Florida Contractor License Credit Requirements: 660, the 14-Hour Course, Liens, and Judgments

Section 489.115(5)(b) says that, as a prerequisite to the initial issuance of a certificate, the applicant furnishes a credit report from a nationally recognized credit agency and evidence of financial responsibility, credit, and business reputation, either their own or that of the business they want to qualify. The same paragraph tells the board to define financial responsibility by rule, based on credit history, ability to be bonded, and any history of bankruptcy or assignment of receivers. Section 489.115(7) adds that the credit report is the minimum evidence the board needs to be satisfied on those points.

The board's rule, 61G4-15.006, splits the requirement into two grounds:

• Financial responsibility: you provide a current consumer credit report that discloses no unsatisfied judgments or liens against you. There also can be no unsatisfied judgments or liens against any business you previously qualified or currently seek to qualify.
• Financial stability: you show a FICO-derived credit score of 660 or higher. If you can't, you meet this ground by completing a 14-hour financial responsibility course approved by the board.
• One report can satisfy both: a current report showing 660 or higher with no unsatisfied judgments or liens, plus confirmation that none exist against the businesses the rule covers.

Rule 61G4-12.011(10) defines the report. It must be a current consumer credit report with a score derived from the Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO) method, and it must include payment history, credit rating, public filings in county, state, and federal courts, and bankruptcies, business history, suits, liens, and judgments on a nationwide basis. Under 61G4-12.011(11), the agency that produces it must gather credit information inside and outside Florida, validate and maintain it, and obtain reports from at least two credit bureaus.

Form CILB 5-A, the individual application for a certified general contractor, puts it in plain terms: a credit report with a FICO-derived score from a nationally recognized agency, including a public records statement that records were checked at the local, state, and federal levels. The DBPR's financial responsibility sheet says the score must be identified as a FICO or Beacon score. If you are qualifying a business, the same sheet asks for a personal report and a report on the business.

• The DBPR publishes a list of credit reporting agencies, labeled for reference only and not all-inclusive. You can use an agency that isn't listed if it meets the criteria in 61G4-12.011(10)-(11).
• Since April 10, 2012, per that list, the personal report must contain a FICO-derived score, and making sure it does is your responsibility.
• Neither the rule nor the form gives a number of days for "current." Order the report you submit close to when you file, and ask the DBPR if you're unsure whether an older one will be accepted.
• A score from a free app or a single bureau's consumer report isn't built to this definition (two bureaus merged, public records searched, FICO-derived score). It is useful as a preview of what the real report will show.

The rule's text is short: an applicant unable to show a 660 score meets the financial stability requirement by completing a 14-hour financial responsibility course approved by the board. The CILB approves the courses, and the DBPR links its list of approved courses from the application checklist. A course that isn't on that list doesn't count, so check the provider against the DBPR list before you pay.

The CILB 5-A asks whether your report shows 660 or higher. If you answer no, you give the school name, the school's provider number, the course name, and the dates you attended, and you include proof of completion with the application. The form's instructions say you only need the course if your score is under 660. Neither the rule nor the form sets a window for when you take it relative to your exams, so it can be done while you study.

The course replaces the score requirement only. It does nothing for the financial responsibility ground, so an unsatisfied judgment or lien still has to be dealt with separately.

Unsatisfied judgments and liens are the part of this that can stop an application. Background question 2 on the CILB 5-A asks whether there are any pending bankruptcies or unsatisfied judgments or liens against you, a business you previously qualified, or the business you seek to qualify. The form spells out that this includes judgments or liens for unpaid past-due bills owed to creditors, construction and non-construction matters, and tax liens.

A yes answer means completing Section IV of the application and supplying documentation that the bankruptcy was discharged or the judgment or lien was satisfied, or, if it wasn't, a statement of its current status. The checklist repeats the point for every applicant: proof of satisfaction of liens and judgments, and discharge of bankruptcy, if applicable.

• Judgments and liens: the rule's refusal ground is an unsatisfied one. A judgment you paid off, with a recorded satisfaction you can document, is what the form asks you to prove.
• Collection accounts: the rule names judgments and liens, not collection accounts. A collection that never became a judgment isn't one of the named grounds, though it can pull your score down and put you into the course.
• Bankruptcy: the statute tells the board to consider bankruptcy history, and the form asks for proof of discharge, or the current status if the case is still open. The current rule doesn't list bankruptcy as a separate refusal ground. How the board weighs an open case is the board's call, and applications with these answers are the kind that may go before the board for review.
• A business you qualified before: an unpaid judgment against a company you once qualified can block your own application. Our qualifying agent guide covers how that follows you to the next business.

You will still find surety companies selling a "Florida 660 bond" and older articles describing a bond as the way around a low score. Section 489.115(5)(b) allows the board to adopt rules letting applicants show financial responsibility through minimum credit scores or bonds. The current text of Rule 61G4-15.006, last amended effective May 5, 2024, contains no bond option. The only alternative it gives for a score under 660 is the 14-hour course. The DBPR's construction FAQ and its help-center answer on credit scores (updated September 2025) say the same thing. Where any secondary source disagrees with the rule text, go with the rule, and if someone offers to sell you a bond for this purpose, confirm with the DBPR before paying.

A different bond does exist and gets mixed up with this one. Under Rule 61G4-15.0021(2), a financially responsible officer, the person who takes over a company's financial responsibility from the qualifier, must post a $100,000 bond or irrevocable letter of credit payable to the board. That requirement belongs to the FRO role and has nothing to do with an applicant's score.

The DBPR gives you four years after passing the exams to apply for the license, but deficiency letters and missing documents are where months get lost, so start the paperwork during exam prep. Our exam registration guide walks through the full sequence from PTI to the CILB 5-A, and the license cost breakdown puts numbers on the rest of the file.

• Early in prep, check your own credit to see where you stand: score range, any judgments, liens, or tax liens.
• If anything is unsatisfied, start getting satisfaction documents now. Recorded satisfactions and payoff letters take time to obtain.
• If you expect to land under 660, take a board-approved course from the DBPR list and keep the completion certificate.
• Order the report you'll submit, from an agency meeting 61G4-12.011, close to your filing date.
• If the board finds you qualified but you still owe required evidence, s.489.115(5)(c) gives you 60 days from that notice, with an extension granted on a showing of just cause.

None of this matters until you have three passing scores, and the exams are where most of the time and retake money goes. The general contractor license guide lays out the whole route, including the three exams and what each one covers.

LicenseReady's courses drill all three parts with original questions weighted to the official outlines, spaced repetition, and timed simulations. Start with the free readiness quiz to see where you stand.