Search a Florida Contractor License: DBPR & CILB Lookup

To look up a Florida contractor’s license, search the DBPR licensee-verification portal by name or license number — the same search meant by a “CILB license search” or a “DBPR license search”. The record shows the licensee’s name, profession, address and status. Read it before signing any contract, and decode the license prefix to confirm the scope.

Search the DBPR licensee-verification portal

Florida’s Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) — the department the CILB sits within — runs the official lookup tool. This page links to it and explains how to read what comes back; it does not replicate the database or collect any information itself.

Go to the DBPR licensee-verification portal.
Search by the contractor’s first name, last name, or city, or, if you have it, the specific license number — either search method works.
Open the matching record and review it in full rather than stopping at the summary line.

If you’d rather start from the DBPR’s own explainer, its how-to-verify-a-license page describes the same tool.

Decode the license number: CGC, CBC, CRC

The letters before the digits identify the contractor’s scope class under Fla. Stat. 489.105(3): CGC (Certified General Contractor) covers unlimited scope, CBC (Certified Building Contractor) is limited to buildings up to three stories plus remodeling or repair of any size building that does not affect the structural members, and CRC (Certified Residential Contractor) is limited to one-, two-, or three-family homes up to two habitable stories above no more than one uninhabitable story. For example, CGC1509999 — "Example Builders LLC" is a fictitious record used only to illustrate the format — it is not a real license. See Florida contractor license types for how the three scope classes compare, and for what sits behind each prefix, the CBC scope in full, the CRC scope and its story limits, and where a CBC stops and a CGC begins. The certificate the prefix records is itself a defined instrument — see the state certificate of competency. A record in a company’s name resolves to an individual, because a business contracts only through its qualifying agent.

Match a class on the record to the job in front of you

A record gives you a class. Put it against the job and this sets out what that class is defined to reach, where the boundary falls, and where the answer turns on something only the record or the Board can settle.

With JavaScript on, the class and the job can be put together here and the passages that settle it pulled out. The definitions themselves are below either way.

What the record names, in the statute’s own words

A Florida record carries two separate things. The class is what the licensee is defined to build. Whether the license is certified or registered is how far it reaches. They are different questions and running them together is the mistake most often made about licensing here.

“Contractors are subdivided into two divisions, Division I, consisting of those contractors defined in paragraphs (a)-(c), and Division II, consisting of those contractors defined in paragraphs (d)-(q).” Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)

Division I is the half defined by the building:

General contractor — CGC: “'General contractor' means a contractor whose services are unlimited as to the type of work which he or she may do, who may contract for any activity requiring licensure under this part, and who may perform any work requiring licensure under this part, except as otherwise expressly provided in s. 489.113.” Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(a)
Building contractor — CBC: “'Building contractor' means a contractor whose services are limited to construction of commercial buildings and single-dwelling or multiple-dwelling residential buildings, which do not exceed three stories in height, and accessory use structures in connection therewith or a contractor whose services are limited to remodeling, repair, or improvement of any size building if the services do not affect the structural members of the building.” Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(b)
Residential contractor — CRC: “'Residential contractor' means a contractor whose services are limited to construction, remodeling, repair, or improvement of one-family, two-family, or three-family residences not exceeding two habitable stories above no more than one uninhabitable story and accessory use structures in connection therewith.” Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)(c)

Division II is the half defined by a trade — roofing, plumbing, mechanical, sheet metal, air-conditioning, pool, underground utility, solar, pollutant storage and specialty. A class from that half is not a whole-building license, and a building question put to one has no answer in its own definition.

Reach, which the class never tells you:

“'Certified contractor' means 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.” Fla. Stat. 489.105(8)

“'Registered contractor' means any contractor who has registered with the department pursuant to fulfilling the competency requirements in the jurisdiction for which the registration is issued. Registered contractors may contract only in such jurisdictions.” Fla. Stat. 489.105(10)

“Persons working outside the geographical scope of their registration are guilty of unlicensed activity for purposes of this part.” Fla. Stat. 489.13(1)

What the record actually shows

The DBPR record verifies four fields: the licensee’s name, profession, address, and license status. The DBPR term glossary defines the status labels you’ll see: Active means “the licensee is allowed to operate under the associated license,” and Current means the licensee “is up to date with respect to the department’s requirements for licensure” — so a healthy result reads current and active. Inactive means the licensee “has met the department’s requirements for licensure but is not allowed to work under this license”; Delinquent means the licensee “has not completed a timely renewal”; and Null and Void means the license lapsed and the holder “would have to reapply for licensure.” Anything other than current/active is a reason to pause. The record also shows details such as an expiration date, the license type, and any complaint or disciplinary history, so read the full entry rather than relying on the top line alone.

