Can You Get a Florida Contractor License With a Felony or Criminal Record?

Section 489.115(6) requires every applicant for an initial certificate or registration to go through a statewide criminal history check by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The results go back to the DBPR to decide whether you meet the requirements. The subsection then sets the standard for a felony:

• The board may deny licensure to an applicant with a felony conviction based on the severity of the crime, the relationship of the crime to contracting, or the potential for public harm.
• In deciding either way, the board must also consider the length of time since the crime and the rehabilitation of the applicant.
• The board may not deny licensure based solely on a felony conviction or on a failure to provide proof that civil rights were restored.

Section 489.111(2)(b) lists good moral character as a condition of eligibility for licensure by examination, next to being 18 and meeting an experience route. A criminal record is the usual reason the question comes up, and subsection (3) limits how the board can use it. The board may refuse certification for lack of good moral character only if two things are true: there is a substantial connection between the lack of good moral character and the professional responsibilities of a certified contractor, and the finding is supported by clear and convincing evidence.

If the board does find you unqualified on that ground, the statute requires it to give you a statement of its findings, a complete record of the evidence it relied on, and notice of your rights to a rehearing and an appeal. Section 489.111 doesn't define good moral character, and we found no board rule that does, so this guide doesn't offer a definition.

You may have read that Florida can't hold a conviction older than five years against a license applicant. That comes from section 455.213(3), and it applies to a specific list of licenses. For construction, paragraph (3)(a) names these categories under chapter 489:

• Air-conditioning, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, and sheet metal contractors.
• Pollutant storage systems, solar, swimming pool and spa, and underground utility and excavation contractors.
• Other specialty contractors.
• General, building, and residential contractors are not named. The paragraph also covers any other DBPR license for a profession offered to inmates as vocational training or through an industry certification program. If you're applying for a general, building, or residential license and are counting on the five-year rule, ask the DBPR whether it applies to your category before you rely on it.

For the licenses on that list, (3)(b)1 says a conviction or other adjudication for a crime more than 5 years before the date the board receives your application may not be grounds for denial. The statute counts a finding of guilt after a plea or a trial as a conviction whether or not adjudication was withheld.

Two exceptions follow. The board may consider, at any time, a crime listed in s.775.21(4)(a)1, which is part of the Florida Sexual Predators Act, or in s.776.08, the forcible felony definition that includes offenses such as robbery, burglary, arson, and aggravated battery, if that history has been found to relate to the practice of the profession. And (3)(b)2 says that for the construction categories, the board may consider criminal history that has been found to relate to good moral character.

That second exception is broad, and the statute doesn't say which offenses relate to good moral character. An old conviction on a covered trade license is protected by the five-year rule unless the board finds it falls into one of those exceptions.

Paragraph (3)(c) addresses applicants for the covered licenses who are still serving a sentence. Under it you may apply before you're released from confinement or supervision, the department may not charge an additional fee because of it, and the board may not deny the application solely because you're confined or under supervision. The board may hold the license after approving the application until you're lawfully released, and it verifies the release with the Department of Corrections. If confinement or supervision keeps you from appearing in person, the board must let you appear by teleconference or video conference.

Background question 1 on form CILB 5-A, the individual application for a certified general contractor, is wider than most people expect. It asks whether you have ever been convicted or found guilty of, or entered a plea of guilty or nolo contendere to, a crime in any jurisdiction, regardless of adjudication.

• It covers felonies, misdemeanors, and traffic offenses, with parking, speeding, inspection, and traffic signal violations excepted.
• It applies whether or not you were placed on probation, had adjudication withheld, were paroled, or were pardoned.
• If you plan to answer no because you believe a record was sealed or expunged, the form makes you responsible for verifying that before you answer.
• The form states that your answer will be checked against local, state, and federal records, and that failing to answer accurately may result in denial or revocation of the license.
• A yes answer means completing Section IV for each offense: the offense, county and state, penalty or disposition, date, whether all sanctions have been satisfied, and a description. The instructions ask for full details of the charges, outcomes, sentences, and the court, with supporting legal documents.

Electronic fingerprints are mandatory on initial construction license applications. Section 489.115(9) sends them to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement for state processing and on to the FBI for a national check, at the applicant's cost. The DBPR reviews the results, and the board may review them too.

An offense you leave off the form can still come back in that check. You sign the application under penalty of perjury, and the form says falsifying material information may result in criminal penalty or administrative action. A conviction you disclose gets weighed under the standards above. One you omit adds a false answer to the file. If you aren't sure what a court record shows, get the disposition from the clerk of court before you fill out the form.

Section 455.213(3) also requires each board to publish what it has done with criminal history. Paragraph (3)(d) calls for a list of crimes that don't relate to the practice of the profession and aren't grounds for denial, posted on the department's website and updated annually, plus a list of crimes applicants reported that weren't used as a basis for denial. Paragraph (3)(e) calls for a list of crimes that were used as a basis for denial, with the date of conviction, plea, adjudication, or sentencing for each.

For contractors, the DBPR posts these under the heading "Prior Criminal Offenses" on its Construction Industry page at myfloridalicense.com, as two documents: "Crimes That Do Not Relate to the Practice of Contracting or the Ability to Practice Contracting" and "Criminal Offenses Used As Basis for Denial of License to Practice Contracting." Read both before you decide anything. They are the closest thing to a preview the state offers, because nothing in 455.213(3) gives you a ruling on your record before you apply.

DBPR staff process most applications, and some go to the board for a decision. The DBPR's construction FAQ says notice is mailed about 14 days before the meeting where an application will be reviewed, and that if the board denies it, a notice of intent to deny explaining the reasons is mailed within 60 days after the meeting. Our guide to the Construction Industry Licensing Board covers how those meetings work.

Since the board has to weigh time and rehabilitation, bring documents that show both: proof that sentences, probation, fines, and restitution were completed, and a record of steady work in the trade since.

The order of operations is what makes this stressful. You register for the exams with the testing vendor without DBPR approval, and the board sees your record only when you apply for the license afterward. Our exam registration guide walks through that sequence. So the exam fees and the study time are spent before anyone rules on your history.

• Get your own records first: certified dispositions from the clerk of court for every case, and proof that all sanctions are complete.
• Read the two DBPR lists and see where offenses like yours have landed.
• Check whether your license category is on the five-year list in s.455.213(3)(a), and how old the conviction will be on the date the board receives your application.
• If the offense is recent or serious, or it relates to contracting, pay for an hour with a Florida licensing attorney before you pay for exams.
• If you go ahead, the free readiness quiz shows which exam part needs the most work, and LicenseReady's courses drill each part with original questions and timed simulations.