How to Check License Status in Florida: DBPR and DOH MQA Portals

To check a license status in Florida, go to the state agency that issued the license. Most professional and business licenses are searchable at MyFloridaLicense.com through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), healthcare providers are on the Department of Health’s Medical Quality Assurance portal, and drivers, insurance agents, attorneys, private investigators, and financial brokers each have their own database. Picking the right portal is the whole trick.

DBPR: The Main Portal for Professions and Trades

The DBPR regulates more professions and businesses than any other Florida agency. Real estate agents, cosmetologists, community association managers, home inspectors, veterinarians, accountants, architects, and most building trades are all verified through the same tool.¹

Open the “Verify a Licensee” page at myfloridalicense.com. You can search by name, license number, city or county, or license type.² A license number is the most precise; a name search works when you don’t have the number. Results show the licensee’s name, profession, address, and current status.³ If several results come back, narrow by profession and address.

Healthcare Providers: The DOH MQA Portal

Doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, massage therapists, and other healthcare professionals are licensed by the Florida Department of Health (DOH), not DBPR. Their search tool is the Medical Quality Assurance portal, which covers individual practitioners and healthcare facilities such as pain management clinics and health care services pools.⁴

The MQA record shows more than a simple active-or-not indicator. It carries detailed status categories, conditions attached to the license, and disciplinary history, and the DOH publishes a separate page defining every status term.⁵

Other Florida License Search Tools

Several categories fall outside DBPR and DOH entirely.

Driver’s licenses. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles offers a check at services.flhsmv.gov/dlcheck. You need the driver license number, and a “VALID” result means the record is clear. The tool is built for checking your own status, not looking someone else up by name.⁶
Insurance agents and adjusters. The Florida Department of Financial Services runs a licensee search at licenseesearch.fldfs.com, covering insurance adjusters, bail bond agents, and lines including property and casualty, life and annuity, surplus lines, and title.
Attorneys. The Florida Bar’s “Find a Lawyer” directory at floridabar.org shows whether an attorney is a member in good standing along with bar number and practice areas.
Private investigators, security officers, and recovery agents. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services licenses these through its Division of Licensing, which also handles concealed weapon license applications.⁷
Financial advisors and brokers. FINRA’s BrokerCheck at brokercheck.finra.org is a free federal tool showing current registrations, licensing history, and disciplinary events for investment professionals and brokerage firms.⁸

Reading a DBPR License Status

DBPR uses a two-part status. The primary status shows whether the licensee is up to date with the department, and the secondary status shows whether they can actually work.

Primary status:

Current. The licensee has met all department requirements.
Involuntarily Inactive. The licensee did not renew on time.
Delinquent. Also a failure to complete a timely renewal.
Null and Void. The licensee missed multiple renewal cycles and would have to reapply from scratch to practice again.

Secondary status:

Active. Authorized to operate under the license.
Inactive. Requirements met, but not authorized to work. Some professionals choose inactive status while doing other work; they can return to active by notifying the department and completing outstanding requirements such as continuing education.

“Current, Active” is what you want to see. Anything else is worth a closer look before you hire the person or sign a contract.⁹

Reading a DOH License Status

The DOH uses different terminology, and the distinctions carry more weight because they reflect disciplinary history.⁵

Clear Active. Authorized to practice in Florida with no restrictions. The cleanest status a provider can have.
Conditional Active. Can still practice, but the licensing board has imposed specific conditions or limitations set out in a final order, often following discipline.
Clear Inactive. Holds a license but is not authorized to practice. Sometimes chosen intentionally while working outside the field.
Delinquent. Previously held a Clear Active or Clear Inactive license but did not renew by the expiration date. Cannot practice.
Suspended. The license has been suspended by emergency order or administrative action. Administrative suspensions can relate to unpaid child support rather than professional misconduct; either way, the practitioner cannot work.
Revoked. Permanently withdrawn. For certain facility registrations such as pain management clinics, administrative revocation follows a failure to meet operational criteria.
Null and Void. Failed to renew for two consecutive cycles; the license has expired beyond normal reactivation.

The gap most people miss is between Clear Active and Conditional Active. A conditional license means the provider faced disciplinary action but was allowed to keep practicing under restrictions. If you see that status, click through and read the order before you proceed.¹⁰

Verifying a Contractor

Contractor checks run through the same DBPR portal. Florida’s Construction Industry Licensing Board oversees general, building, residential, roofing, plumbing, HVAC, sheet metal, mechanical, and pool and spa contractors.¹¹

Pay attention to the license prefix. “CG” or “RG” is a general contractor; “CC” or “RC” is roofing; “CF” or “RF” is plumbing. A license starting with “C” (certified) is valid statewide, while one starting with “R” (registered) is limited to the local jurisdiction that issued it.¹¹

Confirm the license, then confirm insurance. Florida law requires contractors and subcontractors engaged in construction to carry workers’ compensation coverage for their employees.¹² Ask to see a certificate of insurance before work begins. A reputable contractor will have one ready.

If the Search Shows a Problem

If a license is expired, suspended, revoked, or nonexistent, you can report it. DBPR accepts complaints about unlicensed activity through its website and mobile app, and you can file anonymously, though anything submitted electronically becomes a public record under Florida law.¹³

Complaints about healthcare providers go through the DOH instead. The department can act on grounds ranging from fraudulent representation to practicing outside the scope of a license to failing to meet continuing education requirements.¹⁴

Two minutes in the right database will tell you whether the person in front of you has legal authority to do the work.

1
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. MyFloridaLicense.com Home
2
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Licensing Portal – License Search
3
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. How to Verify a License
4
Florida Department of Health. License Verification
5
Florida Department of Health. How to Check a License Status in Florida
6
Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Driver License Check
7
Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Licensing – Divisions and Offices
8
FINRA.org. About BrokerCheck
9
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Licensing Portal – Term Glossary
10
Florida Board of Medicine. License Status Definitions
11
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Construction Industry
12
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 440.10 – Liability for Compensation
13
Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Report Unlicensed Activity
14
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 455.227 – Grounds for Discipline, Penalties, Enforcement