You install alarms, access control or data cabling. Some of that work needs a Florida license and some doesn't, and the line isn't obvious. Here is where it sits, which license fits, and how a licensed contractor can qualify your company.
General information about Florida law, not legal advice. Speak to a Florida construction attorney before entering any qualifying arrangement.
Alarm work in Florida needs a license from the electrical board, and a licensed alarm or electrical contractor can serve as your company's qualifying agent. Data and other low voltage cabling up to 98 volts doesn't create a state license requirement by itself, but your city or county may still have permit rules.
Data, voice and other cabling up to 98 volts doesn't create a state license requirement on its own (Statute 489.505). Florida does have a licensed specialty for it, limited energy systems, and an alarm or electrical license covers it too. Once the cabling is part of an alarm system, it's alarm work. Check your city or county as well, because local permit rules can still apply.
Under Statute 489.505, offering, bidding on, or claiming you can do alarm or electrical contracting counts as contracting. A company without a qualifier shouldn't be quoting that work at all.
The qualifier is not a name on a form. Florida holds them responsible for supervising your alarm work, and the state looks at whether that supervision is real.
Agreed between you and the contractor. It depends on how many jobs you run, how organized your company is, and how much supervision you need. We don't publish a range, because the number only means something once both sides know the work.
The state's own filing fees, paid to the state licensing department directly.
Nothing to apply or to be on the platform. You only pay once we've found you a qualifier who has said yes, and if the introduction doesn't happen, you can have it back.
Alarm work runs under the same rules as electrical. Under Statute 489.521, the qualifier has to tell the state within 30 days that they've left. If they were your only qualifier, the company has 60 days to qualify someone new.
Licensed electrical contractors, whose certified licenses also cover alarm work, have already applied to QualiFind as qualifiers. Every qualifier's license is checked against the state's records, and you're matched by trade, area and the way you work.
Start your applicationYes. A certified electrical contractor's license includes alarm system work. A locally registered electrical contractor's doesn't.
Cabling up to 98 volts doesn't create a state license requirement by itself. It becomes licensed work when it's part of an alarm system, and local permit rules may still apply.
A certified license covers the whole state, so yes, as long as real supervision is realistic at that distance. A registered license only covers the area that issued it.
Plan in weeks, not days. You need to find the right person, both sides need to do real checking, the terms have to be agreed, and the qualifier has to be filed with the state.
Yes. A real qualifying arrangement is the legal bridge. You run and build the company now, under a real qualifier, and work toward your own license on a realistic timeline.