General Contracting

713.18 Manner of serving documents. — (1) Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, service of any document permitted or required under this part, s. 255.05 , or s. 337.18 , or copies thereof when so permitted or required, must be made by one of the following methods: (a) By hand delivery to the person to be served; if a partnership, to one of the partners; if a corporation, to an officer or director; if a limited liability company, to a member or manager; or to an employee or agent authorized by the partnership, corporation, or limited liability company to receive service of such document. (b) By common carrier delivery service or by registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail to the person to be served, with postage or shipping paid by the sender and with evidence of delivery, which may be in an electronic format. (c) By posting on the site of the improvement if service as provided by paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) cannot be accomplished. (2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), service of a notice to owner or a preliminary notice to contractor under this part, s. 255.05 , or s. 337.18 is effective as of the date of mailing and the requirements for service under this section have been satisfied if all of the following requirements have been met: (a) The notice is mailed by registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail, with postage prepaid, to the person to be served and addressed as prescribed in subsection (3). (b) The notice is mailed within 40 days after the date the lienor first furnishes labor, services, or materials. (c)1. The person who served the notice maintains a mail log that shows the registered or certified mail number issued by the United States Postal Service, the name and address of the person served, and the date stamp of the United States Postal Service confirming the date of mailing; or 2. The person who served the notice maintains tracking records approved or generated by the United States Postal Service containing the postal tracking number and verification of the date of receipt by the United States Postal Service. (3)(a) Notwithstanding subsection (1), service of a document under this section is effective on the date of mailing or shipping, and the requirements for service under this section have been satisfied, if the document meets both of the following requirements: 1. It is sent to the last address shown in the notice of commencement or any amendment thereto or, in the absence of a notice of commencement, to the last address shown in the building permit application, or to the last known address of the person to be served. 2. It is returned as being “refused,” “moved, not forwardable,” or “unclaimed,” or is otherwise not delivered or deliverable through no fault of the person serving the document. (b) If the address shown in the notice of commencement or any amendment thereto, or, in the absence of a notice of commencement, in the building permit application, is incomplete for purposes of mailing or delivery, the person serving the document may complete the address and properly format it according to United States Postal Service addressing standards using information obtained from the property appraiser or another public record without affecting the validity of service under this section. (4) A document served by a lienor on one owner or one partner of a partnership owning the real property is deemed served on all owners and partners.

713.13 Notice of commencement. — (1)(a) Except for an improvement that is exempt under s. 713.02 (5), an owner or the owner’s authorized agent before actually commencing to improve any real property, or recommencing completion of any improvement after default or abandonment, whether or not a project has a payment bond complying with s. 713.23 , shall record a notice of commencement in the clerk’s office and post either a certified copy thereof or a notarized statement that the notice of commencement has been filed for recording along with a copy thereof. The notice of commencement must contain all of the following information: 1. A description sufficient for identification of the real property to be improved. The description must include the legal description of the property and the street address and tax folio number of the property if available or, if the street address is not available, such additional information as will describe the physical location of the real property to be improved. 2. A general description of the improvement. 3. The name and address of the owner, the owner’s interest in the site of the improvement, and the name and address of the fee simple titleholder, if other than such owner. A lessee who contracts for the improvements is an owner as defined in s. 713.01 and must be listed as the owner together with a statement that the ownership interest is a leasehold interest. 4. The name and address of the contractor. 5. The name and address of the surety on the payment bond under s. 713.23 , if any, and the amount of such bond. 6. The name and address of any person making a loan for the construction of the improvements. 