Local Licensing Bill Approved — Now What ?
By Kari Hebrank , NUCA of Florida / Carlton Fields
During the 2023 Regular Session , Local Licensing / Specialty Contracting-- HB 1383 by Trabulsy ; SB 1570 by Hooper ; SB 1584 by Perry ; and , HB 1625 by Mooney were all proposals intended to address concerns raised by passage of HB 735 in 2021 that preempted occupational licensing to the state and specified certain job scopes ( tile installation , cabinetry , painting , flooring , fences , ornamental iron , plastering , caulking , etc .) did not require a license , to initially take effect this year on July 1 .
HB 735 provided that any local licensing of an occupation not specifically authorized by general law may not be enforced and any local licensing scheme in place prior to July 1 , 2021 , would expire on July 1 , 2023 . Due to some interpretations by local governments , some specialty contractors were left facing the need to obtain a general contractor license to perform work they were previously performing with a specialty or local license , including many of our NUCA of Florida members .
The new law , HB 1383 strives to protect existing Chapter 489 , F . S ., licenses as well as the 14 specialty contractor licenses already approved by the CILB and specifically states that local governments may not require a license issued by the local government or the CILB for job scopes outside the state contractor or specialty
JUNE 2023 • DITCHMEN 3