Florida General Contractor License Requirements (2026)

To qualify for a Florida certified general contractor license you must meet four core requirements: documented construction experience, financial responsibility (a FICO-derived credit score of 660 or higher, or a 14-hour Board-approved course), a passing score on the state examination, and proof of the required insurance. These requirements are set by Chapter 489, Florida Statutes, and the CILB rules in Chapter 61G4.

Requirements at a glance

Requirement	What it takes
Experience	4 years as a worker or foreman (at least 1 year as a foreman), or a 4-year construction-related degree plus 1 year of experience. General contractors additionally need experience in 4+ areas and 1 year on structures at least four stories tall.
Financial responsibility	A FICO-derived credit score of 660 or higher, or a 14-hour Board-approved financial responsibility course. No state surety bond is required.
State exam	Pass the Florida general contractor examination.
Insurance	General liability and property-damage coverage, plus workers’ compensation (or a filed exemption).

All four apply to the certified (statewide) path; registration is the separate, geography-limited route — see certified vs registered contractor in Florida. This page describes the General class; the Florida building contractor license and Florida residential contractor license have their own rules, set side by side on Florida contractor license types compared.

Do you need a license at all?

These requirements describe what it takes to qualify for a Division I general contractor license. Not every job reaches that threshold: whether a scope falls inside one of the categories in Fla. Stat. 489.105(3), and whether the work requires a building permit, are separate questions answered before any of this matters. Start with whether a license is required at all for how that line is drawn. If the scope is a trade rather than general construction, the requirements differ by class — see requirements for a trade class. The board that sets and applies all of it is the board that sets these rules.

1. Experience requirement

The controlling document is the DBPR CILB 5-A, the application for a Certified General Contractor as an individual, incorporated by Rule 61-35.010, F.A.C. Part A carries the methods of qualification, Part B the experience areas and the employment history. It is on DBPR’s Construction Industry licensing pages.

The four-of-six areas and the four-story year

Part B states the general contractor condition in one sentence: “Applicants for licensure as a Certified General Contractor must have experience in four or more of the experience areas listed in Part B AND must provide at least one year of experience in the construction of structures at least four stories in height, pursuant to Rule 61G4-15.001 (2)(a) and (2)(b), Florida Administrative Code.”

Those are two independent tests — breadth across the areas, height on four-story structures — and both sit on top of whichever Part A method is selected. The four-stories condition is General-only. Part B lists exactly six areas:

#	Experience area (CILB 5-A, Part B)
1	“Foundation/Slabs greater than 20,000 sq. ft.”
2	“Column erection”
3	“Masonry walls”
4	“Formwork for structural reinforced concrete”
5	“Steel erection”
6	“Elevated slabs”

All six describe structural work at commercial scale, not finish trades or light-frame work — which is why a record of one-story projects can fall short even when the years add up.

The Part A methods of qualification

One method is selected; the Part B totals are checked against it:

#	Method of qualification (CILB 5-A, Part A)
1	“Four year construction-related degree from an accredited college (equivalent to three years experience) and one year proven experience applicable to the category for which you are applying.”
2	“One year experience as a foreman and not less than three years of credits from accredited college-level courses.”
3	“One year experience as a worker, one year experience as a foreman, and two years of credits from accredited college-level courses.”
4	“Two years experience as a worker, one year experience as a foreman, and one year of credits from accredited college-level courses.”
5	“Four years experience as a worker or foreman of which at least one year must have been as a foreman.”
6	The “Upgrade Method” — a licensure-history route for a certified residential or building contractor holding an active current license for at least 4 years in that classification, which exempts the applicant from the Employment History section. It is quoted in full on the Florida building contractor license and Florida residential contractor license pages.

Across methods 2 to 4, accredited college-level credits stand in for site years — and none of those three removes the supervisory year: each still names a year as a foreman. Method 1 works differently: it is the only equivalence the form states, capped at three years, and the year it adds is “one year proven experience applicable to the category,” not a foreman year. Method 6 is a licensure-history route, and the only one exempted from the employment-history section.

Military service pathways

Part A carries a separate veteran provision — “A veteran will qualify for a certified license by meeting on[e] of the following,” in the form’s wording — with three combinations:

• “Three years of military service and one year experience as a foreman applicable to the category for which you are applying.”
• “Two years of military service, one year experience as a foreman, and one year experience as a worker or foreman…”
• “One year of military service, one year experience as a foreman, and two years experience as a worker or foreman…”

How experience is evidenced

Counting years is the simple part. What the application turns on is Part B’s employment-history block, which asks the same questions of every project claimed:

• The employer — name, address and phone, the dates employed, a contact name and email.
• The employer’s qualifying contractor — the “Name of qualifying contractor for employer” and the “License number of qualifying contractor.” This is the verification hook.
• The role — “Role (Check only one): Worker OR Foreman.” One or the other, not both.
• The project — dates, name, address, type as New Construction or Renovation, plus job title and duties.
• The project specifics — “specify the number of stories, square feet, materials, etc.”
• The height question — “Was this experience in the construction of structures 4 stories or higher? Yes/No” — where the four-story year is proved.

