A question for my fellow Floridians on the law

3444 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by CF Construction, Jul 23, 2009

protechplumbing

Discussion Starter · Jul 7, 2009

I've got a friend of a friend that is doing cell phone tower construction that does not have a Fl general contractors license. He has a general contractor pull permits on then the GC has him listed as a sub-contractor.

To my understanding there are lots of problems with this arrangement ( IE it's illegal).

1st. I believe that it's not legal to subcontract work to a subcontractor if that subcontractor is not a licensed contractor.

2nd. He isn't actually the subcontractor as he holds the prime contract with the land owner and bids the jobs himself. He receives payment directly from the land owner. He then pays a GC a small fee for pulling the permit and listing him as a sub on it.

Somehow he does hold GL insurance and is bonded and has work comp. How would he even obtain those in Fl without a contractor’s license?

Just to be clear, he is NOT being qualified by the GC. The GC just pulls the permits for him.

Is this legal? He swears that it is, but I'm fairly sure it isn't.

Save

1 - 4 of 15 Posts

bwalley

· #4 · Jul 9, 2009

jtpro said:
Well my fellow Floridians although I don't think what he is doing is illegal it most probably is shady. Almost every commercial job site I have been on the subs have work comp exempt, GL, a tax I.D.( or social) and then in turn 1099 the "subs" below them. With little or NO proof of ANYTHING!

Without being a lawyer and or knowing the letter of the law it seems to be common practice in Florida for people to get Licensed GCs to pull permits. I don't think the state cares as long as they have someone to hold accountable.:no:

I mean truthfully (NO INSULT MEANT!) I have seen guys with GC licenses that don't know ST about craftsmanship and or construction. I have worked with and around GCs who have NO CLUE what they're doing! They simply took a "GC" class that taught them how to take an open book test.

Go to ANY commercial jobsite from Jax to Miami (and I have been to them and in between) ask if ALL workers on sight are LEGAL citizens,INSURED,if the GC or super can read a tape measure if the Archetics plans have been right EVERY TIME? but that could be a whole nother thread!:whistling

I praise ALL you Licensed GCs that have good morals,ethics, common sense AND know your trade inside and out!:notworthy

As for the above prob they're just skating through the grey areas of Fla law!

It is against the law, both the GC, the illegal subcontractor and the client are violating the law, it is called aiding and abbeting an unlicensed contractor.

GL policies do not require proof of having a license.

W/C does not require proof of having a license.

W/C exemptions only get issued to a LLC or a corporation, individuals cannot get a W/C exemption, only principals of the corporation can.

Save

Reactions: 2

bwalley

· #6 · Jul 9, 2009

jtpro said:
Well Mr. bwalley you OBVIOUSLY know more than me. :notworthy

I was going off of what I have seen in the past. That is good info to know though thank you!:thumbup:

I'm just curious though (and we obviously don't know ALL the facts involved) how does the above differ fom all these "Qualifying Agents" posts I see where people have businesses and need a GC to pull permits. or are there to many varriables per situation to give one concise answer?

Thank you in advance.

A Qualifier is an individual with a license who applied to the state to qualify a company, only an individual can take a test and be a license holder.

I have my licenses under my name, but once my plumbing license gets issued, I will qualify a new company with my A/C and plumbing Licenses, I will appoint an FRO, and still maintain my 3 licenses as an individual as well.

The above scenario is different than me pulling a permit for an unlicensed subcontractor.

When i hire a subcontractor for say drywall or painting, they have to be licensed, if the do not have a licenses, I can hire them as an employee, but not as a subcontractor, as employees would be working under my licenses, if I hire subcontractors without a license, I would be aiding and abetting an unlicensed contractor.

Save

Reactions: 2

bwalley

· #9 · Jul 10, 2009

protechplumbing said:
You STILL waiting on that plumbing license?!?!

A few things have come up that have taken precedence over dealing with the DBPR on my plumbing license.

Save

bwalley

· #13 · Jul 23, 2009

protechplumbing said:
I don't know about your neck of the woods but over here there are just as many UNlicensed contractors as legit ones. In fact there might even be more unlicensed than licensed.

And of the licensed ones, only about 1/3 of those play by the rules. It's pathetic here in Fl.

You are correct about unlicensed contractors, but Florida does arrest and charge people for unlicensed contracting, it just doesn't happen often enough.

In Tampa the city has 3 detectives that work on unlicensed contracting activities, but they go after the bigger jobs because the smaller ones aren't worth the time and a they said 70% or more of the time the homeowner knows the contractor is unlicensed, but they don't care, until the job goes south or the unlicensed contractor steals from them, I think they should start arresting the homeowners as well as the unlicensed contractors.

Save

Reactions: 2

1 - 4 of 15 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month