Question On Experience For FL CGC

FLBuilder

Some of the companies I have worked for are out of business and some of them I am going to use for my experience related to this CGC license. That being said I am worried that if they can't contact these employers then they can't verify my experience. I have a long time friend that worked with me in all my heavy construction jobs and he would be available to talk with the DPBR if they have questions concerning these jobs, but that would be the best I can come up with. Do they contact these employers or just look at the verbiage in the experience fields and move to the next application? Any help on this matter is appreciated !

MinConst

Don't have an answer for you but I'm in a different situation. I have always been self employed. No real records for the state to look at. I think I'm **** outta luck myself.

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Minichillo's Construction
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invest

I would think they would need documented proof of your experience, not just rely on your word on an application and a phone call from a friend. To many people out there claiming to be contractors out there obtaining fraudulant licenses or working without any license and scamming people, especially in the state of Florida, they crack down on that here.

Kingfisher

They did not call any of my back grond info. But are you both able to get someone to sign off on your years who is a GC?

threaderman

Sorry to tell you but all my previous experience had to be notarized and signed by the employer[s] before I could test.Yeah,it makes it tough.Good luck.

invest

yeah it makes it rough but either you have the experience or you dont, no getting around it.

threaderman

I fought the same battle.In Tampa I was unable to get my contractors lic. because people I had worked for in Chicago had closed their doors and I couldn't locate them for verification.I wound up sub-contrating and earned like 33% of my tickets.Great living but demanding hours.Eventually I was hired as project manager for Payless Plumbing & Air and was eventually able to show the required time/experience to test for my contractors.Unless you can get in touch with past employers you may have to go that route.I was treated very well,I made them money,and they were able to play golf.

MHMConstruction

I don't think they contacted my old employer. Many companies go out of business - just do your best to put the company info on your experience sheet, and let the state worry about contacting them. Most guys have worked for 100 different companies by the time they go to apply, and 90 of those companies may not even still be in biz

Use an expediting service - they will save you so much TIME and headache. I used PLS (Professional Licensure Services) out of Tallahassee. I just posted their info on the other Florida Licensing post.
If your employment verification, etc., is missing something, they will let you know BEFORE sending it to the state

Do you have any good relationships with GC's in your area? They all probably got a little "help" in getting their own license, too, so they may be willing to help out on verifying your experience.

I called my old boss, offered to take him to lunch for a few minutes of his time - he was too busy for lunch but took 15 minutes to fill out my paperwork, and another 5 minutes to go to the bank to have it notarized.


Good luck

ChrissiJackson

You do not need to have a former employer verify your experience. It is fine to list work that was done with a company that is no longer in business and/or information done by a company that you owned.

The key is that the person that is verifying your experience must hold a Florida license equal to or greater than the license that you're attempting to get, OR

The person verifying your experience must be a licensed architect, engineer or building official from any state in the union.

The person in question MUST be familiar with your work history and willing to vouch for the validity of your experience.

Hope this helps!

airborneSGT

BTW since I also went through this, the state is looking for specific key words in your scope of experience. If you dont have the words they are looking for then the state will kick your application back.