Residential Contractor — Florida License
Division I category for construction, remodeling, repair or improvement of one-family, two-family and three-family residences up to two habitable stories above at most one uninhabitable story.
01 Verbatim statutory definition
§489.105(3)(c) Residential Contractor
“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.
Legal basis: F.S. §489.105(3)(c) S-FL-105
Source S-FL-105 — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
Florida Statutes §489.105 — Definitions (contractor categories, certified/registered) — F.S. F.S. §489.105(3)(c)
Retrieved 2026-10-01 · last verified 2026-10-01
Read verbatim 2026-10-01 (HTTP 200). Subsection (3)(a)-(q) defines every contractor category (Division I a-c, Division II d-q) — all classification definition_text values are verbatim from it. (8) certified contractor = statewide; (10) registered contractor = may contract only in such jurisdictions; (12) local construction regulation board.
Division I.
Trades mapped: General Contracting, Remodeling
02 Scope assertions
No scope assertion row is seeded for this category yet — we do not invent scope statements without verbatim evidence.
03 The subcontract rule
A contractor shall subcontract all electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool, and air-conditioning work, unless such contractor holds a state certificate or registration in the respective trade category (F.S. §489.113(3)). Exceptions include: a general, building, or residential contractor need not subcontract the installation, or repair made under warranty, of wood shingles, wood shakes, or asphalt or fiberglass shingle roofing materials on a new building of his or her own construction (§489.113(3)(b)); a general contractor need not subcontract structural swimming pool work (§489.113(3)(c)).
Source S-FL-113 — Florida Legislature (Online Sunshine)
Florida Statutes §489.113 — Qualifications for practice; restrictions — F.S. §489.113(3), (3)(b)-(c)
Retrieved 2026-10-01 · last verified 2026-10-01
Read verbatim 2026-10-01 (HTTP 200). (1) statewide certification requires the board-approved examination (degree shortcut: business & finance portion only); (2) must be certified or registered + supervised-subcontractor proviso; (3) subcontract rule for electrical/mechanical/plumbing/roofing/sheet metal/swimming pool/air-conditioning with exceptions (b)-(g); (4) certified contractor exhibits the certificate locally and pays the permit fee like others; (6)(a) specialty categories are VOLUNTARY statewide unless a statute mandates them; (7) oral examination petition.
Further exceptions: general contractor utility work (3)(d)-(e), solar contractor minor residential-solar work per board rule (3)(f). Used by rule FL-ROOFING.
04 Certified or registered
A certified contractor holding this category may contract in any Florida jurisdiction without meeting that locality's competency requirements (F.S. §489.105(8)); a registered contractor holding it may contract only where local licensing was met, and only for the registered type of work (§489.105(10), §489.117(1)(b)). The statute defines the category — it does not make it certified-only. Differences explained on the certified vs registered page. S-FL-105 S-FL-117
05 Local permit layer
Holding this category does not decide permits: the permit issuer must ascertain that the applicant is certified or registered in that area before issuing (F.S. §489.131(5)), and permit systems and fees remain county/municipal powers (§489.131(3)(a), (d)). No locality was researched for this release — LOCAL_AUTHORITY_REQUIRED. S-FL-131