Florida Certificate of Competency: State and Local Meanings

Fla. Stat. 489.105(8) uses certificate of competency to mean the state credential: a certified contractor is one who “possesses a certificate of competency issued by the department.” Fla. Stat. 489.13 uses the same words for a local certificate of competency issued by a county or municipality. One phrase, two instruments, and only the state one carries statewide contracting authority.

Instrument	Issued by	Where it authorizes contracting	Sufficient for a building permit
State certificate of competency	The department — the Florida DBPR — under Fla. Stat. 489.105(8)	Any jurisdiction in the state, without meeting that jurisdiction’s own competency requirements	Yes, in the category certified
Local certificate of competency	A county or municipality, under its own ordinance	The issuing jurisdiction only	No, where the activity requires licensure under ch. 489 Part I — Fla. Stat. 489.13(5)

The state certificate of competency under 489.105(8)

Fla. Stat. 489.105(8) defines a “certified contractor” as “any contractor who possesses a certificate of competency issued by the department and who shall be allowed to contract in any jurisdiction in the state without being required to fulfill the competency requirements of that jurisdiction.” Two things follow from that wording. The issuer is the department, not a county. And the definition carries its own portability clause: the holder is excused from a jurisdiction’s competency requirements rather than having to satisfy each one separately. The companion definition at 489.105(10) describes the registered contractor, who met one jurisdiction’s competency requirements and “may contract only in such jurisdictions” — the certified versus registered contractor status comparison sets both definitions side by side.

The local certificate of competency in Fla. Stat. 489.13

Fla. Stat. 489.13 refers to a different document. Section 489.13(1) provides that a person performing an activity requiring licensure under this part is guilty of unlicensed contracting if he or she does not hold a valid active certificate or registration, “regardless of whether he or she holds a local construction contractor license or local certificate of competency.” Chapter 489 does not define that local instrument or set its requirements: counties and municipalities issue local competency certificates under their own ordinances, so the terms of any particular certificate are a question for the county that issued it. The full section text is on the Florida Senate’s page for Fla. Stat. 489.13.

What a local certificate cannot do

Fla. Stat. 489.13(5) is the operative limit: “A local building department shall not issue a building permit to any contractor, or to any person representing himself or herself as a contractor, who does not hold a valid active certificate or registration in the appropriate category. Possession of a local certificate of competency or local construction license is not sufficient to lawfully obtain a building permit as a construction contractor if the activity in question requires licensure under this part.” Section 489.13(1) reaches the same result from the enforcement side. The relationship runs one way: under 489.105(8) a state certificate answers the local competency question, while a local certificate does not answer the state one.

What 489.13(5) still permits

The same subsection closes with a saving clause: “Nothing in this section shall be construed as prohibiting a local building department from issuing a building permit to a locally licensed or certified contractor for an activity that does not require licensure under this part.” The limit therefore turns on the activity, not on the document. Where the scope requires state licensure a local certificate is not enough; where the scope requires no state license, 489.13(5) leaves the local permit route open.

What Fla. Stat. 489.117(4)(a)1 leaves to local licensing

Fla. Stat. 489.117(4)(a)1 limits what a local government may insist on:

“A local government, as defined in s. 163.211, may not require a person to obtain a license, issued by the local government or the state, for a job scope which does not substantially correspond to the job scope of one of the contractor categories defined in s. 489.105(3)(a)-(o) and (q) or authorized in s. 489.1455(1), or the job scope of one of the certified specialty contractor categories established pursuant to s. 489.113(6).”

The bar is on requiring a license, not on offering one. Read with 489.13(5), that leaves the local certificate a narrow field: where a job scope corresponds to a state category the permit turns on the state certificate or registration, and where it does not correspond, no local government may make a license a precondition — though two provisions in the same subparagraph still let some local governments offer one.

The two carve-outs that survive

Two exceptions in the same subparagraph preserve local licensing. Fla. Stat. 489.117(4)(a)2 provides that “A county that includes an area designated as an area of critical state concern under s. 380.05 may offer a license for any job scope which requires a contractor license under this part if the county imposed such a licensing requirement before January 1, 2021.” Fla. Stat. 489.117(4)(a)3 lets a local government continue to offer a license for “veneer, including aluminum or vinyl gutters, siding, soffit, or fascia; rooftop painting, coating, and cleaning above three stories in height; or fence installation and erection” where that requirement predates the same date. Both carve-outs turn on a pre-2021 ordinance, so their reach differs by jurisdiction.

Common questions

Is a Florida certificate of competency the same as a contractor license?

At the state level the two travel together: Fla. Stat. 489.105(8) describes the certified contractor as the person who “possesses a certificate of competency issued by the department,” so the state certificate is what makes a contractor certified. A local certificate of competency is a separate document, and 489.13(5) states that possessing one “is not sufficient to lawfully obtain a building permit as a construction contractor if the activity in question requires licensure under this part.”

Who issues a certificate of competency in Florida?

Fla. Stat. 489.105(8) names the department — the Florida DBPR — as the issuer of the state certificate of competency. Fla. Stat. 489.13 refers to local certificates of competency issued by counties and municipalities under their own ordinances. Within the department, Fla. Stat. 489.107(4) splits the Construction Industry Licensing Board into Division I and Division II, with Division II holding jurisdiction over the contractors defined in s. 489.105(3)(d)-(p); the page on which board regulates each class sets out that split.

Does a local certificate of competency allow work in another Florida county?

Fla. Stat. 489.105(8) reserves that portability to the state certificate, whose holder “shall be allowed to contract in any jurisdiction in the state without being required to fulfill the competency requirements of that jurisdiction.” Nothing in Fla. Stat. 489.13 extends a local certificate beyond the jurisdiction that issued it, and 489.13(1) makes clear that holding one is no answer to unlicensed contracting where the scope requires a state license.

The definition quoted here is one half of Fla. Stat. 489.105 — the statutory text is published on the Florida Senate’s page for Fla. Stat. 489.105. For the geography question that the certificate settles, compare certified versus registered contractor status. For an out-of-state license holder, certification by endorsement under Fla. Stat. 489.115(3) is the route to contracting across Florida jurisdictions. For the overview, see how Florida licenses contractors statewide.

This page summarizes Florida statutory definitions and is general information, not legal advice. Verify the current statutory text with the Florida DBPR/CILB, and confirm any local requirement with the county or municipality that issues it, before acting.