A registered contractor has registered with the department (Fla. Stat. 489.105(10)), so a registered license is a DBPR record and appears in the same portal — it is limited to the jurisdiction it was issued for, not absent from the database. The people who may not appear are holders of a purely local license for a job scope outside the state categories, which Fla. Stat. 489.117(4)(a)1 addresses — how far a county’s own licensing reaches sets out that provision and the two carve-outs that survive it. A local license is not a substitute where the scope does require state licensure: 489.13(1) provides that a person is guilty of unlicensed contracting regardless of any local construction contractor license or local certificate of competency, and that working outside the geographical scope of a registration is itself unlicensed activity. See certified vs registered contractor for the difference between the two.

Red flags: check insurance and scope, not just the license

A clean lookup result is necessary but not sufficient — it confirms the license exists, not that this contractor is right for your project. Two things the record won’t spell out in detail deserve their own check:

Insurance. A license lookup does not confirm today’s coverage. Ask for a current certificate of insurance and, if the job is significant, call the carrier directly to confirm the policy is still active. A certificate that’s expired, canceled, or unusually vague is a red flag on its own.
Scope match. Confirm the license class actually covers your project. A residential license does not cover a multi-story commercial build, and a building license caps out at three stories for new construction. A contractor whose license class doesn’t fit the work is a red flag no matter how clean the record otherwise looks.

Other warning signs worth pausing on: a license number that returns no match at all, a name or address on the record that doesn’t line up with who you’re actually dealing with, or hesitation about providing a license number up front.

Reporting an unlicensed contractor

If your search turns up no license, or the contractor won’t provide one, you can report it to the DBPR’s Unlicensed Activity program on the Unlicensed Activity Hotline at 1-866-532-1440, by email to ULA@MyFloridaLicense.com, or through the DBPR report-unlicensed-activity page. For what Florida law actually attaches to unlicensed work — the criminal and administrative penalties, and what happens to the contract and to lien rights — see what to do when the license does not check out.

Common questions

What information does the Florida DBPR license lookup show?

The verified fields are the licensee’s name, profession, address, and license status. Per the DBPR glossary, common status labels include Active (allowed to operate), Current (up to date on licensure requirements), Inactive (met requirements but not currently allowed to work), Delinquent (renewal not completed on time), and Null and Void (lapsed — the holder must reapply). The record may also display an expiration date, license type, or disciplinary history, so read the full record rather than just the top line.

Can I search by a company name instead of a person’s name?

The DBPR portal searches by an individual’s first name, last name, or city, or by a specific license number. If you only have a business name, try the license number from a contract or estimate, or ask the company for the license holder’s individual name to search by.

Does a valid license mean the contractor is insured for my project?

No — license status and insurance are two separate checks. A current license confirms standing with the DBPR; it does not confirm today’s insurance coverage or that the coverage matches your project. Verify insurance directly with the carrier and confirm the license class matches the scope of your work.

For the full path from experience through renewal, see the Florida general contractor license guide.

This page explains how to use the Florida DBPR’s public license lookup and is general information, not legal advice — verify any specific license or contractor with the DBPR before you hire.

A license search answers one question only. Whether a business has secured workers’ compensation, or an officer has validly stepped outside it, is a separate register kept by a separate agency — the exemption and coverage databases.

A county certificate is a separate register from the state’s. The two largest local boards are the Miami-Dade contractor register and the Palm Beach County register.

County registers are separate again, and separate from each other: the Broward County register, the Hillsborough County register, the Lee County register and the Pinellas County register each keep their own.

This page is not legal advice: what the rules say, not what to do about your own license, bid or dispute — ask someone qualified for that. This site is not affiliated with the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board. Rules and fees move; last checked 2026-10-12.

Florida Contractor License Lookup: How to Search and Verify