7. The name and address within the state of a person other than himself or herself who may be designated by the owner as the person upon whom notices or other documents may be served under this part; and service upon the person so designated constitutes service upon the owner. (b) The owner, at his or her option, may designate a person in addition to himself or herself to receive a copy of the lienor’s notice as provided in s. 713.06 (2)(b), and if he or she does so, the name and address of such person must be included in the notice of commencement. (c) If the contract between the owner and a contractor named in the notice of commencement expresses a period of time for completion for the construction of the improvement greater than 1 year, the notice of commencement must state that it is effective for a period of 1 year plus any additional period of time. Any payments made by the owner after the expiration of the notice of commencement are considered improper payments. (d) A notice of commencement must be in substantially the following form: Permit No. Tax Folio No. NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT State of County of The undersigned hereby gives notice that improvement will be made to certain real property, and in accordance with Chapter 713, Florida Statutes, the following information is provided in this Notice of Commencement. 1. Description of property: (legal description of the property, and street address if available) . 2. General description of improvement: . 3. Owner information or Lessee information if the Lessee contracted for the improvement: a. Name and address: . b. Interest in property: . c. Name and address of fee simple titleholder (if different from Owner listed above): . 4.a. Contractor: (name and address) . b. Contractor’s phone number: . 5. Surety (if applicable, a copy of the payment bond is attached): a. Name and address: . b. Phone number: . c. Amount of bond: $ . 6.a. Lender: (name and address) . b. Lender’s phone number: . 7. Persons within the State of Florida designated by Owner upon whom notices or other documents may be served as provided by Section 713.13 (1)(a)7., Florida Statutes: a. Name and address: . b. Phone numbers of designated persons: . 8.a. In addition to himself or herself, Owner designates of to receive a copy of the Lienor’s Notice as provided in Section 713.13 (1)(b), Florida Statutes. b. Phone number of person or entity designated by owner: . 9. Expiration date of notice of commencement (the expiration date will be 1 year after the date of recording unless a different date is specified) . WARNING TO OWNER: ANY PAYMENTS MADE BY THE OWNER AFTER THE EXPIRATION OF THE NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT ARE CONSIDERED IMPROPER PAYMENTS UNDER CHAPTER 713, PART I, SECTION 713.13 , FLORIDA STATUTES, AND CAN RESULT IN YOUR PAYING TWICE FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO YOUR PROPERTY. A NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT MUST BE RECORDED AND POSTED ON THE SITE OF THE IMPROVEMENT BEFORE THE FIRST INSPECTION. IF YOU INTEND TO OBTAIN FINANCING, CONSULT WITH YOUR LENDER OR AN ATTORNEY BEFORE COMMENCING WORK OR RECORDING YOUR NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT. (Signature of Owner or Lessee, or Owner’s or Lessee’s Authorized Officer/Director/Partner/Manager) (Signatory’s Title/Office) The foregoing instrument was acknowledged before me by means of ☐ physical presence or sworn to (or affirmed) by ☐ online notarization this day of , (year) , by (name of person) as (type of authority, . . . e.g. officer, trustee, attorney in fact) for (name of party on behalf of whom instrument was executed) . (Signature of Notary Public - State of Florida) (Print, Type, or Stamp Commissioned Name of Notary Public) Personally Known OR Produced Identification Type of Identification Produced (e) A copy of any payment bond must be attached at the time of recordation of the notice of commencement. The failure to attach a copy of the bond to the notice of commencement when the notice is recorded negates the exemption provided in s. 713.02 (6). However, if a payment bond under s. 713.23 exists but was not attached at the time of recordation of the notice of commencement, the bond may be used to transfer any recorded lien of a lienor except that of the contractor by the recordation and service of a notice of bond pursuant to s. 713.23 (2). The notice requirements of s. 713.23 apply to any claim against the bond; however, the time limits for serving any required notices shall, at the option of the lienor, be calculated from the dates specified in s. 713.23 or the date the notice of bond is served on the lienor. (f) The giving of a notice of commencement is effective upon the filing of the notice in the clerk’s office. (g) The owner must sign the notice of commencement and no one else may be permitted to sign in his or her stead. (h) The authority issuing a building permit must accept a recorded notice of commencement from an owner or the owner’s authorized agent if the notice of commencement is in the form provided in paragraph (d). (2) If the improvement described in the notice of commencement is not actually commenced within 90 days after the recording thereof, such notice is void and of no further effect. (3) The recording of a notice of commencement does not constitute a lien, cloud, or encumbrance on real property, but gives constructive notice that claims of lien under this part may be recorded and may take priority as provided in s. 713.07 . The posting of a copy does not constitute a lien, cloud, or encumbrance on real property, nor actual or constructive notice of any of them. (4) This section does not apply to an owner who is constructing improvements described in s. 713.04 . (5)(a) A notice of commencement that is recorded within the effective period may be amended to extend the