How to Hire a General Contractor in Florida

Florida's contractor fraud problem is not theoretical. The Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) reports thousands of complaints against unlicensed and deceptive contractors every year. After every major hurricane or severe weather event, the number spikes. Jacksonville and the surrounding NE Florida region are not exempt.

The steps below are not bureaucratic formalities. Each one exists because a real category of contractor fraud or incompetence has a corresponding check. Skip one and you are accepting a risk that experienced owners do not accept.

Step 1: Verify the Florida CGC or CBC License on myfloridalicense.com

Florida requires general contractors to hold either a Certified General Contractor (CGC) license or a Certified Building Contractor (CBC) license issued by the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board. These are the only license types that authorize a contractor to pull permits for commercial and residential construction statewide.

Verify before any in-person meeting by going to myfloridalicense.com and searching by name or license number. Confirm:

• License status is "Current, Active"
• License type matches the scope of your project (CBC is typically residential; CGC covers both)
• No disciplinary history or open complaints

An "active" status with prior disciplinary actions is a yellow flag. Review the nature of the complaint before proceeding. A license that is listed as "Null and Void" or "Delinquent" means the person cannot legally contract for construction in Florida. Do not proceed.

Verify the license number on any contract the contractor gives you matches what you found on myfloridalicense.com. Number mismatches are a common tactic used by unlicensed operators working under a licensed front.

Step 2: Verify Certificate of Insurance (COI) — GL $1M Minimum, Workers' Comp Required

A contractor's Certificate of Insurance (COI) is not proof of insurance — it is a snapshot of coverage at the time of issuance. Request a COI from your contractor's insurance company directly, or request that the insurance company send the COI to you as the certificate holder.

Minimum coverage requirements for a Florida residential general contractor:

• General Liability (GL): $1,000,000 per occurrence, $2,000,000 aggregate. This covers property damage and bodily injury arising from the contractor's operations.
• Workers' Compensation: Required for any contractor employing one or more workers. In Florida, the construction industry has no minimum employee threshold — even a one-person operation with occasional day laborers must carry workers' comp. If a worker is injured on your property and your contractor does not have workers' comp, your homeowner's insurance may be liable.

Call the issuing insurance agency on the COI to verify the policy is active — COIs can be forged, and policy cancellations are sometimes not communicated to certificate holders. A 30-second phone call eliminates this risk.

Add your name (or your LLC name, if applicable) as an "Additional Insured" on the contractor's GL policy before work begins. This provides you direct coverage for claims arising from the contractor's operations.

Step 3: Ask for OSHA 30 Certifications

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) 30-hour certification is a 30-hour construction safety training program. It does not make someone an OSHA inspector, but it does indicate that the contractor's supervisory staff has been trained in hazard recognition, fall protection, electrical safety, and jobsite safety management.

Ask your contractor: "Do your site supervisors hold OSHA 30 cards?" Request copies. This question reveals two things: whether the contractor invests in crew safety training, and whether they are comfortable with the question. Contractors who do not train their crews are often the ones with avoidable accidents on their sites.

In Florida's construction environment — high heat, high humidity, frequent summer thunderstorms — OSHA 30 training matters more than in northern markets. Heat illness, electrical hazards during afternoon storms, and fall hazards on tile roofing are real risks that trained supervisors manage and undertrained crews do not.

JK Prestige crews hold OSHA 30 certifications. It is a baseline expectation on every project. Learn more about JK Prestige's safety standards.

Step 4: Check References — Ask Specifically About Punch-List Speed and Change-Order Frequency

Generic references tell you almost nothing. "They did great work" is not useful. Ask these specific questions:

1. "How long did the punch-list phase take from substantial completion to final sign-off?" A punch list that runs 6+ weeks is a sign of a contractor who moves to the next job before finishing yours.

1. "How many change orders did you receive, and were they clearly explained before you signed?" Frequent change orders on a fixed-price contract indicate either a poorly scoped original contract or a contractor who intentionally under-bids to win work and makes money on changes.