The entries are then totalled: “TOTAL TIME OF EXPERIENCE FROM EMPLOYMENT HISTORY IN PART B: Worker ___ Foreman ___ … The total time should equal or exceed the number of years of experience required for the qualification method selected in Part A.” Those columns are what the method is measured against.

Two things the 5-A does not do are worth stating, because secondhand advice supplies answers the form does not contain: it does not distinguish employment tax status — no W-2, 1099 or self-employed category appears on it — and it does not address out-of-state experience. No proof is prescribed beyond the employment-history block and that license number.

2. Financial responsibility (no surety bond)

Florida’s financial-responsibility rule (Fla. Admin. Code 61G4-15.006) gives two paths:

• A credit score, FICO derived, of 660 or higher; or
• Completion of a 14-hour financial responsibility course approved by the Board, for applicants unable to provide that score.

The current rule (effective 5/5/2024) makes no mention of a required state surety bond. Third-party vendors market a “sub-660 bond,” but that is a private product, not a state requirement.

3. The state examination

The Florida general contractor examination is administered by the state’s exam vendor; its structure and preparation options are set out on the Florida general contractor exam page.

4. Insurance

Florida requires general liability and property-damage coverage, plus workers’ compensation where there are employees. The dollar minimums are set by Board rule rather than by a single statutory figure — see Florida contractor insurance requirements.

Eligibility requirements beyond experience

Two conditions sit in the statute itself, ahead of the four core requirements. Fla. Stat. 489.111(2) provides that “A person shall be eligible for licensure by examination if the person: (a) Is 18 years of age;” and “(b) Is of good moral character;”.

Refusal on the good-moral-character ground is bounded: 489.111(3)(a) permits it only on a substantial connection to a certified contractor’s professional responsibilities, proved by clear and convincing evidence, and 489.111(3)(b) adds written findings and appeal rights — set out in full under how a prior finding affects a later application.

What is not an initial requirement

Several things widely described as requirements are not conditions of initial licensure:

• A state surety bond. The financial-responsibility rule sets the FICO score or the course, and nothing else.
• Continuing education. CE is a renewal obligation, not an entry condition: DBPR’s certified-contractor renewal insert states that “Continuing Education is required for active renewal; the total requirements are 14 hours.” See Florida contractor license renewal.
• A business entity. Certification is issued to the individual who qualifies; no corporation, LLC or partnership is needed to hold it. A business organization becomes licensed only by employing a qualifying agent under Fla. Stat. 489.119, and these requirements attach to that individual, the Florida contractor qualifying agent.
• A separate financial showing by the business. There is no separate general financial-responsibility requirement on the business organization itself; financial responsibility runs through the qualifying agent, and Fla. Stat. 489.119(7)(a) exempts organizations maintaining a minimum net worth of $20 million.

Common questions

How many years of experience do you need for a Florida general contractor license?

Four years as a worker or foreman, at least one of them as a foreman; a four-year construction-related degree substitutes for three of those years, leaving one year of proven applicable experience. For the General class the CILB 5-A adds two conditions: four or more of Part B’s six experience areas, and one year on structures of at least four stories.

How do you prove experience for a Florida contractor license?

Through Part B of the CILB 5-A, project by project: each employer, the license number of that employer’s qualifying contractor, the role as Worker or Foreman, and each project’s type, stories, square footage and materials. The worker and foreman totals must reach the years the selected method requires.

Can you get a Florida contractor license without experience?

No method on the CILB 5-A dispenses with experience. The education routes reduce the site years — methods 2, 3 and 4 each still name a year as a foreman, and method 1 still requires one year of proven experience applicable to the category — and the one method exempted from the employment-history section requires four years of active current certification as a residential or building contractor.

Do you need a bond for a Florida general contractor license?

No. Florida’s financial-responsibility rule (effective 5/5/2024) requires a FICO-derived credit score of 660 or higher, or completion of a 14-hour Board-approved course — not a state surety bond. Any “sub-660 bond” you see marketed is a private product, not a state requirement.

Where this fits in the process

For how the filing runs in order, follow the filing sequence, step by step; for the money, the Florida GC license cost breakdown. The overview is the Florida general contractor license guide.

This page summarizes Florida law and is general information, not legal advice. Verify every detail with the Florida DBPR before acting.

Last verified: 2026-07-27