contracting. That reaches the website, the written estimate, the yard sign, the direct mail piece, the radio spot and the bid sheet. Section 489.119(5)(a) requires the contractor to affix the number to each application for a building permit and on each permit issued and recorded, and requires each city or county building department, as a precondition for issuing the permit, to make the contractor provide verification of his or her Construction Industry Licensing Board registration or certification number. Section 489.119(5)(c) covers trucks. If a vehicle bears the name of a contractor or business organization, or any text or artwork which would lead a reasonable person to believe the vehicle is used for contracting, the registration or certification number must be conspicuously and legibly displayed with the name, text, or artwork. The same paragraph says nothing in it creates a mandatory vehicle signage requirement, and that local governments may also require locally licensed contractors to display their certificate of competency or license numbers. Section 489.119(5)(d) excludes business stationery and promotional novelties such as balloons, pencils, trinkets, or articles of clothing from the definition of advertisement. The penalty ladder is in 489.119(5)(e): the board issues a notice of noncompliance for the first offense, and may assess a fine or issue a citation for failure to correct the offense within 30 days or for any subsequent offense. On claims, 489.127(1)(f) prohibits advertising yourself 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, and 489.127(1)(a) prohibits falsely holding yourself or a business out as a licensee, certificateholder, or registrant.
Sourcesleg.state.fl.us
Two notices have to be in a Florida remodeling contract, and both carry consequences. Section 489.1425(1) provides that each agreement or contract for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property must contain a written statement explaining the consumer's rights under the recovery fund, except where the value of all labor and materials does not exceed $2,500. The statement must be substantially in the form the statute prints, which tells the owner that payment, up to a limited amount, may be available from the Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund if the owner loses money on a project performed under contract where the loss results from specified violations of Florida law by a licensed contractor, and it must be immediately followed by the board's address and telephone number as established by board rule. Section 489.1425(2) sets the penalty. On a first violation the board may fine the contractor up to $500, and on a second or subsequent violation the board shall fine the contractor $1,000 per violation, with the money deposited into the recovery fund. Section 713.015(1) adds the construction lien law notice. Any direct contract greater than $2,500 between an owner and a contractor, related to improvements to real property consisting of single or multiple family dwellings up to and including four units, must contain the statutory notice printed in no less than 12-point, capitalized, boldfaced type on the front page of the contract or on a separate page, signed by the owner and dated. Section 713.015(2)(a) requires the notice to be in the contract document when the contract is written, and in a document referencing the contract when the contract is oral or implied. Failure to provide the notice does not bar enforcement of a lien against a person who has not been adversely affected. The section does not apply when the owner is a contractor licensed under Chapter 489.
Remodeling sold at the customer's kitchen table falls under Chapter 501, not Chapter 489, and the cancellation right there is real. Section 501.021(1) defines a home solicitation sale as a sale, lease, or rental of consumer goods or services with a purchase price in excess of $25, including all interest, service charges, finance charges, postage, freight, insurance, and service or handling charges, whether under single or multiple contracts, in which the seller or a person acting for the seller engages in a personal solicitation at a place other than the seller's fixed location business establishment, and the buyer's agreement or offer to purchase is given and the transaction consummated at a place other than that fixed location. A transaction unsolicited by the consumer and consummated by telephone, with no other contact before performance, is included. The definition excludes a sale made at any fair or similar commercial exhibit, and a sale that results from a request for specific goods or services by the purchaser. That last exclusion matters to remodelers who only visit homeowners who called them first. Section 501.025 then provides that in addition to any other right to revoke an offer, the buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs an agreement or offer to purchase. Cancellation is evidenced by written notice given in person, by telegram, or by mail to the seller at the address stated in the agreement, and notice given by mail is effective upon postmarking. The notice need not take a particular form. Notice of the buyer's right to cancel must appear on every note or other evidence of indebtedness given pursuant to a home solicitation sale. Section 501.021(2) defines business day as any calendar day except Sunday or a federal holiday, which pushes the window past weekends.