1. "Did the person who sold you the project show up on-site during construction?" This question identifies principal-led operations versus brokering operations where the salesperson disappears after signing.

1. "Would you hire them again, and would you recommend them to a family member?" The second half of that question produces more honest answers than the first.

Request 3–5 references and call at least 3. References provided by the contractor are not random — they are curated. If every reference is uniformly positive and specific, that is a good sign. If references are vague or reluctant to answer specific questions, note that.

Step 5: Review Contract Type — Fixed-Price vs. Cost-Plus

The contract type determines who carries cost risk. This is the single most important factor in whether your project comes in on budget.

Fixed-price (lump sum) contract: The contractor agrees to complete the defined scope of work at a specified price. Cost overruns on defined scope are the contractor's problem, not yours. You pay for owner-directed changes and documented unforeseen conditions. This is the correct contract type for any project with a defined scope and a set of construction documents.

Cost-plus contract: You pay the contractor's actual costs plus a percentage or fixed fee. All cost risk transfers to you. If materials cost more than estimated, if a subcontractor is more expensive, if the project takes longer, you pay. Cost-plus is appropriate for projects with undefined scope — but most residential renovations have definable scopes.

A cost-plus contract with a "maximum guaranteed price" (sometimes called a GMP, or Guaranteed Maximum Price) sits between the two. Understand what is and is not covered by the guaranteed maximum before signing.

Ask every contractor you interview: "Is this a fixed-price contract, and what specifically triggers a change order?" The answer tells you what your financial exposure looks like.

Step 6: Confirm Principal Availability — Who Answers the Phone?

On a project that runs $50,000–$500,000 and affects your home for 3–6 months, you should be able to reach the person who has decision-making authority on your project. Not a project manager. Not an office administrator. The person who owns the problem.

Ask directly: "Will I be able to reach you — the principal — directly during the project, or will I be communicating through a project manager?" The answer tells you how the relationship is structured.

At JK Prestige, the founder answers every call. There is no layer of project managers between the owner and the person accountable for the work. On a renovation or addition, that means decisions get made in real time rather than escalated through layers. Read more about how JK Prestige runs projects.

This matters most when something goes wrong — a storm delays delivery, a subcontractor has a problem, a material comes in defective. You want to reach the person who can solve it, not leave a message.

Step 7: Compare Bids on Scope, Not Just Price

A $120,000 bid and a $95,000 bid on what looks like the same project may not be bids on the same project at all. Allowances — placeholder dollar amounts for items like tile, fixtures, and appliances — are the most common source of bid non-comparability.

If Contractor A includes a $15,000 kitchen allowance and Contractor B includes a $25,000 kitchen allowance, the bids are not comparable. Contractor A's total will be higher once you pick the same tile Contractor B priced.

Review every allowance line by line. Ask each contractor what specific products or unit costs their allowances are based on. Request that each contractor use the same allowance amounts (your selections or a specified product tier) so you are comparing identical scopes.

The lowest bid is not the best bid. The most accurately scoped bid at a price within your budget is the best bid. JK Prestige provides itemized fixed-price proposals so line-by-line scope comparison is straightforward. See JK Prestige's renovation approach.

Step 8: Confirm Permit-Pull Responsibility Before Signing

In Florida, building permits must be pulled by the licensed contractor of record, not the homeowner, for commercial or residential work performed by a contractor. (Owner-builder permits are available for owner-occupied residential work performed by the homeowner personally — but if you hire a contractor, they pull the permit.)

Ask every contractor: "Will you pull all permits for this project, and will they be posted on site before work begins?" The correct answer is yes to both. A contractor who asks you to pull permits as owner-builder may be unlicensed, trying to avoid liability, or unfamiliar with the permit process.

Confirm that the contractor's name and license number appear on the permit as the contractor of record. After permit issuance, verify this on Duval County's online permit portal before demo begins.

Get a written estimate in 48 hours. Call (904) 944-0278 or request a consultation.