Guides · Paperwork and licenses
The Florida plumbing license
Yes. Plumbing is one of the trades Florida genuinely regulates, and unlike painting or flooring there's no dollar threshold below which you can work without paperwork. Either you hold the license, or somebody else is signing for your work.
Updated 2026-09-15
Certified or registered: the difference that decides where you can work
Florida issues two different things, and plenty of people confuse them when applying for their first one.
A certified license (the number starts with CFC) is good statewide. With it you can pull permits in any county without asking anyone else for anything.
A registered license only works in the counties or cities where you've already met local requirements. It's faster to get, but it ties your business to a map: crossing a county line with a contract in hand can leave you working unlicensed without having done anything different.
If the plan is to grow past one city, certified is the one to go for.
What the state asks for
Four years of plumbing experience, and one of those four has to be as a foreman — running other people, not just doing the work. That supervisory year is where most applications stall, because it accumulates without you noticing and then has to be documented by someone who stopped being your boss years ago.
Up to three of the four years can be swapped for education, if it's from a program the state recognizes.
Then come two exams, and you need 70 or better on both:
- The trade exam, on plumbing.
- The business and finance exam, which isn't about pipes at all — it's contracts, payroll, taxes and how a company is run.
The second one is what fails people with twenty years in the trade. You don't pass it on job experience; you pass it by studying it.
Money and timing
Between exam and application fees, expect roughly $444 to $544, not counting whatever preparation costs. The license renews every two years, in August of even-numbered years, with 14 hours of continuing education.
That calendar is the same for everyone, so if you get licensed shortly before an even August, you renew almost immediately. It isn't a glitch, it's how the cycle is built.
While the license is pending
Working under someone else's license is legal when that person genuinely answers for the job. What isn't legal — and it's the trap people fall into — is using someone's number to pull permits while you actually run the work yourself. The person lending the number risks their license, and the person using it has nothing to show the day something goes wrong.
doubts
What people usually ask
Can I do small plumbing jobs without a license?
Not the way you can in painting. Florida sets no dollar floor for plumbing: the activity is regulated whether the job is $200 or $20,000.
Does a license from another state count?
Florida has reciprocity agreements with some states, and which ones changes. It's one of the first things worth confirming with the DBPR before paying for an exam, because it can save you the whole thing.
Do I need insurance on top of the license?
Yes, and insurance is what actually matters to the customer letting you into their home. The license says you know how; insurance says who pays when something goes wrong.
How long does all of it take?
Exams get scheduled within weeks, but documenting four years of experience is what stretches the timeline, especially the foreman year. People who start collecting letters from former employers early get there much faster. Sources: [DBPR / CILB](https://www2.myfloridalicense.com/construction-industry/), [Housecall Pro](https://www.housecallpro.com/licensing/plumbing/florida/), [Plumbers Training Institute](https://www.plumberstraininginstitute.com/2018/08/21/how-to-get-a-florida-plumbers-license/).