License planner
Which Florida contractor license should you actually get?
A lot of people assume they want a General Contractor license. Florida's rules often say otherwise. If your experience is four years of house framing, it probably supports only a Residential license. If you have commercial experience with no year on a four-story project, that's a Building license. Applying and testing for the wrong one costs at least $135 and months. Answer 7–12 quick questions and I'll show you the license your experience supports, the gap to the one you want, and what to do next.
Free, no email needed to see the plan. Covers Certified General, Certified Building, and Certified Residential only. Built by Ethan Notestine, who passed all three parts of the exam in 2026. Rules checked September 30, 2026.
No email needed to see your plan.
Florida contractor license types: General, Building, and Residential
General (CGC), Building (CBC), and Residential (CRC) are Florida's Division I contractor licenses. All three are certified, so they work statewide, and all three share the same Business & Finance exam. What separates them is the height and type of building you can take on, and the experience rules mirror those limits. General is the only class with no height limit, so it's the only one that asks for a year on buildings four stories or taller.
| General (CGC) | Building (CBC) | Residential (CRC) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you can build | Any building, any height (§ 489.105(3)(a)) | Commercial and residential buildings up to three stories, plus non-structural remodels of any size (§ 489.105(3)(b)) | One-, two-, and three-family homes and townhouses, up to two habitable stories (§ 489.105(3)(c)) |
| Kind of experience | Commercial | Commercial | Houses and townhouses |
| Experience areas | 4 of 6 structural areas | 4 of 6 structural areas | 3 of 5 structural areas |
| Year on a building four stories or taller | Required (61G4-15.001(2)(b)) | Not required | Not required |
| Contract Administration and Project Management | 60 questions each, 4.5 hours each | 50 questions each, 4.5 hours each | 45 questions each, 4.5 hours each |
| Business & Finance | Same exam for all three: 120 questions, 6.5 hours | Same exam | Same exam |
| Minimum insurance (liability / property damage) | $300,000 / $50,000 | $300,000 / $50,000 | $100,000 / $25,000 |
| License application (individual / business) | CILB 5-A / 6-A | CILB 5-B / 6-B | CILB 5-C / 6-C |
General and Building: four of these six
Commercial work only. Sheds, barns, carports, and storage buildings don't count (Rule 61G4-15.001(2)(a)).
- Foundations or slabs over 20,000 square feet
- Masonry walls
- Steel erection
- Elevated slabs
- Column erection
- Formwork for structural reinforced concrete
Residential: three of these five
Houses and townhouses up to three stories above grade (Rule 61G4-15.001(3)).
- Foundation, slabs, or structural formwork
- Masonry walls
- Structural demolition
- Structural wood framing, including trusses (not platform framing)
- Column erection
Five ways to meet the experience requirement
Florida Statute 489.111 decides how many years you need, and Rule 61G4-15.001 decides what counts as a year. A year is 2,000 hours. The experience has to be under a contractor licensed in that class or one that covers it.
- Four years, one as a foreman. Worker or foreman time, with at least one year in charge of a crew (§ 489.111(2)(c)2).
- An accepted bachelor's plus one year. Civil engineering, building construction, or architecture only (§ 489.111(2)(c)1; Rule 61G4-15.001(4)(a)). A building-construction degree with a 3.0 GPA also drops the two trade exams, leaving only Business & Finance (§ 489.113(1)).
- College credit plus a foreman year. One foreman year with three years of credit, one worker year and one foreman year with two years of credit, or two worker years and one foreman year with one year of credit. Any accredited credit counts, community college included (§ 489.111(2)(c)3).
- Military service. Honorably discharged veterans can count up to three years of active duty, plus a foreman year, civilian or military (§ 489.1131(1)(b)).
- An upgrade. Three years on an active Residential license opens Building. Four years on Residential or Building opens General (§ 489.111(2)(c)4).
College credit can stand in for field years. It can't stand in for the foreman year. The full step-by-step path, from the exam application to the license, is in the Florida contractor license requirements guide.
Frequently asked questions
What are the types of contractor licenses in Florida?
Florida splits construction licenses into Division I and Division II. Division I is the three building licenses: Certified General (CGC), Certified Building (CBC), and Certified Residential (CRC). Division II covers specialty trades like roofing, plumbing, air conditioning, and pool work. Electrical contractors are licensed under a separate part of the law. Each license is either certified, which works statewide, or registered, which only works where a local government issued it.
What's the difference between a CGC, CBC, and CRC license?
It comes down to what you can build. A Certified General contractor has no limit on height or building type. A Certified Building contractor can build commercial and residential buildings up to three stories and do non-structural remodels of any size. A Certified Residential contractor can build one-, two-, and three-family homes up to two habitable stories. The experience rules follow those limits: General and Building need commercial work, Residential needs work on houses, and only General needs a year on a building four stories or taller.
Which contractor license is the easiest to get in Florida?
None of the three is a shortcut. All three need the same four years of experience with one year as a foreman, or one of the other routes the statute allows, and all three share the same Business & Finance exam. What changes is the kind of work that counts. Residential needs three of five structural areas on houses, and its trade exams are shorter at 45 questions each. The easiest license to get is the one your paperwork already supports.
Can I get a Florida contractor license with no experience?
Not a General, Building, or Residential license. The shortest route is a bachelor's degree in civil engineering, building construction, or architecture plus one year of experience in the class you want (§ 489.111(2)(c)1 and Rule 61G4-15.001(4)(a)). Every other route takes four years combined, including one year as a foreman.
Do veterans get credit toward a Florida contractor license?
Yes. Honorably discharged veterans can count up to three years of active-duty service toward the experience requirement, regardless of duty or training, plus at least one year as a foreman, which can be civilian or military (§ 489.1131(1)(b)). The license application has a Military Veterans section for it.
Can I upgrade from a Residential or Building license to General?
Yes. An active Certified Residential contractor with three years in that license can sit the Building exam. An active Residential or Building contractor with four years can sit the General exam, and the four-story year doesn't apply on that jump (§ 489.111(2)(c)4 and Rule 61G4-15.001(2)(b)). With a clean license, you skip Business & Finance and take only the trade exams (Rule 61G4-16.0015).
Does a county (registered) license count toward a certified license?
No. A registered license only works in the city or county that issued it, and a certified license works statewide. Holding a registered license doesn't carry over. You still meet the certified experience rules and pass the state exams.
Is this planner a Board decision?
No. It's a planning tool built on the published statutes and CILB rules. The Construction Industry Licensing Board decides every application. If a deficiency letter disagrees with your plan, the deficiency letter wins.
Sources
- Florida Statutes § 489.105, § 489.111, § 489.113 (Chapter 489, Part I)
- Florida Statutes § 489.1131 — credit for military service
- Rule 61G4-15.001 — what counts as experience
- Rule 61G4-15.006 — financial responsibility and credit
- DBPR Construction Industry Licensing Board — applications and forms
Rules last checked September 30, 2026 against the statutes, the CILB rules, and DBPR's current license applications. This is a planning tool, not a Board determination. The Construction Industry Licensing Board decides.