Broward County Contractor License: Chapter 9 and the Charter

Broward County licenses contractors through the Central Examining Board of Construction Trades, under Chapter 9 of the county code. Two things in that chapter are worth reading before anything else: its authority comes from the county charter, and a state certificate under chapter 489 is an alternative to a county one rather than something you hold as well.

Where the authority comes from

Section 9-1 names its own source:

“The provisions of this chapter are adopted pursuant to Section 9.01 of the Broward County Charter and Chapters 489 and 553, Florida Statutes, as may be amended, and shall apply countywide. No municipality in Broward County, Florida, shall enact any ordinance or adopt any resolution in conflict with this chapter.”

Countywide, and municipalities may not conflict with it. That is a stronger statement than most Florida counties make, and it is why a Broward certificate is not displaced by a city’s own rules. The section carries amendments from 1978 through to Ordinance 2023-15, effective 1 July 2023.

Section 9-2 states the purpose in terms of competency:

“any individual or business organization desiring to engage in any of the trades or occupations regulated by this chapter shall be required to establish competency and qualifications as hereinafter provided before being certified to work therein.”

The requirement, and the exception that matters most

Section 9-4(a):

“Except as provided in Sections 489.103, 489.113, and 489.503, Florida Statutes, as amended, before any individual may work at a trade, engage in business, or contract for work as a contractor, subcontractor, or specialty contractor in any one (1) or more of the trades of occupations regulated by this chapter, such individual shall first apply for and obtain a certificate of competency from the board.”

And 9-4(c) answers the question most readers arrive with — whether a state-certified contractor also needs a county certificate:

“It shall be a violation of this Code for any individual or business organization to engage in, or represent that such entity is qualified to perform work or contract in, any trade or occupation regulated by this chapter without first having obtained a current valid certificate of competency or, in the case of business organizations, a certificate of authority from the board, or having obtained a current license or certificate in accordance with Chapter 489, Florida Statutes, as amended.”

Read the disjunction. A current chapter 489 license satisfies the section on its own. The county certificate and the state credential are alternatives, and state certification against local registration sets out what each one reaches.

Nine journeyman tiers the state does not issue

Broward certifies journeymen in electrical, electrical sign, insulation, fire alarm systems, mechanical, sheet metal, limited energy systems, plumbing and solar photovoltaic systems. The county’s own packet records one rule that distinguishes them from contractor certificates:

“The Journeyman certifications do not require the Business & Law exam.”

Fees, from the same document:

“A Contractor’s licensing application and/or renewal will now be processed at the rate of $450.00. A journeyman’s application fee will be $225.00, and the renewal rate is increased to $120.00.”

The passing grade is “at least 70%… except for the Plumbing, Electrical, Mechanical and Engineering exam, which is 75%.”

A locally issued journeyman certificate is a statutory instrument rather than a county invention — the journeyman tier counties issue covers where the authority comes from.

Applying, and the meeting calendar

The board meets by trade, and the packet ties the deadline to the meeting rather than to a rolling queue:

“Submit the application, application fee(s), and required documents (as noted on the application) to our office 10 days prior to the Broward County Central Examining Board of Construction Trades meeting in the trade you are applying for.”

Licensing is administered by the Building Code Division within Public Works and Environmental Services.

One thing the county’s own documents leave open

Broward’s current Specialty Building Contractor application — a document created in September 2026 — still offers categories to apply for that neighboring Florida counties record as preempted to the state, among them gypsum drywall, plaster and lath, structural carpentry, structural masonry, fence, glass and glazing, and garage door installation. Broward previously published a page listing which categories preemption had removed; that page is no longer on the county site.

Both of those are facts about what Broward publishes today, and this page does not resolve them. Whether a given category is still issued is a question for the Building Code Division, and the application in circulation is the document a reader will actually meet.

Where to go next: how local licensing works in Florida covers the county layer generally, and the Florida general contractor license guide covers the state framework Chapter 9 sits alongside.