Your company is licensed and established somewhere else. Now there's work in Florida, maybe a job you've already been awarded. Florida doesn't automatically accept another state's contractor license, so you need a legal way to work here. The fastest is usually a Florida-licensed qualifier.
General information about Florida law, not legal advice. Speak to a Florida construction attorney before entering any qualifying arrangement.
Florida licenses people, not companies, and it doesn't automatically honor another state's license. An out-of-state company can work in Florida by registering with the state to do business here and qualifying through a Florida-licensed contractor who serves as its qualifying agent.
Only in narrow cases. Florida law allows a license by endorsement when another state's criteria are substantially equivalent to Florida's, or when that state has a reciprocal agreement with the board (Statute 489.115).
Under Statute 489.119, a business contracts in Florida through a licensed qualifying agent. Nothing requires the company itself to be based in Florida.
Submitting a bid for licensed work in Florida counts as contracting (Statute 489.105). If you're bidding on Florida work, the qualifier should be in place before the bid goes in, not after the award.
The qualifier is not a name on a form. Florida holds them responsible for supervising your Florida work, and the state looks at whether that supervision is real.
Agreed between you and the qualifier. 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.
This is the risk most companies don't hear about until it costs them. If a company signs a job without a qualifier licensed for that kind of work, Florida says the company cannot enforce that contract (Statute 489.128).
Under Statute 489.119, the company has 60 days from the day the qualifier leaves to bring on a new one, and it cannot take on new contracts until it does.
Licensed general, building and residential contractors 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 applicationNot automatically. Florida has reciprocal agreements with only a few states, for general, building and residential licenses, and endorsement is still an application. Most out-of-state companies start working sooner with a Florida qualifier.
Yes. Out-of-state corporations and LLCs need a certificate of authority from the Florida Division of Corporations before they do business here.
It can be employment, ownership or a written agreement. What Florida requires is that the qualifier really has final approval authority over the work and the money (Statute 489.119).
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, by exam or, if your state qualifies, by endorsement. A qualifier lets you work in Florida while that runs.
The four real routes, the warning signs, and how long it takes.
Read moreThe legal line in Florida, and the legal way to get there.
Read moreHow a Florida qualifier is tied to a company.
Read more