Section 489.126(2)(a) ties the deposit to a clock. A contractor who receives, as initial payment, money totaling more than 10 percent of the contract price for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property must apply for permits necessary to do the work within 30 days after the date payment is made, except where the work does not require a permit under the applicable codes and ordinances, and must start the work within 90 days after the date all necessary permits are issued. The exceptions are just cause, or written agreement by the person who made the payment to a longer period. Section 489.126(2)(b) sets the demand mechanism. The contractee makes written demand by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address listed in the contracting agreement, or to the licensing address if the agreement lists none, and it may be inferred that a contractor does not have just cause if the contractor fails to apply for the permits, start the work, or refund the payment within 30 days of receiving that demand. Section 489.126(3)(a) covers the middle of a job. A contractor who receives money for repair, restoration, addition, improvement, or construction of residential real property in excess of the value of the work performed may not fail or refuse to perform any work for any 90-day period, or for any period mutually agreed upon and specified in the contract. The statute lists what is prima facie evidence of that, and requires proper notification of termination by certified-mail letter stating the reason. Section 489.129(1)(j) allows a project to be presumed abandoned after 90 days where the contractor terminates without just cause or proper notification, or fails to perform without just cause for 90 consecutive days. Section 489.127(1)(h) prohibits commencing or performing work for which a building permit is required without the permit in effect, and 489.129(1)(o) makes proceeding without applicable local permits and inspections grounds for discipline.
Sourcesleg.state.fl.us
Section 489.127(1)(f) prohibits engaging in the business or acting in the capacity of a contractor, or advertising yourself or a business organization as available to do so, without being duly registered or certified. Section 489.127(2)(a) makes an unlicensed person who violates subsection (1) guilty of a misdemeanor of the first degree. Paragraph (b) raises a repeat violation, after having been previously found guilty, to a felony of the third degree. Paragraph (c) raises a violation committed during the existence of a state of emergency declared by executive order of the Governor to a felony of the third degree. On the administrative side, 489.13(3) permits the department, notwithstanding 455.228, to impose an administrative fine of up to $10,000 on any unlicensed person guilty of unlicensed contracting, plus reasonable investigative and legal costs for prosecution, and allows the department to waive up to one-half of the fine if the unlicensed contractor complies with certification or registration within 1 year after the fine is imposed. Section 489.13(1) defines unlicensed contracting broadly: a person is guilty if he or she does not hold a valid active certificate or registration authorizing the activity, regardless of whether he or she holds a local construction contractor license or local certificate of competency. Section 489.127(1) adds that a person operating on an inactive or suspended certificate or registration is not duly certified and is considered unlicensed, and that a business tax receipt issued under Chapter 205 is not a license. Section 489.128(1) removes the paycheck: as a matter of public policy, contracts entered into on or after October 1, 1990, by an unlicensed contractor are unenforceable in law or in equity by the unlicensed contractor. Section 489.127(3) lets the department issue a stop-work order for all unlicensed work on a project upon probable cause. Section 489.127(4) makes lending your license number, or pulling a permit without a contract for work at that property, a first-degree misdemeanor.
Sourcesleg.state.fl.us
Chapter 489 leaves a working local layer in place. Section 489.113(2) says the subsection requiring certification or registration does not affect the application of any local construction licensing ordinances, and 489.113(2)(b) lets a county, municipality, or local licensing board created by special act issue a cease and desist order against unlicensed contracting. Section 489.105(12) defines a local construction regulation board as a board of not fewer than three residents of a county or municipality which the governing body may create and appoint to maintain the proper standard of construction there. State registration exists because of that layer. Under 489.117(1)(a) a registrant files evidence of successful compliance with the local examination and licensing requirements in the area for which registration is desired, and under 489.117(1)(b) may contract only where those requirements were met. Miami-Dade County runs the largest of these programs. The Construction Trades Qualifying Board sits in the Board and Code Administration Division of Miami-Dade County Regulatory and Economic Resources. The county describes the board as screening applicants for examination in construction trade categories and reviewing applications for contractor licenses, meeting monthly as two separate divisions, with Division A reviewing building and building specialty category applications and Division B reviewing electrical and mechanical categories. A state certified remodeler does not have to satisfy that county competency step, because 489.105(8) allows a certificateholder to contract in any jurisdiction in the state without fulfilling the jurisdiction's competency requirements. A state registered remodeler does. Either way the permit still comes from the local building department, which under 489.119(5)(a) must verify your board registration or certification number before issuing it, and local governments may require locally licensed contractors to display license numbers on vehicles under 489.119(5)(c). Local business tax receipts are separate, and 489.119(4) describes how one is issued in the name of the business organization and the qualifying agent. Jacksonville, Tampa and Orlando requirements are listed as gaps below.
