Plumbing Contractor License in Florida: Requirements, Qualifier, Bond and Exams

Statewide.

Florida law says no person may engage in the business of contracting in this state without first being certified or registered in the proper classification, and the plumbing contractor license is issued by the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR).

The two statuses differ in reach: a certified plumbing contractor may work anywhere in Florida, while a registered plumbing contractor may contract only in the counties, municipalities or development districts where they have complied with all local licensing requirements.

The state requires no exam for registration; registration turns on meeting the local requirements where the business works.

The Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) issues the Florida plumbing contractor license.

There is one plumbing classification, and its scope is unlimited in the plumbing trade.

What varies is the status attached to the license: certified for statewide work, or registered for the local jurisdictions where the qualifier holds a local competency license.

A plumbing contractor who also contracts for air-conditioning work would need the separate air-conditioning classification as well; Florida licenses air-conditioning contractors through the same CILB.

A business organization contracts in Florida through a licensed qualifying agent, so the qualifier's own credentials are the heart of the application.

To sit for Florida certification that person must be at least 18 and have active experience in the trade — for example 4 years as a skilled worker at the journeyman level or as a foreman, of which at least 1 year must be as a foreman; college credit or a relevant bachelor's degree can substitute for part of it.

Florida counts 2,000 person-hours as one year of full-time experience.

One licensee may qualify more than one business, but must pay the original fee for each additional business, show the ability to supervise each, and approval of each is at the board's discretion.

The experience ladder underneath is local: Florida has no statewide journeyman plumber license — counties and municipalities issue journeyman plumber licenses, and a local card is portable between Florida localities.

The statewide certified route requires two exams: the plumbing trade-knowledge exam and the business and finance exam.

Professional Testing, Inc. handles the applications, and Pearson VUE delivers the business and finance part and the other construction examinations in computer-based format.

The plumbing trade-knowledge exam is the exception: it is administered in paper and pencil format and offered multiple times per year, so build the application timeline around the DBPR's published exam schedule.

All CILB examinations are open book and consist of multiple-choice questions.

Registered contractors take no state exam — the state requires no exam for registration — so both exams apply on the certified route.

Florida plumbing contractors must carry public liability insurance of at least $100,000 and property damage insurance of at least $25,000.

Applicants must also show financial responsibility: a credit report with no unsatisfied judgments or liens and a FICO credit score of 660 or higher, or completion of a board-approved 14-hour financial responsibility course instead.

On bonds: our research did not find a statewide contractor license bond for plumbing contractors in Chapter 489 or the CILB rules we reviewed; what those rules do set is the insurance and financial-responsibility proof above.

Ask the CILB whether any bond applies to your situation before you apply.

Certified and registered contractors renew every 2 years and must complete 14 hours of continuing education per biennium, including workers' compensation, business practices, workplace safety and 1 hour of laws and rules.

The renewal calendar follows the license status: certified plumbing contractors renew by August 31 of even-numbered years, and registered contractors by August 31 of odd-numbered years.

The DBPR lists the renewal fee as $205 plus $50 per qualified business.

Our research confirmed only the renewal fee — initial application and license fees were not established — so price the first year from the CILB's current fee schedule.

Not for plumbing.

The CILB's reciprocal licensing agreements cover only the general, building and residential contractor licenses — with Louisiana, North Carolina and Mississippi — and none for air-conditioning, mechanical or plumbing licenses.

A separate route exists: Florida allows licensure by endorsement for applicants who passed a substantially equivalent examination in another state, hold a substantially equivalent out-of-state license, or have held a valid contractor license in another state for at least 10 years before the date of application.

If the only qualifying agent for a business organization leaves, the business must notify the DBPR and has 60 days from the termination of that affiliation to employ another qualifying agent, and it may not contract until one is qualified.

One licensee may qualify more than one business, but each additional business costs the original fee again, requires evidence the agent can supervise its work, and is approved at the board's discretion.

Record whose license your company contracts under, and confirm the notification steps with the DBPR when an affiliation ends.

Yes, and it is narrow.

Florida exempts work whose aggregate contract price for labor, materials and all other items is less than $2,500, when the work is casual, minor or inconsequential.

The exemption does not cover splitting one job into smaller contracts to evade the law, and the statute carries further exceptions and limits — read them, or check with the CILB, before relying on the exemption for real plumbing work.

Yes.

A Florida plumbing contractor who wants to work on medical gas piping must take, as part of the contractor's continuing education requirement, an approved course of at least 6 hours — based on NFPA 99C and brazing — at least once during the holding of the license.

It is a once-per-license requirement rather than a recurring renewal line, so plan it before the first medical gas job.