Florida general contractor license requirements, step by step.

To get a Florida general contractor license, you need to be at least 18, have four years of qualifying construction experience (at least one of them as a foreman) or an approved mix of college and experience, pass three state exams, and show DBPR your credit, insurance and a clean background check. That license is the certified general contractor (CGC) license, the one with no limit on what you can build. This guide walks through every requirement in order, compares the general, building and residential licenses, and points out where people get stuck.

Florida contractor license requirements at a glance

These come from Florida Statutes section 489.111, the Construction Industry Licensing Board’s rules, and DBPR’s published FAQ and application checklists. The sections below explain each one.

Certified vs. registered: which Florida contractor license you need

Florida has two kinds of contractor license. A certified license is issued by the state through the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) and lets you work anywhere in Florida. A registered license only lets you work in the cities or counties where you hold a local certificate of competency.

When people say “Florida general contractor license”, they almost always mean the certified one, and that’s what this guide covers.

Florida contractor license types: CGC vs. CBC vs. CRC

Three certified licenses cover general building work. They share the same basic eligibility rules and the same Business and Finance exam. They differ in what you’re allowed to build, the experience that counts, and the two trade exams you take. The detail on each one, and on moving up later, is in Florida contractor license types: CGC vs. CBC vs. CRC.

Certified General Contractor (CGC)

The general contractor license has no scope limit. Florida law describes a general contractor’s services as “unlimited as to the type of work.” It’s the only one of the three that lets you build high-rises. That’s why it’s the only one that asks for a year of experience on buildings at least four stories tall.

Certified Building Contractor (CBC)

The practical difference between a certified building contractor and a general contractor in Florida is height and structure. A building contractor can build commercial and residential buildings up to three stories. They can also remodel or repair a building of any size, as long as the work doesn’t touch its structural members. The experience rules are the same commercial rules as for general contractors, minus the four-story year.

Certified Residential Contractor (CRC): the residential contractor license in Florida

If you build houses, the certified residential contractor license may be all you need. It covers one-, two- and three-family homes of up to two habitable stories (above no more than one uninhabitable story), plus accessory structures.

The big difference is experience. For a residential contractor license in Florida, your experience can be entirely residential. The CILB counts work on detached one- and two-family homes and townhouses up to three stories, in at least three of these five areas:

• Foundations, slabs or structural formwork
• Masonry walls
• Structural demolition
• Structural wood framing, including trusses (platform framing doesn’t count)
• Column erection

The trade exams are also shorter: 45 questions each for Contract Administration and Project Management, against 60 for the general contractor license. Business and Finance is the same exam for all three.

Which license should you go for?

Go for the highest license your experience supports. Florida law lets you move up later:

• An active certified residential contractor can get the building license after passing the building exam, with 3 years of experience as a residential contractor.
• An active certified residential or building contractor can get the general license after passing the general contractor exam, with 4 years of experience in their current license.

DBPR’s own FAQ suggests candidates consider taking the highest-level exam they can. A passing score on the general contractor trade exams can support a building or residential license, and a later upgrade, without retesting.

Experience requirements

Florida Statutes 489.111(2)(c) gives you three main ways to qualify. For every route, a full-time year means at least 2,000 hours.

Route 1: a four-year degree plus one year

A bachelor’s degree from an accredited four-year college, plus one year of experience in the license category. For general, building and residential licenses, the CILB only accepts three degrees: civil engineering, building construction or architecture.

Route 2: four years of experience

Four years of active experience as a skilled worker (able to command a mechanic’s rate in the trade) or as a foreman, with at least one of those years as a foreman in charge of a crew.

Route 3: college credit plus experience

College credits can replace some of the field time. They don’t have to be in construction, and junior and community college courses count. The foreman year can’t be replaced. The statute allows three combinations:

Military experience

DBPR says experience gained in the military can count toward the requirement. You document it with your DD-214 and DBPR’s Military Service Verification form when you apply for your license. Veterans, their spouses and Florida National Guard members may also qualify for fee waivers or discounts.

What counts as experience

The CILB accepts experience gained under the supervision of a contractor who was properly licensed for that work at the time. Experience from other states can count if the work meets Florida’s definition for the license category. Work that’s exempt from licensing in Florida doesn’t count.

The extra rules for general, building and residential

For general and building contractor licenses, your experience has to be commercial construction in at least four of these six areas:

1. Foundations or slabs over 20,000 square feet
2. Masonry walls
3. Steel erection
4. Elevated slabs
5. Column erection
6. Formwork for structural reinforced concrete

General contractor applicants also need at least one year on structures of four or more stories.

Residential applicants need residential experience in at least three of five areas instead. The list is in the CRC section above.

How to get a general contractor license in Florida, step by step

Step 1: Pick your license and check your experience against it

Decide between general, building and residential using the table above. Then match your work history to one of the three experience routes and, for general and building, to the six structural areas. DBPR’s Candidate Information Booklet and the CILB’s FAQ answer most edge cases.

Step 2: File the exam application (the form people search for)

The Florida general contractor application form for the exam is DBPR’s CILB 1, Initial and Retake Examination Application. For certified licenses, you can apply directly with the exam vendor, Professional Testing, Inc. (PTI), or use DBPR’s printable version. Both are linked from DBPR’s Construction Industry Licensing Board page.

Read DBPR’s warning before you file: passing the exam doesn’t qualify you for a license on its own. Your experience, credit and background are checked when you apply for the license in Step 7. Make sure you meet every requirement before you pay for the exam.

