How to Choose a Contractor in Florida

Verify the License First, Not the Reviews

The first step to choosing a contractor in Florida is confirming the license on the DBPR database before you read a single review. Construction contracting is regulated statewide by the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB), and the license class determines where that contractor may legally pull a permit.

Certified vs Registered, and why your county matters

Florida issues two construction license classes, and they are not equivalent. The distinction is the single most Florida-specific check a homeowner can make, because it decides whether the contractor in front of you can lawfully work at your address at all.

Certified contractor

Passed the state competency examination and holds a certificate of competency issued by DBPR. A Certified license is valid in all 67 Florida counties with no further local test.

Registered contractor

Holds a local competency license from a county or municipal board and has registered it with the CILB. A Registered license authorizes work only in the jurisdiction that issued it, so it can be legitimate in one county and invalid in the next.

If a contractor is Registered, confirm the registration covers the county where your project sits. As of July 1, 2025, local boards may only license specialty types that correspond to the state CILB categories, which narrows the patchwork but does not erase the county-by-county nature of a Registered license.

How to actually run the check

License verification is free and public. The status field is what you are after, an active license with no open discipline.

1. Search the DBPR portal by the individual’s name, the company name, or the license number.
2. Confirm the status reads “Current, Active” and the category matches your work (a tile or flooring scope is a different category than structural).
3. Check the qualifying agent, the licensed person who legally stands behind the company, is tied to the business you are hiring.
4. Note any disciplinary history or prior complaints attached to the record.

A name that returns no license, or a license in a different person’s name than the one quoting you, ends the conversation. Pair the DBPR record with a profile check on the BBB for complaint patterns, but treat the state license as the gate, not the reviews.

The Two Insurance Policies to Confirm

A licensed Florida contractor should carry two separate policies, and you need to see evidence of both: general liability and workers’-compensation. Verifying only one leaves a gap that can land on you, the homeowner, if something goes wrong on your property.

General liability

General liability covers property damage and bodily injury the contractor causes during the work, a cracked slab, a flooded room, a damaged neighbor’s wall. Ask for a current certificate of insurance (COI) issued directly from the insurer or agent, not a photocopy handed to you, and confirm the policy dates cover your project window.

Workers’-compensation

Workers’-compensation pays an injured worker’s medical bills and lost wages so they do not sue the homeowner. Under Florida Statutes Chapter 440, construction employers must secure coverage for employees, and failure to do so is a second-degree felony. The law allows no more than three corporate officers to elect an exemption, so a one-person operation may legitimately carry an exemption certificate rather than a policy.

What to ask for when subcontractors are involved

Most Florida remodels run through subcontractors, and Chapter 440 requires the general contractor to obtain proof of coverage from each sub or a valid exemption certificate. That requirement protects you, because an uninsured sub’s injury can otherwise reach the property owner.

• General liability COI showing active dates and an adequate limit.
• Workers’-comp COI for the firm, or a state exemption certificate for an exempt officer.
• Subcontractor coverage, proof that each sub is insured or validly exempt.
• Additional-insured status for you on the general-liability policy when the scope is large.

If a contractor cannot produce a workers’-comp certificate and is not a validly exempt single officer, treat it as disqualifying. The few minutes it takes to confirm coverage is the cheapest insurance you will buy on the whole project. Our licensed general contracting team sends both certificates with every proposal.

How Much Deposit Is Normal in Florida

A normal Florida deposit sits near 10% of the contract, and the law draws a bright line there. Under Florida Statute 489.126, a contractor who collects more than 10% of the contract price as an initial payment must apply for any required permits within 30 days and start the work within 90 days of permits being issued.

Why the 10% line is a real protection

The statute exists to stop the take-the-deposit-and-vanish pattern. If a contractor accepts more than 10% up front and then fails to apply for permits, start work, or refund the money after written demand, the failure may be prosecuted as theft. That gives a homeowner a concrete legal remedy that a handshake never would.

The draw schedule that follows the deposit

After the deposit, payments should track completed, inspected work, never run ahead of it. A draw schedule ties each release to a finished milestone so you are never paying for work that has not happened.

Hold a meaningful final payment until the last inspection passes and you have gathered lien releases. A contractor who demands the full price, or a deposit far above the 10–20% range, before any work begins is signaling cash-flow trouble or worse.

Should You Get Multiple Bids?

Yes, gather at least three written bids, but compare scope before price. Three estimates only mean something when each one prices the same defined work; otherwise the cheapest number usually hides the smallest scope, not the best value.

Make every bid price the same scope

The way to compare apples to apples is to hand every bidder the same written scope of work, then read what each one includes and, more revealingly, what each one leaves out. A design consultation that locks the scope and selections first is what makes three bids genuinely comparable.

