Florida Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor License

Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(n) defines the underground utility and excavation contractor as a Division II class limited to main sanitary sewer, water distribution and storm sewer systems. It is not one of the trades 489.113(3) reserves: 489.113(3)(d) permits a general contractor to perform the services this license covers, “not including the continuation of utility lines from the mains to the buildings.”

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(d) provides:

“A general contractor shall not be required to subcontract the construction of a main sanitary sewer collection system, storm collection system, or water distribution system, not including the continuation of utility lines from the mains to the buildings, and may perform any of the services, on public or private property, for which a license as an underground utility and excavation contractor is required under this part.”

Quoted from Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(d).

Underground utility is not on the 489.113(3) subcontracting list

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3) directs a contractor to subcontract all electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool and air-conditioning work unless that contractor holds a state certificate or registration in the respective trade category. Underground utility and excavation appears nowhere in that list, and 489.113(3)(d) goes further than silence: a general contractor “may perform any of the services” for which this license is required. The permission does not reach “the continuation of utility lines from the mains to the buildings.” Whether an arrangement meets those conditions is for DBPR, the board and the local authority to determine. For the duty and its seven lettered exceptions, see which trades must be subcontracted.

What Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(n) covers

The definition is written as a limit. Its first sentence provides:

“Underground utility and excavation contractor” means a contractor whose services are limited to the construction, installation, and repair, on public or private property, whether accomplished through open excavations or through other means, including, but not limited to, directional drilling, auger boring, jacking and boring, trenchless technologies, wet and dry taps, grouting, and slip lining, of main sanitary sewer collection systems, main water distribution systems, storm sewer collection systems, and the continuation of utility lines from the main systems to a point of termination up to and including the meter location for the individual occupancy, sewer collection systems at property line on residential or single-occupancy commercial properties, or on multioccupancy properties at manhole or wye lateral extended to an invert elevation as engineered to accommodate future building sewers, water distribution systems, or storm sewer collection systems at storm sewer structures.

Quoted from Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(n).

The paragraph is drawn around the systems built rather than the method used; the full Division II class list sets it beside the other trades.

How the board rule defines a main water distribution system

Rule 61G4-12.011(7), F.A.C., defines “Main Water Distribution System”, a term Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(n) uses. How it bears on the “from the mains to the buildings” qualifier in 489.113(3)(d) is a determination for DBPR and the board. It provides:

(7) Main Water Distribution System: The water service line, water distribution systems and all appurtenances on public or private property which shall terminate no closer than 5 feet from a building or at the secondary meter whichever is further from the building.

The definition adds that master site meters and backflow preventers are not the secondary meter or the point of work termination, and that one- to four-family structures terminate at the meter.

Two limits inside the definition

Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(n) also narrows the class from inside. Empty conduit is conditional:

However, an underground utility and excavation contractor may install empty underground conduits in rights-of-way, easements, platted rights-of-way in new site development, and sleeves for parking lot crossings no smaller than 2 inches in diameter if each conduit system installed is designed by a licensed professional engineer or an authorized employee of a municipality, county, or public utility and the installation of such conduit does not include installation of any conductor wiring or connection to an energized electrical system.

Fire protection piping is excluded outright:

An underground utility and excavation contractor may not install piping that is an integral part of a fire protection system as defined in s. 633.102 beginning at the point where the piping is used exclusively for such system.

What the board rule counts as “services” above grade

Rule 61G4-12.011(14), F.A.C., extends the statutory term to vertical work and then caps it:

(14) “Services” for purposes of sanitary sewer collection systems, main water distribution systems, storm sewer collection systems and utility lines as defined in Section 489.105(3)(n), F.S., shall include, the construction, installation, and repair of vertical improvements above grade, such as headwalls, end-walls, and retaining walls. Vertical improvements shall not exceed twenty feet in elevation above grade and vertical improvements below grade shall not be restricted. In addition, vertical improvements above grade shall also include structures designed to house pumps, lift stations, or other related equipment. In no case should said structures exceed 500 square feet.

Quoted from Rule 61G4-12.011, F.A.C.

Site work across a project

Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(a) divides the certified classes by geography: “any certified general contractor or certified underground utility and excavation contractor may perform clearing and grubbing, grading, excavation, and other site work for any construction project in the state,” while a certified building or certified residential contractor may perform that same work “limited to the lot on which any specific building is located.”

The examination for the class

DBPR’s Bureau of Education and Testing states that “Division II contractors (all other specialties) must pass two examinations: Business and Finance and General Trade” knowledge — against three for Division I. Its examination summary lists the Underground Utility trade knowledge examination at 80 questions over 5 hours and Business and Finance at 120 questions over 6.5 hours, both daily computer-based testing. Scheduling is published through DBPR’s construction examination information.

Qualification, finances and insurance

Rule 61G4-15.001(4)(e), F.A.C., lists the degrees appropriate to the underground utility classification: Building Construction, Civil or Mechanical Engineering. Rule 61G4-15.006 is written for an applicant, not by category; its financial stability ground is a FICO-derived score of 660 or higher, or a 14-hour Board-approved course below that. DBPR places categories other than General and Building at $100,000 public liability and $25,000 property damage. Fees are prescribed by action rather than by category; the current form is on DBPR’s Construction Industry forms index. The class is regulated by the board with jurisdiction over this class.

Common questions

Does a Florida general contractor have to subcontract underground utility work?

No. Fla. Stat. 489.113(3)(d) provides that a general contractor “shall not be required to subcontract” a main sanitary sewer collection, storm collection or water distribution system, and “may perform any of the services, on public or private property, for which a license as an underground utility and excavation contractor is required under this part” — excluding the continuation of utility lines from the mains to the buildings.

Is underground utility and excavation a trade that must be subcontracted?

It is not. The trades named in Fla. Stat. 489.113(3) are electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool and air-conditioning. Underground utility and excavation is a Division II class under 489.105(3)(n), but it does not appear in that reserved list.

How tall can a structure built under this license be?

Rule 61G4-12.011(14), F.A.C., provides that vertical improvements above grade “shall not exceed twenty feet in elevation above grade,” that below-grade improvements are not restricted, and that structures housing pumps, lift stations or related equipment should not exceed 500 square feet.

Related pages

For how the classes and divisions fit together, see the Florida contractor license overview.

This page summarizes Florida law and is general information, not legal advice. Verify class scopes, examination details and the current application form for a category with the Florida DBPR before acting.