No. A contractor cannot work under someone else’s license in Florida by borrowing, renting, or informally operating on another person’s credential. State law treats that as license evasion and punishes both sides. Florida does allow one legitimate arrangement that looks similar on the surface: a licensed contractor can serve as the qualifying agent for a business, letting the company perform contracting work under that individual’s license. The catch is that a qualifying agent must genuinely supervise the work, not just lend a name.
Why Borrowing a License Is Illegal
Florida Statute 489.129 makes it a disciplinary offense for a licensed contractor to let an unlicensed person or business use their license to sidestep state requirements. Two behaviors are specifically prohibited: knowingly helping someone practice contracting without proper certification, and allowing your license to be used by a business you don’t actively participate in. If a licensed contractor lets one or more businesses use their credential without being involved in the operations, management, or control of those businesses, the state treats that as automatic evidence of intent to evade the law.1Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 489.129 – Disciplinary Proceedings
In practical terms, a licensed contractor cannot pull permits for jobs that will actually be run by someone without a license. The license belongs to the person who earned it. It can’t be handed off, subleased, or attached to a company the licensee has no real role in.
The Legal Path: Becoming a Business’s Qualifying Agent
When a corporation, LLC, partnership, or other business wants to perform contracting work, it must designate a licensed contractor as its qualifying agent. That person formally takes responsibility for the company’s construction activities and, unless a separate financially responsible officer is designated, its financial operations as well.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 489.1195 – Responsibilities
This is where confusion sets in. People hear that a business can operate “under” someone’s license and assume it’s a loose arrangement. It isn’t. The application to qualify a business requires a sworn affidavit that the qualifying agent has final approval authority over all construction work the company performs, plus final say on contracts, specifications, and payments.3Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 489.119 – Business Organizations; Qualifying Agents If the qualifier is not actually running the construction side of the business, the arrangement is not a qualifying agent relationship. It is license renting with paperwork on top.
Primary and Secondary Qualifying Agents
A company with more than one licensed contractor on staff can designate one as the primary qualifying agent and others as secondary qualifying agents through a joint agreement filed with the Construction Industry Licensing Board. The primary qualifying agent is jointly and equally responsible for supervising all company operations, every job site, and all financial matters for the business generally and for each project individually.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 489.1195 – Responsibilities
A secondary qualifying agent has a narrower role. They’re responsible only for supervising field work at job sites where their license was used to pull the permit, plus any additional work they voluntarily accept. Secondary agents are not responsible for the company’s financial matters. But “secondary” is not “risk-free.” If your license is on the permit, you own everything that happens on that site.
What Happens When the Qualifier Leaves
If the sole primary qualifying agent wants out, they must give written notice to the company, to any secondary qualifying agents, and to the board. Their status ends either when a replacement is designated or 60 days after the board receives satisfactory notice, whichever comes first. If no replacement is named within 60 days, all secondary qualifying agents automatically become primary, inheriting the full scope of responsibility.2Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 489.1195 – Responsibilities If the departing qualifier is the company’s only licensed contractor, the business cannot legally continue contracting work until a new qualifier is in place.
How to Qualify in the First Place
Working legally under a company’s banner starts with holding a license yourself. Florida requires you to pass a board-approved examination covering both trade knowledge and business and finance. If you hold a bachelor’s degree in building construction or a related field from an accredited college with a GPA of 3.0 or higher, you only need to pass the business and finance portion.4Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 489.113 – Qualifications for Practice
You also need practical experience. The most common path without a college degree is four years of experience as a construction worker or foreman, with at least one year as a foreman. One year equals 2,000 hours. Other routes combine shorter work experience with college credits.5DBPR. DBPR CILB 6-B – Certified Contractor Qualifying Business (Building)
The application also requires a credit report with a FICO-derived score for both the applicant and the business being qualified. A score of 660 or above clears the financial hurdle. Below 660, the applicant must complete a 14-hour financial responsibility course approved by the board before the application can proceed. Initial certification fees run from $145 to $245 depending on where you apply within the licensing cycle.5DBPR. DBPR CILB 6-B – Certified Contractor Qualifying Business (Building)
When No License Is Needed
Some work in Florida doesn’t require a contractor’s license at all, so the whole qualifying-agent question never arises. The main exemptions:
- Owner-builder, residential: you’re building or improving a one-family or two-family residence for your own use, not for sale or lease, and you personally supervise all work not performed by licensed subcontractors.
- Owner-builder, commercial: you’re building or improving a commercial building on your own property for your own use, not for sale or lease, and the total cost does not exceed $75,000.
- Employees of a licensed contractor working within the scope of their employer’s license and with the employer’s knowledge.
Other narrow exemptions cover government employees, court-appointed officers, public utilities performing maintenance, and the installation of finished products that don’t become a permanent part of the structure.6Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 489.103 – Exemptions If your situation doesn’t fit squarely into one of these, you need a license or a proper qualifying agent arrangement.
Penalties for License Renting
For the Licensed Contractor Who Lends the License
The Construction Industry Licensing Board can impose administrative fines up to $10,000 per violation, place the contractor on probation, suspend the license, or revoke it entirely. The board can also require restitution to harmed consumers and assess investigation and prosecution costs.1Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 489.129 – Disciplinary Proceedings Under the board’s disciplinary guidelines, fines for aiding or conspiring with an unlicensed person start at $5,000 with probation or suspension for a first offense and reach $10,000 with possible revocation for more serious cases.7CaseMine. Florida Administrative Code R. 61G4-17.001 – Disciplinary Guidelines
For the Unlicensed Person Using the License
Criminal charges. A first offense is a first-degree misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in jail and a $1,000 fine. A second or subsequent offense becomes a third-degree felony carrying up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. The felony charge also applies to anyone caught doing unlicensed contracting work during a state of emergency declared by the Governor.8Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 489.127 – Prohibitions; Penalties The Department of Business and Professional Regulation can also issue cease and desist orders and administrative fines.9Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 489.131 – Applicability; Unlicensed Activities
What Homeowners Should Know
If you’re on the hiring side and someone offers to do the work “under my buddy’s license,” that is the arrangement the statute prohibits. The consequences can land on you too. Under Florida Statute 489.128, any contract entered into by an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable by that contractor. The unlicensed person cannot sue to collect payment, cannot file a construction lien against the property, and cannot make a bond claim for labor or materials.10Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 489.128 – Contracts Entered Into by Unlicensed Contractors Unenforceable
That sounds protective, but it creates its own problems. If the work is defective or incomplete, the homeowner may struggle to recover money already paid. There’s no licensing board to complain to, no bond to claim against, and often no liability insurance or workers’ compensation. If a worker is injured on the property and the contractor has no coverage, the homeowner’s own insurance may deny the claim, exposing them personally to a lawsuit. Before hiring, confirm the license belongs to someone who will actually be running the job, not just cashing a fee to let their name sit on the permit.