What Type of Work Can a Florida Certified General Contractor Do?
In Florida, there are three Division I licenses: Residential Contractor, Building Contractor, and General Contractor. Each has a different scope of work allowed under the license. The definitions section of Chapter 489, Florida Statutes, indicates that a General Contractor is
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.
General Contractors are referred to many times as Florida’s unlimited contractors because they can generally enter into contractors for any type of work, as long as they are appropriately subcontracting work as required by Florida’s contractor licensing statutes and regulations.
A General Contractor’s allowed scope of work is also set forth in other sections of Chapter 489 to clarify additional work that General Contractor can do as follows:
A Certified General Contractor may perform clearing and grubbing, grading, excavation, and other site work for any construction project in the state.
A General Contractor is not required to subcontract to a roofing contractor 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.
A General Contractor is not required to subcontract structural swimming pool work; but all other swimming pool work must be subcontractors to an appropriately licensed certified or registered swimming pool contractor
A General Contractor is not required to subcontract the construction of a main sanitary sewer collection system, storm collection system, or water distribution system, not including the continuation of utility lines from the mains to the buildings, and may perform any of the services, on public or private property, for which a license as an underground utility and excavation contractor is required under Chapter 489, Florida Statutes.
A General Contractor is not required to subcontract the continuation of utility lines from the mains in mobile home parks, and such continuations are to be considered a part of the main sewer collection and main water distribution systems
But, a General Contractor certified after 1973 cannot hold himself or herself out to be, or advertise himself or herself to be a roofing contractor unless he or she is certified or registered as a roofing contractor.
And a General Contractor must subcontract all electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, sheet metal, swimming pool, and air-conditioning work unless the contractor holds a state certificate or registration in the respective trade category.
It is important for General Contractors to know the scope of work they are allowed to do, because performing work outside of the allowed scope can be unlicensed contracting, which carries severe civil and criminal penalties.
About the Author:
Jason Lambert is a Florida Board Certified Construction Attorney and Partner in the Construction Industry Practice Group at Hill Ward Henderson, in Tampa, Florida. He is also the founder and chief contributor to the Hammer & Gavel construction law blog. Jason focuses his practice on representing contractors, subcontractors, and materials suppliers throughout the state of Florida. Before law school, Jason spent a decade working in the construction industry, primarily as a project manager and operations director for both new construction and remodeling. He can be reached at jason.lambert@hwhlaw.com or 813-227-8495.
