How to Verify a Contractor License in Florida

To verify a contractor license in Florida, search the free lookup on the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) site at myfloridalicense.com. Enter the contractor's name, license number, or business name, then confirm the license is Current and Active, that the license type (Certified or Registered) covers your project's jurisdiction, and that the expiration date is in the future. For teams onboarding dozens of contractors, the same checks can be run programmatically with a contractor license verification API.

What's the difference between a certified and a registered Florida contractor?

This is the single most misunderstood part of Florida licensing — and the mistake that causes the most failed verifications.

• Certified contractors hold a statewide license issued by the DBPR through the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB). They passed state exams, demonstrated financial responsibility, and cleared a background check. A certified contractor can pull permits and perform work anywhere in Florida. Their license numbers start with a C prefix (for example, a certified general contractor's number starts with CGC; a certified roofing contractor starts with CCC; certified building with CBC).
• Registered contractors are licensed at the local level: they earned a local competency card from a city or county and registered that credential with the DBPR. They may work only in the jurisdiction that issued their competency card. A registered roofing contractor's license number starts with RC.

Both categories are legitimate licenses — "registered" is not code for "unlicensed." But scope matters. A contractor registered only in Orange County cannot legally do work in Miami-Dade. When you verify, the license record shows the qualifier's type explicitly, so check that the license type matches the job's location and scope. Florida Statute §489.105 defines both categories if you want the exact legal text.

There is also a meaningful gray area for consumers: Florida does not require a state contractor license for every trade. Handy-type work under local permit thresholds, painting-only jobs, and several other categories fall to county or municipal rules. But for general contracting, roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and most structural work, expect a state-level license or a valid local registration.

How do you verify a contractor license in Florida?

The DBPR runs a free public lookup — you do not need an account, and it takes about two minutes:

1. Go to the DBPR licensing portal (myfloridalicense.com) and choose "Verify a License."
2. Search by the contractor's name, license number, or business name. You can search with a partial name and filter results by county or license type.
3. Click through to the detail page. Review license type, status, expiration date, and the qualifying individual's name.
4. Cross-check the business: does the business name and address on the record match the company that gave you the quote? If a company presents one license number but the lookup shows a different business name, ask why before you sign anything.

Florida licenses renew biennially, so an "expired" status often just means the contractor let renewal lapse — but it still means they are not legally authorized to work until it is restored. Also check the DBPR's Unlicensed Activity Search, a separate database of public complaints filed against people and businesses that were not licensed at the time of the complaint. If a name does not appear in the licensee search at all, run it through the unlicensed activity database before assuming it is a data-entry issue.

What does a Florida DBPR license record show?

A DBPR license record is more useful than a bare "yes, licensed" answer. Here is what to read on the detail page:

• License status. You want "Current" and "Active." Other statuses include Inactive (still licensed but not permitted to perform work), Suspended, Delinquent (renewal deadline passed — work performed under a delinquent license can create liability for both contractor and property owner), and Revoked. Treat anything other than Active as a stop sign.
• License type and category. Certified vs registered tells you geographic scope; the license category (general, building, residential, roofing, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, pool, and others) tells you work scope. A contractor may hold several categories — check that at least one matches your project.
• Expiration date. Florida licenses renew on a two-year cycle. Confirm the expiration date is in the future.
• Qualifying agent. The individual whose exam and experience qualify the license, plus the business entity the license is attached to. Make sure the person running your project is actually connected to the licensed entity.
• Complaint and disciplinary history. DBPR investigations and final disciplinary orders appear on the license record and stay visible to future clients. A few resolved complaints over a long career is normal in construction; a pattern of recent discipline is not.

What are the red flags in a Florida license lookup?

After running hundreds of Florida verifications, the flags we watch for are consistent:

1. Status anything other than Current/Active. Expired, suspended, delinquent, or revoked all mean the same thing for your project: they cannot legally do the work right now.
2. Geographic mismatch. A registered contractor whose jurisdiction does not include your property's city or county. This is the most common "but he's licensed!" failure mode.
3. Trade mismatch. A general contractor's license does not authorize specialized work outside its scope — for example, a CBC holder can handle roofing within a larger project, but a dedicated roofing license (CCC) passed a roofing-specific exam. Match the license to the work.
4. Name mismatch. The business name on the record does not match the name on the quote, or the qualifying agent is not who shows up at your door. Legitimate companies explain this in one sentence; evasive ones do not.
5. "Licensed and insured" with no license number. Florida contractors are required to include their license number on advertising, contracts, and business documents. A contractor who cannot or will not produce one is hiding something.
6. Insurance that exists on paper only. Florida requires contractors to carry general liability coverage and workers' compensation (or a valid exemption). Ask for the certificate of insurance from the insurer, not a PDF forwarded by the contractor — and confirm the policy dates cover your project window.

How do teams verify Florida contractor licenses at scale?

A homeowner vets one contractor. Marketplaces, lenders, insurance carriers, and compliance teams onboard dozens or hundreds of Florida pros — and licenses change status over time. Manual DBPR lookups do not survive that volume, and rechecks get skipped. This is the same problem contractor compliance teams at marketplaces solve by moving verification into their onboarding flow.

At scale, the Florida checks become an automated rule set: query the DBPR record, require status Current/Active, confirm the license category covers the trade, confirm Certified status or a matching Registered jurisdiction, confirm a future expiration date, and flag complaint or disciplinary history for human review. Run it at onboarding, then on a schedule — how often you recheck matters more than how deep you go, because Florida biennial renewals and disciplinary actions happen on someone else's calendar. An API that normalizes DBPR data into status, category, insurance, and bond fields lets your system enforce those rules the same way every time, instead of relying on whoever happens to be free to click through the lookup.

FAQ

Is the Florida DBPR license lookup free? Yes. The DBPR "Verify a License" search is free and public, and you do not need an account.

What is the difference between a certified and registered contractor in Florida? Certified contractors are licensed statewide by the DBPR through the CILB; registered contractors hold a local competency card registered with the DBPR and can only work in that jurisdiction.

Can a registered contractor work anywhere in Florida? No. A registered contractor is limited to the city or county that issued their competency card. If your project is elsewhere, you need a certified contractor or a contractor registered in that jurisdiction.

How often do Florida contractor licenses renew? Biennially — every two years. Always confirm the expiration date on the license record before a project starts.

What does "delinquent" mean on a Florida contractor license? Delinquent means the renewal deadline passed. Work performed under a delinquent license can expose both the contractor and the property owner to liability, so treat it as a stop sign until the record shows the license restored.

Where do I report unlicensed activity in Florida? The DBPR maintains a complaint portal and an unlicensed activity database, plus a statewide hotline at 1-866-532-1440. Complaints that result in discipline appear on the license record.

Practical checklist

• Ask for the license number and the exact business name on the record.
• Search the free DBPR "Verify a License" tool by name, license number, or business name.
• Confirm status is Current and Active — anything else is a stop sign.
• Confirm the license type covers your job: Certified for statewide work, Registered only within its issuing jurisdiction.
• Confirm the license category matches the trade (general, roofing, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, and so on).
• Confirm the expiration date is in the future.
• Review complaint and disciplinary history on the record.
• Run the name through the DBPR Unlicensed Activity Search if it does not appear in the licensee search.
• Ask for insurance certificates directly from the insurer, and confirm coverage dates.
• If you onboard contractors in volume, automate these checks against the DBPR record and recheck on a cadence.