How to check a contractor's license in Florida

Which license does the contractor need in Florida?

Contractors are licensed under "Chapter 489, Florida Statutes" by the Construction Industry Licensing Board (DBPR); electrical contractors by a separate Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board, in the same search. The categories that "require registration or certification" (DBPR FAQ): "general; building; residential; sheet metal; roofing; air-conditioning; mechanical; swimming pool/spa; plumbing; underground utility and excavation; solar and pollutant storage."

Certified vs Registered matters. Certification means the contractor passed the state exam and "your licensure will allow you to work throughout the state". Registration means a county or city license, valid "only in that county or city, plus adjoining locales that accept the registration" (DBPR FAQ). A Registered roofer from another county may not be allowed to work on your house.

How to look a contractor up, step by step

1. Ask for the license number.
2. Open Verify a License and choose "Search by License Number". If you only have a name, choose "Search by Name" and search the business name, then the owner's name; the license is in the qualifier's name, and the business name is shown on it ("INDIVIDUAL" appears if there is none).
3. Open the record. Read status, expiry, license type and the qualifying individual.
4. Confirm the business you are contracting with is the one named on the license. The qualifier "must be approved to qualify the entity"; a license that names a different company is not this company's license.
5. Check for any discipline shown on the record.
6. For electrical, generator or solar work, run the same search for the electrical license; it is a different board.
7. Check again the week work starts.

What "Current, Active", "Delinquent" and "Null and Void" mean on DBPR's record

From the DBPR FAQ:

• Current, Active: "Your contractor's license is current and you may practice within your scope of work."
• Current, Inactive: current but the contractor is "not actively practicing in construction". Not OK to hire.
• Delinquent, Active: "not renewed by the expiration date", and the contractor "may not practice until the status is updated". Same for Delinquent, Inactive.
• Null and Void: the license is gone; "Generally, you must start the licensure process over."
• Probation: can follow a disciplinary case; the licensee "must appear before the board at least twice a year", but "there are no restrictions placed on the probationary license" if its conditions are met. Ask what the case was.

Penalties for unlicensed contracting in Florida

Section 489.127(2): an unlicensed person who contracts "commits a misdemeanor of the first degree"; a second offence "commits a felony of the third degree"; and any violation "during the existence of a state of emergency declared by executive order of the Governor commits a felony of the third degree". DBPR's unlicensed activity unit adds that citations "may include fines up to $2,500" (ULA FAQ). So after a hurricane, once the Governor has declared an emergency, unlicensed roofing is a felony.

What the license does not tell you

Whether their permits got inspected and closed. That is the city's record, and we read it for Orlando, Miami and Cape Coral. Orlando roofing: 9,818 permits, the usual job 27 days to final; Orlando HVAC 91 days. Miami roofing: 6,585 permits, 97.5% finished. Cape Coral HVAC: 5,015 permits from 455 firms, 97.8% matched Active, 93.2% finished. One gap on our side: Orlando fence firms match an Active license only 57.3% of the time, because fences are not on DBPR's list of trades that need a state license. An unmatched fence company is not a finding.

Unlicensed contractors in Miami-Dade

Miami-Dade County runs its own enforcement on top of DBPR. Its Contractor Enforcement section enforces the Florida Building Code and Chapter 10 of the County Code against contractors and unlicensed people, and can issue citations and fines, order work stopped, or refer a case for prosecution under the Florida Statutes and Chapter 10 (Miami-Dade Contractor Enforcement, read 21 October 2026). What to know before you report:

The Miami permit file is mostly licensed work: 97.4% of the 311 firms that filed new-home permits in Miami from October 2023 to September 2026 match an Active DBPR license, and 97.4% of roofing firms do. An unlicensed builder is more likely to show up as no permit at all, so search your address on the permit portal (links) before work starts.

Owner-builder permits are not a license

Miami-Dade lets an owner pull a permit as owner-builder to build or improve a one- or two-family home "for your own use or occupancy", not for sale or lease, with the property in a person's name, not a company's or trust's. If it is sold or leased within 24 months of the permit, the law presumes it was built for sale or lease, which breaks the exemption. The owner must make sure any contractor they hire is licensed and insured, and is liable for injuries and damage caused by laborers they hire (Miami-Dade owner-builder permits, read 21 October 2026). So a builder who asks you to pull the permit in your own name is handing you that liability, and the permit will show you, not them, as the responsible party.

Red flags on a Florida license record

• Any status other than Current, Active.
• A Registered license from a county that is not yours, or that your county does not accept.
• The business name on the license is not the business on your contract.
• A qualifier who does not work at the firm, or one person qualifying several unrelated companies.
• Discipline or public complaints on the record, especially recent.
• A roofing or general license offered for electrical work; electrical is a separate board.
• Pressure to sign right after a storm, before you have run the license search.
• A builder who asks you to pull an owner-builder permit for a house it is building for you.

See every Orlando roofer by their permit record →