Florida Contractor License Search: Status, Scope, and Discipline

To run a Florida contractor license search, go to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s Licensee Search at myfloridalicense.com and look the contractor up by license number, personal name, or business name. The search is free, takes about two minutes, and tells you whether the license is active, what work it authorizes, and whether the contractor has a disciplinary record. Running it before you sign anything is worth the time, because under Florida Statutes Section 489.128, a contract with an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable, and you lose your legal path to recover money or hold them to the job.¹

The DBPR portal is the only authoritative source. Third-party sites republish the same data but aren’t always current, so go straight to myfloridalicense.com.²

Running the Search

You have three ways in: license number, individual name, or business name.² The license number is the fastest route and returns a single exact match. Any legitimate contractor should hand it over without hesitation. If they stall or claim they don’t know it, treat that as a signal.

A name search works too, but needs more attention. Try partial names if the full name comes back empty, since the database may format names differently than a business card does. You can filter results by license type to cut through common-name clutter. On the results page, confirm the address and qualifying agent so you know you’re looking at the right person and not a namesake.

Reading the License Status

Every result shows a status line. That line decides whether the contractor can legally work on your project today.

Current (Active): Valid and in good standing. This is the only status that should let a contract move forward.
Inactive or Voluntarily Inactive: The contractor placed the license in an inactive state and cannot perform contracting work.
Delinquent: The license wasn’t renewed before it expired. A delinquent license is not a valid license.³
Suspended: The Construction Industry Licensing Board has suspended the license, usually as discipline. No work allowed.
Revoked or Null and Void: The license has been canceled, typically after a serious violation.

Anything other than Current or Active means the contractor is not authorized to do your job. There is no middle ground here.

Certified or Registered: Why It Changes the Answer

Florida issues two main types of contractor licenses. A certified contractor passed a state exam and is licensed statewide, in every county and municipality. A registered contractor holds a license limited to specific local jurisdictions where they’ve obtained a local certificate of competency.⁴

If the record shows “Registered,” check that the listed jurisdictions actually include the county where your work will happen. A registered roofer licensed in Hillsborough County cannot legally take a job across the bay in Pinellas without separate local authorization.

Does the License Cover Your Project?

License type defines scope. A residential contractor cannot legally build a four-story condo, and a Class B air-conditioning contractor is capped at systems up to 25 tons of cooling and 500,000 BTU of heating. The common categories include general contractor (no building-type restriction), building contractor (commercial and residential up to three stories), residential contractor (one- to three-family residences up to two stories, plus related structures), roofing contractor, sheet metal contractor, Class A and Class B air-conditioning contractors, and mechanical contractor. Electrical contractors and plumbers are licensed by separate boards under Part II of Chapter 489.⁵

Match the license type on the search result to the work you’re hiring for. If the scope doesn’t fit, keep looking.

Checking Disciplinary History

An active license is not the same as a clean one. The portal lets you view public complaint and disciplinary history tied to a license number, including dates, classifications, dispositions, citations, fines, and suspension orders issued by the Construction Industry Licensing Board.⁶

Not everything is visible. Complaints stay confidential until the department finds probable cause or the contractor waives confidentiality.⁷ The DBPR also suggests calling your local building department, because local-level discipline doesn’t always show up in the state database. One old citation isn’t necessarily disqualifying. A recent suspension or a repeating pattern should be.

Verifying Workers’ Compensation Coverage

The license search doesn’t tell you whether the contractor carries insurance. Florida law requires contractors and subcontractors in construction to secure workers’ compensation coverage for their employees.⁸ Some sole proprietors and corporate officers without employees qualify for an exemption, but that exemption has to be on file with the state.

Verify coverage through the Division of Workers’ Compensation Public Portal. The Exemption Search tool looks up a contractor by name or employer identification number and shows active insurance coverage or a valid exemption certificate, with carrier information, policy numbers, and up to five years of coverage history.⁹ If an uninsured worker is hurt on your property and the contractor has no coverage, you could end up on the hook for medical bills and lost wages, and your homeowner’s policy may not step in.

What You Lose by Skipping the Check

Under Florida Statutes Section 489.128, any contract with an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable. The unlicensed contractor cannot sue you for payment, but you also cannot use the contract to enforce warranties, deadlines, or quality standards. If they walk off a half-finished bathroom, you have no contractual remedy. The unlicensed contractor also cannot place a lien on your property or make a bond claim.¹ On the enforcement side, unlicensed contracting is a first-degree misdemeanor, rising to a third-degree felony on a second offense or during a Governor-declared state of emergency, with civil penalties up to $2,500 per day.¹⁰

There is also the Construction Industries Recovery Fund, which can reimburse homeowners financially harmed by a licensed contractor’s mismanagement after other civil remedies have been exhausted.¹¹ It only covers work done by a licensed contractor. Hire someone unlicensed and the fund is closed to you.

When a License Isn’t Required

Not every job needs a licensed contractor. Florida exempts casual, minor, or inconsequential work where the total contract price for labor and materials is less than $2,500, which covers things like replacing a faucet or patching drywall. The exemption disappears if the small job is really a slice of a larger project split up to dodge licensing, or if the person doing the work advertises as a contractor.¹²

Homeowners can also act as their own contractor on property they own and occupy, as long as they supervise the work directly on-site. For one-family or two-family homes there’s no dollar cap on this owner-builder exemption, though the property can’t be put up for sale or lease. For commercial buildings the exemption caps at $75,000. Even then, specialty work like electrical and plumbing still has to go to licensed subcontractors.¹²

Reporting Someone Working Without a License

If your search returns nothing and you believe someone is performing contracting work without authorization, report it to the DBPR. The DBPR Mobile App lets you select region and profession, describe the issue, attach up to three photos, and submit. You can also call the DBPR Customer Contact Center at (850) 487-1395 or file online.¹³

You can stay anonymous, but emails to state agencies are public records in Florida. To keep your identity confidential, report by phone or through the app without entering contact information. The DBPR can investigate and impose civil penalties without your continued involvement.⁷

1
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 489.128 – Contracts Entered Into by Unlicensed Contractors Unenforceable
2
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Construction Industry – Business Information
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 455.271 – Inactive and Delinquent Status
4
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 489.105 – Definitions
5
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Construction Industry
6
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Licensing Portal – View Public Complaints
7
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Construction-Related Complaint Package
8
Florida Senate. Florida Code 440.10 – Liability for Compensation
9
Division of Workers’ Compensation. Exemption Search
10
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 489.127 – Penalty for Violation
11
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Construction Industry – Recovery Fund
12
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 489.103 – Exemptions
13
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Report Unlicensed Activity