Florida General Contractor License: What Applies and What Does Not

Does a contracting business need a license in Florida?

Florida issues 4 license classes for general contractors.

Florida requires a person to be certified or registered before engaging in the business of contracting, with no minimum contract value. A certification issued after the state examination is valid statewide, while a registration is limited to the local jurisdiction that issued the underlying competency card. An uncertified employee or subcontractor may work under the supervision of a certified or registered contractor within that contractor's license scope.

The contracting business itself must be licensed or registered, not only the people doing the work.

Under Florida law, a business organization that proposes to engage in contracting applies through a qualifying agent, and the Department of Business and Professional Regulation issues the business organization its own certificate of authority.

This records what Florida publishes, not a determination about your business. Scope, thresholds and local requirements are set by the issuing body, so confirm with them before you bid or file.

Verified 2026-09-03 against the primary source listed under Sources.

What the LLC has to do first

Where the state licenses the company rather than only the individual, the LLC has to exist before the license application can name it.

The entity filing is separate from anything the license requires. In Florida it is made with the Florida Division of Corporations. File directly with the state here. The order matters wherever the license is issued to the company rather than to a person: the entity has to exist before an application can name it.

Forming an LLC as a contracting business in Florida covers the filing itself, step by step.

Insurance Florida general contractors are asked to show

General liability cover is the item most often demanded before a contractor license application is accepted or a job is awarded, and the certificate has to name the entity that holds the license.

We do not publish Florida premium figures for this trade, so nothing here is a quote. Our business insurance guide for general contractors covers what each policy does and does not pay for.