Florida GC License

Collier County Contractor License: A Certificate of Competency, and 24 Trades Fewer

Collier County still runs a local licensing scheme. That makes it unlike several of its neighbors: it has a contractors’ licensing board, it issues certificates of competency in its own name, and it sets its own experience and examination requirements. What changed is the edge of that scheme — twenty-four specialty trades the county used to license no longer need a county license at all.

The county’s rule has two routes rather than one. A contractor working in Collier holds either a county certificate of competency or an applicable state certified license, and the local ordinance says so in those terms.

What the ordinance requires

Collier County’s licensing ordinance is codified at Chapter 22, Article V of the county’s Code of Laws and Ordinances, the article the county also publishes as Ordinance 2006-46, as amended. Section 22-181(a) states the duty:

“It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, partnership, corporation or other legal entity to: engage in any construction contracting business, advertise or represent himself/herself or a business organization as available to engage in any construction contracting business, or act in the capacity of a contractor or subcontractor for any of the trades listed in section 22-162, within the unincorporated area of the county and the incorporated area within the boundaries of the City of Naples and within the city of Marco Island, without having first made application for and having been issued a current and valid county/city certificate of competency or an applicable state certified license.”

Two things follow from that sentence. Advertising is covered as well as building — holding yourself out as available to contract is the same offense as contracting. And the second route is explicit: an applicable state certified license satisfies the requirement, so the county certificate is one way to comply rather than the only one. The distinction between the two state tiers is set out under the certified and registered distinction, and the instrument itself under what a certificate of competency is.

The permit counter is where the rule is enforced. Section 22-181(b)(1) provides that no building permit issues “for the construction, alteration, or repair of any structure unless the applicant for the permit possesses a current county/city certificate of competency, an applicable state certified license, or is exempt from the operation of this article.”

Where the rule reaches

Most county licensing stops at the city line. Collier’s does not. Section 22-181(a) names the unincorporated county, the incorporated area of the City of Naples, and the city of Marco Island. Section 22-163(b) puts the administration in the county’s hands across that whole area:

“The county shall be responsible for issuing licenses in accordance with this article to authorize contractors to work within the geographic boundaries of county and the city. The county shall collect the fees for those contractors licensed to work within the county and city.”

So a contractor working in Naples or on Marco Island deals with the county, not with a separate city board. Everglades City is not named in either section, and this page does not say what applies there.

The twenty-four trades that left

Collier publishes a list of specialty contractor licenses it no longer requires, effective, by the county’s own statement, July 1, 2025:

The authority sits in state law rather than in a county decision. Fla. Stat. 489.117(4)(a)1 provides that a local government “may not require a person to obtain a license, issued by the local government or the state, for a job scope which does not substantially correspond to the job scope of one of the contractor categories defined in s. 489.105(3)(a)-(o) and (q) or authorized in s. 489.1455(1), or the job scope of one of the certified specialty contractor categories established pursuant to s. 489.113(6)”, and adds that it “may not require a state or local license to obtain a permit for such job scopes.”

That provision names examples — painting, flooring, cabinetry, handyman services, decorative stone and tile, plastering, pressure washing, stuccoing, caulking and others — but it introduces them with “include, but are not limited to.” The statutory test is whether a job scope substantially corresponds to one of the categories that sentence lists, not whether it appears on any roster of trades. Collier’s twenty-four is that county’s application of the test; it is not a statewide roster, and another county’s list is not the same. The general shape of the limit is set out under how local licensing works in Florida, and the scopes that need no state credential at all under work that needs no state license.

What a county certificate still covers

The trades Collier does still license are set out on its certificate of competency trades list, with the experience and examinations each requires. General, building and residential contractors each need 48 months of experience and both the business and law and the trade examination. Mechanical requires 48 months as a licensed journeyman or the equivalent; air conditioning Class A and B require 36 months on the same basis; air conditioning Class C, electrical and plumbing require 24 months. Roofing requires 36 months, sheet metal 24.

Collier is also one of the Florida counties that issues journeyman certificates — in air conditioning, electrical and plumbing — each on 48 months as an apprentice and a trade examination. The state issues no journeyman license of its own, which is why the tier exists at county level; the journeyman license counties issue sets out where that authority comes from.

The retained specialty trades include aluminum, alarm systems, carpentry, the three concrete categories, demolition, drywall, electrical signs, fence erection, gasoline tank and pump, garage doors, glass and glazing, hurricane shutters and awnings, irrigation, liquefied petroleum gas installation, marine and seawall construction, masonry, plastering, roof cleaning and coating above three stories, and solar heater installation.

Sponsorship, the examination and reciprocity

An applicant for a Collier certificate applies to the county for sponsorship first. The county states that a $130.00 examination administrative fee is due when the sponsorship application is submitted, that the application and fee are “valid for 6 months and are non-refundable and non-transferable”, and that a separate application is required for each examination taken.

The county recognizes two testing agencies, Gainesville Independent Testing Services and ProV, and requires “a passing score of 75% or greater on the exam(s)”. Some specialty trades sit a business and law examination only; others sit both. There is also a reciprocity route: an applicant who has passed at 75% or better with another Florida county or city may have that licensing entity send Collier a letter of reciprocity for review and acceptance.

Fees, and the renewal calendar

Collier’s published fee schedule sets the annual certificate of competency at $230.00 initial and $145.00 renewal for a contractor, $205.00 and $125.00 for a specialty contractor, and $80.00 and $55.00 for a journeyman. A letter of reciprocity costs $55.00, a second entity application $105.00, and what the schedule calls voluntary registration of a state certified contractor, $45.00.

Renewals are due by September 30 of the year the license expires. After that date the schedule adds a late fee of $20.00 per month until December 31. A license not renewed by December 31 of the expiry year goes to suspended status, recoverable through a reinstatement application with reinstatement, renewal and late fees. A license still unrenewed by December 31 of the following year becomes, in the county’s words, “null and void (cancelled)” — and recovering from there means a fresh application, the full fee, back years, and possibly re-testing.

Whether a state-certified contractor must register

The county’s fee schedule calls it “Voluntary Registration of State Certified Contractors” and prices it at $45.00. Its portal guide is written for state certified contractors “registering with Collier County for the first time” and walks through the application, but does not say that registering is compulsory. Section 22-181(a), for its part, permits work on an applicable state certified license without mentioning a separate county registration.

Those sources do not settle the question between them, so this page does not either: the fee exists, it is labeled voluntary, and a contractor who needs a definite answer should put it to the county’s contractor licensing office directly. Whether a given contractor currently holds an active state credential is a separate matter — you can verify a contractor’s certified or registered status in the state database.

What this page does not settle

One item in the county’s own material pulls against the statute. Collier’s trades list, a document created in May 2026, still lists plastering contractor as a licensed trade requiring 36 months of experience and both examinations. Plastering is not among the twenty-four the county dropped. Yet 489.117(4)(a)1 names plastering among the job scopes for which a local government “may not require a license.”

Both documents are current and both are published by their own authority. The statutory question is whether the plastering scope as Collier defines it substantially corresponds to a state contractor category, and that is a question of construction rather than arithmetic. It is recorded here and left open.

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 that sets its limits.

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.