Florida Contractor License Bond (for financial responsibility)

Purchase Your Florida Contractor License Bond Today

Who Is Required To Purchase a Florida Contractor Bond

Florida does not have any statewide contractor specific bonding requirement.

There is a surety bond requirement called a Financial Responsible Officer bond.

A financial responsible officer is appointed and in-charge of the finances for a construction corporation or limited liability company. This includes:

• The finances for all construction projects
• The finances for business level activities
• Paying any fines or required payments to the state of Florida

Because of these responsibilities, the state of Florida requires financial responsible officers to purchase a surety bond.

Keep in mind, a financial responsible officer is not the same as a qualifying officer or individual. The qualifying individual is responsible for:

• Passing all contractor exams
• Managing all projects

They are the license holder for the business entity.

County or Municipal Bonding Requirements

Depending on where your project is located you may have to purchase a separate county or city contractor license or permit bond.

While the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation does not require strict contractor bonds, there are many counties and cities that do.

Some of these bonds will be contractor license bonds and others will be permit bonds.

A license bond is required before a contractor will be issued a required license to perform work in the country or city.

A permit bond is required for a specific job and is only active for the length of that job.

Right of way bonds are permit bonds, but required for construction on public property like a city street, sidewalk, or sewer system.

You'll be notified of these additional bonding requirements when you apply for the necessary permits to begin work on the project.

Examples of cities we have helped contractors satisfy the bond requirement are:

As you can see, on the local level, the bonding requirements can vary. But each bond serves and is required for a similar purpose.

Why is a Florida Contractor License Bond Required?

Florida and local government agencies require contractors to obtain licenses as a demonstration of:

• Obtaining required experience levels
• Meeting education requirements
• Securing proper business records are submitted
• Choosing the appropriate license type for the projects they want to bid on

Florida and the local government agencies want to ensure contractors are performing quality work for their customers and adding value to the local community.

One of the primary ways to do this is requiring the contractor to purchase a surety bond or contractor bond. The bond holds contractors accountable for the promises they are making to their customers.

What Does an Florida Contractor License Bond Protect Against?

It doesn't matter what type of licenses you're obtaining, all contractor bonds serve the same purpose of ensuring the contractor completes contracts and does not financially harm their customers on purpose.

Despite the licensing process, there will always be a handful of contractors who cut corners to increase profits or even steal money from their customers.

These fraudulent actions of misconduct include:

• Breaking the terms of a construction project
• Taking deposits or down payments and never starting or completing a project
• Replacing agreed upon materials with cheaper alternatives to increase profits
• Failing to pay subcontractors for completed work
• Neglecting building codes and purposefully performing poor quality work

If a contractor is found guilty of any of these actions, a claim can be made against the contractor license bond or permit for financial repayment, but only up to the bond amount.

How Much Does a Florida Contractor Bond Cost?

At a high level the cost of a contractor bond is based on a rate quoted from a surety.

A surety is an insurance company that underwrites the surety bond. Sureties perform an independent assessment using the following factors to determine a rate:

• Personal credit of the owner or owners
• Contracting experience and industry experience
• Any prior bond claims if you or an owner has been licensed in the past

Because each surety will quote a unique rate, the final prices of the bond will vary.

Specialized surety agencies like Surety Bonds Direct help customers save hundreds of dollars purchasing contractor bonds and permit bonds.

Financial Responsible Officer Bond

For the Financial Responsible Officer bond, we can secure a fixed price of $1,000 without a credit check.

If you know you have good credit, we can typically get pricing as low as $800.

Bond Pricing For County and City Contractor Bonds

For most county and city level contractor bonds, we have secured low fixed prices. This means you can:

• Skip having your credit pulled
• Speed up the bond purchase process

The prices are typically calculated as 1.0% to 1.8% of the bond amount you require.

What Happens After You Purchase Your Bond?

After you purchase your bond, Surety Bonds Direct's issuing department will prepare your bond with the correct signatures, notarized seals, and the required power of attorney.

Purchasing your bond is as easy as completing an online order form. Once your order is complete our issuance team will prepare your bond with:

• The correct form
• The required signatures
• Any required power of attorney

Most Florida bonds can be emailed to you making the process faster.

If the agency requiring the bond wants the original bond, we can mail you the original bond. Make sure you account for shipping time.

Determining The Contractor Bond Term

Bond terms and expirations are different for each type of bond.

The Financial Responsible Officer bond has a bond term of 12 months from the effective date. The effective date is a day you choose when you purchase your bond.

County and city bonds typically have a bond expiration date of December 31st, every year. This is not always the case though.

Permit bonds (and right of way bonds) are purchased for the life of the project≠. Most permit bonds have a term or 12 months so if the project were to extend past this time period, you would have to renew the bond.

Renewing Your Contractor Bond

Your Surety Bonds Direct bond specialist will reach out to you 30 to 45 days in advance of your renewal date to make paying the renewal premium easy.

Once you pay the renewal premium your bond is activated for the next term.

If you no longer need your bond, don't renew it and it will expire automatically.

Contractor License Bonds And Getting Your Florida Business License/Registration

Applying for a state or local license typically follows the following steps:

1. Pass any required examinations
2. Outline business management
3. Decide on license classification and specialty or registered agent
4. Purchase the required surety bond
5. Pay all the appropriate fees
6. Submit your completed application

Here are some local resources to help you find the information you need to get licensed:

• City of Orlando
• Nassau county
• Palm Beach county
• Brevard county
• Pasco county
• Polk county