Florida Licensing Woes...

FLBuilder

I am in a rock and a hard place. Florida requires you to have your experience verified by a Florida GC or BC and I just moved here last year. Is there people that would verify your experience for you for a fee ? Checking all your references and making sure you have experience then signing off on your application ? Or am I just out of luck ?

Teetorbilt

Kind of a braud question. What license are you going for? Where are you?

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FLBuilder

I am in the Tampa Bay area, Looking for a CB or CG since I am going for CB.

Agent Ezzard

I have heard that It has been done before.

FLBuilder

I have someone that may be willing to help me but he has just become a GC within the last month or so. Will this be a problem for the newbie GC to verify my experience ?

Agent Ezzard

As long as he has a license then he should be able to sign the affidavit affirming to your experience.

FLBuilder

I have another question. On the page of the application where you have your experience verified:

Describe in detail the applicant's duties, dates of employment, and employer, including any hands on supervisory responsibilities:

Now since I have never worked side by side with this GC does he have to lie about his knowledge ? I have typed out an extensive list of my experience, employers, addresses, and phone numbers for this GC to check my references.

Agent Ezzard

If he has knowledge of your work in the construction industry. He can attest to your credentials. You do not have to work directly with him.

Just think of it as if you had a friend for the past 10 years and during that time you were working in construction. You maintained a relationship with him and knows that you work in construction then that is the role of the contractor thats signing is playing. If the CLIB wants to call your individual employers than they will.

Clicks Construc

Ther are certain key words and history you will need to show. I would be willing to help.

Carl Click

invest

I'd be very cautious of who I would sign or partner with when it is my license on the line. It is too hard and costly to get licensed to just allow any Tom, Dick or Harry to work/partner under your license. If something goes wrong who's on the line?

Gatortrades

For the love of Pete, what are these "key words" that they look for? I have heard about them and nobody seems to say what they are.

Is it putting your experience down as stuff like concrete formwork, masonry structures, structural steel?

Please help.

DavidG19

I pulled my application from when I passed my Florida Certified General Contractor exam in 1992. This is exactly what I wrote:

"Project Management and field experince on jobs up to 7 stories involving sitework, excavation, footing, pile & caps, concrete, decks, masonry walls, trusses, wood framing, reinforing bars, steel erection, column erection, and formwork."

Advise:

1. Take a class and buy all the books they recommend. I have a formal education in construction, a college degree, hands on field experience, and a background as a Superintendent, Estimator and Project Manager. YOU WILL NOT PASS THE FIRST TIME WITHOUT TAKING A CLASS!!! I took a class from Contractors Institute, formerly Scotty's School of Construction. Palm, Camtect and others are available. Google "florida contractor exam preperation". You will find plenty to choose from.

2. Humble youself before the class begins. The instructor acknowledges that they are not teaching you how to build buildings. They are teaching you how to pass a test.

3. Study every day. I took several classes over several months and studied almost every night.

The test is two full days but you can pass if you take a class and study.

Gatortrades

Thanks for the reply! I already took my CBC exam (obviously here in Florida) and passed the first time in April 07. I have just been busy and am applying now 8 months later.

I was just curious about certain key words to use. I saw on the application forms that "areas of experience" - as they called it - was concrete, steel, masonry, large foundations etc. I just kind of figured that they want to see those key points. I want my application to go through the first time.

Also, to anybody who reads this that hasn't taken the exam and is preparing to. The best thing you can do is get the books and do practice questions. The whole exam is how fast you can look up the answer to a question. By doing practice questions, you familiarize yourself with what information is in which book (even though most questions state which book to look in).

I got my books the week before the exam, did practice questions that weekend for about 6 hours to familiarize myself, and got 94, 92, 82 on the 3 sections. I was just finishing college (Finance degree) and happen to be very good at taking tests. I tell you this because the exam is not as hard as everybody makes it out to be. Stressing over this exam will not help anyone. If you are a long time out of school, by all means take the review course. It refreshes test taking strategies and reinforces mathematical tools that many people forget (areas, volumes etc). So remember not to fret and just do as many practice problems as you can and you'll be fine. I've got 3 of my co-workers through it successfully the first time and we are all getting ready for the LEED AP exam now. Good Luck Everyone!!

gouzts

[gouzts] I bought the books but i did not take any classes and I passed the first time out.

gouzts

[gouzts] I bought the books but I did not take the classes and I passed the first time out.

JCpresto

That confused me a little in the beggining also.

If you have your experience notarized on the affadavit by a contractor in your previous state, you should be fine. Doesent have to be FL. Thats how I did it coming in from a different state.

ChrissiJackson

To get a Florida CBC license you need one of the following to verify your information:

• A Florida CGC or a Florida CBC. Their license can be one day old or many years old. As long as it is in good standing it doesn't matter.
• An engineer, architect or building official licensed in any state in the USA. You must provide proof of their license.

An out-of-state contractor is not an approved option.

The keywords that you're looking for are available in the FAQ section of the DBPR's website.

Good luck!

KCLicenses

You are investing a lot of time and money into getting a FL contractor's license. You can also lose a lot of money when your license is delayed because you have to take the test more than once and have to deal with deficiencies on the license application. Most licensed contractors will tell you to get all the professional help you possibly can to make the entire process go as smoothly as possible with no delays.

I know people who have been in construction for decades, didn't take a class and failed the exam several times until they finally decided to take a class. As mentioned, the class prepares you for the test -- they do not teach you the trade (you should already know it!). The exams test to the books -- not to reality.

The exams are difficult, don't let anyone fool you. As soon as DBPR starts experiencing a higher passing rate, they re-write the exams. Preparation is definitely key.

As for experience, it is one of the most common areas that are given deficiencies (which means you have to provide more information, delaying approval up to 30 days or longer). FL statutes and adminsitrative codes provide the exact requirements for each license. These change periodically, so you want to be sure you meet the current requirements. You can Google these. You may also want to Google companies that can help you with the license application - license expediters. Again, professional help can streamline everything for you, getting you into business faster and with less stress.

Hope this helps! Good luck!

Kristie Cook

Steve Hammond

you can use any contractor world wide that you have done work for to sign off. you need a copy of there D.L and builder lic.

KCLicenses

Unfortunately, it's not that easy. If you have a contractor verify your experience, it must be a Florida certified contractor with an active license equivalent or higher than the one being applied for and there must be no complaints against that person's license. Or, you can have an architect, engineer or building official from ANY state (not outside of the US) and you must get a copy of their professional license. Also, you do not have to have worked for this person. They are saying that they know you have this experience, not that you have worked for them.

I've attached the document from the state that outlines who can sign for the different types of applicants.

DBPR and CILB rules change all the time. What worked a couple of years ago may not work anymore. And a requirement of a couple of years ago may no longer be a current requirement. It's important to know everything that is in effect at the time you are applying...not what was in effect when your friend or boss applied and not even what was in effect when you took the class and the exam.

Hope this helps!

Kristie Cook

Attached Files

Qualification Certification.doc (45.5 KB, 103 views)

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Kristie Cook
Licenses, Etc.
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