Step 3: Get the reference books and tab them

Every part of the exam is open book, but only with the books on DBPR’s current reference lists, in the exact editions listed. You can highlight and use permanently attached tabs. Removable tabs, sticky notes and handwritten notes aren’t allowed.

Each exam has its own list. Here’s which books you need for each part. For Business and Finance, I sell the correct-edition Business and Finance book set for $499. Tab your books before you start timed practice so you’re practicing the lookups you’ll do on test day. The tab and highlight guide shows where.

Step 4: Study, starting with Business and Finance

The Florida Business and Finance exam is the longest of the three: 120 questions in six and a half hours, heavy on accounting math, and the clock is what usually beats people. If you can, start there.

If you want structured help with it, our Business and Finance course is $197. It has about 15 lessons with video, text, and practice questions.

Before you book a date, read how hard the Florida GC exam is and look at the Florida general contractor exam pass rate for each section. Then take a free Florida general contractor practice test under the clock to see where you stand. Our guide on how to pass the Florida GC exam covers the three-pass method for managing time.

Step 5: Pass the three exams

You take the exams by computer at Pearson VUE test centers, and they’re offered year-round. You can take them on different days, and you see your result on screen when you finish. You need 70% on each part. The exam section below has the details.

Step 6: Line up your credit report and insurance

When you apply for your license, you’ll need:

• A personal credit report from a board-approved agency, including a FICO score and a search of local, state and federal records. DBPR’s FAQ uses 660 as the benchmark. Below that, it describes other ways to show financial responsibility, such as a board-approved financial responsibility course or a bond.
• Proof of insurance, by attestation: $300,000 general liability and $50,000 property damage for general and building contractors, or $100,000 and $25,000 for residential contractors.

Step 7: Apply for your license and get fingerprinted

After you pass, apply for the license on CILB 5-A (certified contractor as an individual) or CILB 6-A (if you’re qualifying a business). DBPR tells applicants to submit fingerprints through an FDLE-registered Livescan provider right after submitting the license application, not before. First-time DBPR Online Services users need to link their exam candidate ID to their account.

The license application fee is currently $245. The Livescan vendor charges you directly for fingerprints, and the price varies by vendor. DBPR’s own in-person service at its Tallahassee headquarters is $36.

Step 8: Workers’ comp, then keep it active

Within 30 days of your license being issued, you need workers’ compensation coverage or an exemption. Certified licenses renew every two years, by August 31 of even-numbered years, with 14 hours of continuing education.

The Florida contractor exam: what you’re taking

Division I contractors (general, building and residential) take three exams:

Question counts are scored questions. Each exam also includes a few unidentified pilot questions that don’t count, with extra time added for them. The passing score is 70% on each exam.

What’s on the general contractor trade exams

DBPR publishes the content weights in Rule 61G4-16.001. Each can move by up to 3%.

• Contract Administration (CGC): project contracts 40%, preconstruction 27%, licenses and permits 20%, construction procedures 13%.
• Project Management (CGC): construction methods, materials, tools and equipment 63%; safety 20%; plans and specifications 17%.
• Business and Finance (all three licenses): accounting 32%, administration 26%, government regulations 15%, establishing the business 11%, trade operations 10%, human resources 6%.

Retakes and the four-year window

If you fail a part, you only retake that part, and you wait at least 21 days after that exam before you can sit it again. You reapply through PTI at floridaexam.com, paying the $135 registration again plus the fee for that part. There’s no limit on attempts, but you have to pass all three parts within four years of your first attempt, or your earlier scores no longer count. Once you’ve passed, your passing grades stay valid for four years from the part you passed most recently, so apply for your license inside that window.

If you want to go over a failed exam, you can request a review, which has its own review fee. It’s listed on DBPR’s examination administration and review fee schedule.

What a Florida general contractor license costs

The state’s fees are fixed. The rest depends on your choices and your vendors.

If you pass every part the first time, the state exam and license fees come to $540: $295 in exam fees plus the $245 application fee. A retake costs the $135 registration again plus the fee for that part. For every line item, see our full breakdown of the Florida general contractor license cost. Wondering whether it pays off? We ran the numbers in is a GC license worth it?

Coming from another state: endorsement and reciprocity

Endorsement. If you’re licensed in another state, DBPR also offers certification by endorsement on form CILB 10. Under Florida Statutes 489.115(3), you can qualify if you passed a licensing exam substantially equivalent to Florida’s, if your state’s licensing criteria were substantially equivalent to Florida’s, or if you’ve held a license of the same or similar type for at least 10 years. DBPR warns that endorsement based on comparing another state’s exam is rarely approved. DBPR reviews each endorsement application, and the fee isn’t refunded if it’s denied.

Reciprocity. If you hold a license from a state that has a reciprocal agreement with the CILB, you can apply on form CILB 32. You’ll still need to pass Florida’s Business and Finance exam and attest that you’ve passed an exam covering the Florida Building Code. Your license must have been obtained by exam and be free of discipline for the past five years. The list of reciprocal states is on the CILB’s website.

How long it takes

The experience takes the longest: four years for most people, or one year with a qualifying degree. Once you’re eligible, much of the pace is yours:

• The exams run year-round, results are immediate, and you can take the three parts on different days. After PTI processes your exam application, you wait 10 to 14 business days before scheduling with Pearson VUE.
• After you pass, how long it takes to get your license depends on your application, DBPR’s verification of your experience, and your background check.