Section 489.140 creates the Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund as a separate account in the Professional Regulation Trust Fund. Section 489.1401(2) states its sole purpose: to compensate an aggrieved claimant who contracted for the construction or improvement of the homeowner's residence located in Florida and who has obtained a final judgment in a court of competent jurisdiction, was awarded restitution by the Construction Industry Licensing Board, or received an award in arbitration against a licensee on grounds of financial mismanagement or misconduct, abandoning a construction project, or making a false statement with respect to a project. The grievance must arise directly out of a transaction conducted when the judgment debtor was licensed and must involve an act enumerated in 489.129(1)(g), (j), or (k). Section 489.143(2) sets payment at the judgment, award, or restitution order or $25,000, whichever is less, or the unsatisfied portion of it, limited to actual damages and to the per-claim maximum. Section 489.143(3) provides that beginning January 1, 2025, for Division I and Division II contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2024, payment is subject to a $100,000 maximum per Division I claim and a $30,000 maximum per Division II claim. Section 489.143(6) sets the aggregate caps for those contracts at $2 million for each Division I licensee and $600,000 for each Division II licensee. Section 489.143(5) limits claims arising out of the same transaction, in the aggregate, to the per-claim maximum regardless of the number of claimants. Section 489.143(4) requires a paid claimant to assign the judgment interest to the board, which is then subrogated. Verification is public. The department runs a Licensing Portal license search where anyone can look up a licensee by name, by license number, by city or county, or by license type. Put the number on the estimate and a homeowner resolves it in seconds.
These are common details other guides publish about Florida, but we could not verify them from the agency source. Confirm them directly before relying on them.
Yes, in almost every case. Section 489.113(2) requires a person to be certified or registered to engage in contracting, and 489.105(3) writes remodeling into the definition of contractor. A residential, building, or general contractor license covers the work. Only the narrow exemptions in 489.103 let unlicensed people take remodeling money.
A certified contractor holds a certificate of competency from the department and may contract anywhere in the state without meeting local competency requirements. A registered contractor met one jurisdiction's requirements and may contract only there. Section 489.13(1) treats work outside a registration's geographic scope as unlicensed activity, so certification is what travels.
Not under that classification. Section 489.105(3)(c) limits a residential contractor to one-family, two-family, or three-family residences not exceeding two habitable stories above no more than one uninhabitable story, plus accessory use structures. Taller buildings need a building or general contractor. The building class also covers non-structural remodeling of any size building.
Yes. Section 489.119(5)(b) requires the registration or certification number to appear in each offer of services, business proposal, bid, contract, or advertisement, regardless of medium. That covers the website, the estimate, the mailer and the bid sheet. Section 489.119(5)(c) covers lettered vehicles separately.
Section 489.119(5)(e) directs the board to issue a notice of noncompliance for the first offense. If the offense is not corrected within 30 days, or on any subsequent offense, the board may assess a fine or issue a citation. The same applies to failing to display the number where display is required.
Rule 61G4-15.003 sets $100,000 public liability and $25,000 property damage for a residential contractor, and $300,000 and $50,000 for general and building contractors. Section 489.115(5)(a) requires an affidavit attesting to that coverage plus workers' compensation at initial issuance and at every renewal, and the board audits by random sample.
Section 489.115(4)(a) sets a two-year renewal cycle. Section 489.115(4)(b)1 requires at least 14 classroom hours of continuing education per biennium. Rule 61G4-18.001 requires one hour each on an approved advanced module, workplace safety, business practices, workers' compensation, and laws and rules, plus wind mitigation and stucco hours for remodeling classes.
Section 489.103(9) exempts work of a casual, minor, or inconsequential nature where the aggregate contract price for labor, materials, and all other items is less than $2,500. It does not apply when the work is part of a larger operation, when contracts are split to evade the law, or to anyone who advertises as a contractor.
Section 489.103(7)(a)1 exempts owners acting as their own contractor who provide direct onsite supervision themselves of all work not done by licensed contractors, for one-family or two-family residences for their own occupancy and not offered for sale or lease. Selling or leasing within one year supports an enforcement action against the owner.
Two notices. Section 489.1425(1) requires a recovery fund statement in every contract for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property unless labor and materials do not exceed $2,500. Section 713.015(1) requires the construction lien law notice in any direct contract greater than $2,500 on dwellings up to four units.
If it is a home solicitation sale, yes. Section 501.025 gives the buyer until midnight of the third business day after signing to cancel by written notice, effective on postmarking if mailed. Section 501.021(1) excludes sales that result from the purchaser's own request for specific goods or services.
Section 489.143(3) allows up to $100,000 per Division I claim and $30,000 per Division II claim from the Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund for contracts entered into on or after July 1, 2024. Section 489.1401(2) requires a final judgment, board restitution award, or arbitration award on qualifying grounds first.
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