• Materials by name and grade, not “allowance” placeholders that balloon later.
• Permits and inspections, stated as included rather than a surprise change order.
• Demolition and disposal, debris haul-off and protection of finished areas.
• Timeline in days, with a defined start and substantial-completion window.
• Exclusions, the line items each bidder deliberately left out.

When the scope is identical, an outlier low bid is a warning, not a bargain, because the gap almost always reappears as change orders once the work is underway. Read the middle of the range against what it actually covers.

Questions to Ask Before You Hire

The right questions surface a contractor’s licensing, insurance, and process in one conversation. Ask them of every finalist and compare the answers; evasiveness on any single item is itself the answer.

The non-negotiable questions

These confirm the legal basics covered above. A reputable Florida contractor answers each without hesitation and offers documentation.

The questions that reveal fit

Beyond the legal floor, ask for references on jobs like yours, who the day-to-day site contact will be, and how change orders are priced and approved. The point is not a perfect script but watching whether answers are specific and documented or vague and rushed. A whole-home renovation lives or dies on that communication discipline.

The Red Flags of a Contractor Scam

Most Florida contractor scams share a recognizable shape: pressure, cash, and no paper. Any one of these red flags warrants a pause; two or more together is a clear signal to walk away.

Payment and pressure flags

These map directly to the protections in Florida law. When a contractor pushes against the 10% deposit rule or the lien-release habit, the law is the thing they are trying to route around.

1. 1

   Cash only, or full payment up front

   A demand for the whole price, or a deposit far above 10–20%, before work starts is the classic take-the-money pattern Statute 489.126 was written to stop.

2. 2

   No written contract or vague scope

   A real contractor documents scope, materials, timeline, and price. A napkin number with no detail is a liability, not a deal.

3. 3

   Won’t pull a permit, or asks you to

   Pushing the homeowner to pull an owner-builder permit shifts legal liability to you and often signals the contractor cannot, because they are unlicensed.

4. 4

   No verifiable license or insurance

   If the DBPR search comes back empty or the certificates never arrive, there is nothing standing behind the work.

None of these flags is about a contractor being unpolished. Each one maps to a specific legal protection a legitimate Florida firm has no reason to avoid, which is exactly why a scammer does.

Avoiding Storm-Chaser Contractors After a Hurricane

After a Florida hurricane, the signature scam is the storm-chaser: an out-of-area crew going door to door with an unsolicited, “today-only,” cash-up-front pitch. The Florida Attorney General warns homeowners to be wary of anyone offering repairs at a discount with “leftover” materials from another job.

Why the stakes are higher post-disaster

During a declared state of emergency, unlicensed contracting is elevated from a misdemeanor to a third-degree felony under Florida law, and the state has made dozens of arrests in storm-hit counties. The urgency that follows a hurricane, damaged roofs, flooded floors, displaced families, is exactly the pressure these operators exploit.

The post-storm survival rules

Slowing down is the entire defense. The legitimate contractors are still licensed, still insured, and still willing to put it in writing the day after a storm, the scammers are not.

• Never sign under pressure, a “today-only” price is a manipulation, not a discount.
• Verify the DBPR license even when, especially when, the need feels urgent.
• Refuse cash-up-front demands, and keep the deposit within the 10–20% range.
• Report suspected unlicensed activity to the DBPR Unlicensed Activity Hotline at 1-866-532-1440.
• Watch for price gouging, which carries per-violation civil penalties during a declared emergency.

A hurricane is the worst possible time to skip the checks, and the moment storm-chasers count on you doing exactly that. Hire local, licensed, and insured, and verify it the same way you would on any other day.

What the Contract Must Say

The written contract is your final and strongest protection, and in Florida it must address the construction lien law explicitly. A complete agreement converts every check above into an enforceable obligation.

The lien-law clause most homeowners miss

Under Florida’s construction lien law (Chapter 713), an unpaid subcontractor or supplier can place a lien on your home even if you already paid the general contractor in full, which can force you to pay twice. Subcontractors must serve a Notice to Owner within 45 days of starting, and your defense is to collect a lien release from the contractor with every payment.

The clauses that make a contract complete

A Florida construction contract should leave nothing to memory. Each clause below maps to a protection discussed above and turns it into a written term.

• Total price and payment schedule, deposit near 10% and draws tied to milestones.
• Detailed scope and named materials, with allowances itemized, not open-ended.
• Permit responsibility, stating the contractor pulls and closes all permits.
• Lien-release obligation, conditional releases with draws and a final release at completion.
• Timeline and change-order process, start date, completion window, and written approval for any change.
• Warranty terms, what is covered and for how long after substantial completion.

Read every clause before you sign, and decline to sign anything you do not understand. The contract is where a verified license, confirmed insurance, a capped deposit, and a lien-release habit stop being good intentions and become enforceable obligations.