Certified vs Registered Contractor in Florida: Which Do You Need?
In Florida, a certified contractor holds a certificate of competency issued by the state and may contract in any jurisdiction without re-qualifying locally; a registered contractor met one local jurisdiction’s competency requirements and may contract only there. The choice comes down to geography: certification means statewide work, registration means a single local market. Both are defined in Fla. Stat. 489.105(8) and (10).
Which Division I class covers your work
Answer two questions to see what a class covers and how far it reaches, each quoted from the statute that defines it. It reports what the classes are; it does not tell you which to apply for.
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The two definitions, verbatim
| Path | Verbatim statutory definition (Fla. Stat. 489.105) |
|---|---|
| Certified | “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.” (489.105(8)) |
| Registered | “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.” (489.105(10)) |
A registered license is never statewide. If you want to work across Florida, you need certification.
The phrase in 489.105(8) carries a second life in Florida law: counties issue their own certificates of competency under 489.13, and the statute uses the same words for both instruments. A separate page on what a certificate of competency is pulls the state certificate apart from the local one, and explains why a local certificate is not a substitute where a state category applies.
Scope is a separate question
Certified vs registered is the geography axis. The scope axis — General, Building, or Residential — is independent. Under Division I (Fla. Stat. 489.105(3)), General means unlimited scope, Building is limited to buildings not exceeding three stories, and Residential is limited to one-, two-, or three-family residences not exceeding two habitable stories above no more than one uninhabitable story. Division II covers the specialty trades. The selector above asks both questions separately so the result combines them correctly. The scope axis is worked through in detail under where general and building overlap.
What changed, and what didn’t
A sequence of amendments to Fla. Stat. 489.117 — not one act — narrowed what local governments may license. Section 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)”, and adds that it “may not require a state or local license to obtain a permit for such job scopes”.
Scopes outside those categories can still be licensed locally, and the statute preserves a few trades by name where the local requirement predates January 1, 2021; the provision and its surviving carve-outs are set out under the limits on county and city licensing.
The amendments run across several sessions, which is why a single year misleads: SB 1142 — a 2024 bill, chapter 2024-212 — extended the date on which certain local licensing requirements expire.
Separately, § 489.117(2)(b) lets the Board register an applicant without an examination where that applicant held a state registration or a local license somewhere in Florida during 2021, 2022 or 2023 in a category the jurisdiction no longer offers. None of this changes the state certified-vs-registered distinction — both tiers remain in Fla. Stat. 489.105(8) and (10).
Which should you choose?
- Choose certified if you want to bid work anywhere in Florida or grow beyond one county.
- Choose registered only if a single local jurisdiction offers the registration and you intend to work solely there. Confirm the jurisdiction actually offers it before you rely on this path.
Either path reaches the same examination and the same upkeep: preparation is covered under how to study for the three parts, what may be carried into the room under the allowed reference list, and the hours a live license needs afterwards under Board-approved continuing education.
Already dealing with a specific license number and want to know which path it reflects? Verify a contractor’s certified or registered status in the DBPR database before you rely on it.
Common questions
Is a certified contractor the same as a general contractor?
No — they answer different questions. “Certified” vs “registered” is about where you can work (statewide vs one jurisdiction). “General,” “Building,” and “Residential” describe what you can build. You can be a certified general contractor, a certified building contractor, a registered residential contractor, and so on — the two axes combine.
What is the difference between a certified building contractor and a general contractor in Florida?
Both can be certified (statewide). The difference is scope. Under Fla. Stat. 489.105(3), a general contractor’s scope is unlimited, while a building contractor is limited to commercial and residential buildings not exceeding three stories — plus remodeling or repair of any size building where the work does not affect the structural members. If your work involves taller new structures, you need the general classification. For how the three scope classes compare, see the Florida contractor license types guide.
Does a registered license work statewide?
No. A registered contractor may contract only in the jurisdiction whose competency requirements they met. Only a certified license (a state certificate of competency) allows work anywhere in Florida.
Related pages
Once you know your path, review the Florida GC license requirements for that route, and if you already hold an out-of-state license, check Florida contractor license reciprocity — or, where the credential is a national trade examination, what a NASCLA pass reaches in Florida. When you are ready, follow the step-by-step path to a Florida GC license. For the overview, see the Florida general contractor license guide.
This page summarizes Florida law and is general information, not legal advice. Verify scope and jurisdiction rules with the Florida DBPR and your local building department before acting.
Reach is one axis and local authority is another. What a county or city may and may not require of a state-licensed contractor is set out at what a county may and may not require.
The same statewide-against-local split runs through electrical licensing, with one credential that sits on neither rung — the journeyman license, issued locally and recognized statewide.
What local registration looks like in practice differs by county: Miami-Dade’s Construction Trades Qualifying Board and Palm Beach County’s own certificate of competency are built on different legal foundations.
The geographic limit on a registration is enforced at the permit counter — why a local competency card is not enough for a permit.
What local registration means varies sharply by county: Chapter 9 in Broward treats a state certificate as an alternative, Hillsborough’s four boards each cite their own ordinance, Lee grandfathered its remaining holders, Pinellas dropped its registration requirement in 2024, and Collier accepts a state certificate in place of its 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.