effective period, change erroneous information in the original notice, or add information that was omitted from the original notice. However, in order to change contractors, a new notice of commencement or notice of recommencement must be executed and recorded. (b) The amended notice must identify the official records book and page where the original notice of commencement is recorded, and a copy of the amended notice must be served by the owner upon the contractor and each lienor who serves notice before or within 30 days after the date the amended notice is recorded. (6) Unless otherwise provided in the notice of commencement or a new or amended notice of commencement, a notice of commencement is not effectual in law or equity against a conveyance, transfer, or mortgage of or lien on the real property described in the notice, or against creditors or subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration, after 1 year after the date of recording the notice of commencement. (7) A lender must, prior to the disbursement of any construction funds to the contractor, record the notice of commencement in the clerk’s office as required by this section; however, the lender is not required to post a certified copy of the notice at the construction site. The posting of the notice at the construction site remains the owner’s obligation. The failure of a lender to record the notice of commencement as required by this subsection renders the lender liable to the owner for all damages sustained by the owner as a result of the failure. Whenever a lender is required to record a notice of commencement, the lender shall designate the lender, in addition to others, to receive copies of notices to owner. This subsection does not give any person other than the owner a claim or right of action against a lender for failure to record a notice of commencement.

713.06 Liens of persons not in privity; proper payments. — (1) A materialman or laborer, either of whom is not in privity with the owner, or a subcontractor or sub-subcontractor who complies with the provisions of this part and is subject to the limitations thereof, has a lien on the real property improved for any money that is owed to him or her for labor, services, or materials furnished in accordance with his or her contract and with the direct contract and for any unpaid finance charges due under the lienor’s contract. A materialman or laborer, either of whom is not in privity with the owner, or a subcontractor or sub-subcontractor who complies with the provisions of this part and is subject to the limitations thereof, also has a lien on the owner’s real property for labor, services, or materials furnished to improve public property if the improvement of the public property is furnished in accordance with his or her contract and with the direct contract. The total amount of all liens allowed under this part for furnishing labor, services, or material covered by any certain direct contract must not exceed the amount of the contract price fixed by the direct contract except as provided in subsection (3). No person may have a lien under this section except those lienors specified in it, as their designations are defined in s. 713.01 . (2)(a) All lienors under this section, except laborers, as a prerequisite to perfecting a lien under this chapter and recording a claim of lien, must serve a notice on the owner setting forth the lienor’s name and address, a description sufficient for identification of the real property, and the nature of the services or materials furnished or to be furnished. A sub-subcontractor or a materialman to a subcontractor must serve a copy of the notice on the contractor as a prerequisite to perfecting a lien under this chapter and recording a claim of lien. A materialman to a sub-subcontractor must serve a copy of the notice to owner on the contractor as a prerequisite to perfecting a lien under this chapter and recording a claim of lien. A materialman to a sub-subcontractor shall serve the notice to owner on the subcontractor if the materialman knows the name and address of the subcontractor. The notice must be served before commencing, or not later than 45 days after commencing, to furnish his or her labor, services, or materials, but, in any event, before the date of the owner’s disbursement of the final payment after the contractor has furnished the affidavit under subparagraph (3)(d)1. The notice must be served regardless of the method of payments by the owner, whether proper or improper, and does not give to the lienor serving the notice any priority over other lienors in the same category; and the failure to serve the notice, or to timely serve it, is a complete defense to enforcement of a lien by any person. The serving of the notice does not dispense with recording the claim of lien. The notice is not a lien, cloud, or encumbrance on the real property nor actual or constructive notice of any of them. (b) If the owner, in his or her notice of commencement, has designated a person in addition to himself or herself to receive a copy of such lienor’s notice, as provided in s. 713.13 (1)(b), the lienor shall serve a copy of his or her notice on the person so designated. The failure by the lienor to serve such copy, however, does not invalidate an otherwise valid lien. (c) The notice may be in substantially the following form and must include the information and the warning contained in the following form: WARNING! FLORIDA’S CONSTRUCTION LIEN LAW ALLOWS SOME UNPAID CONTRACTORS, SUBCONTRACTORS, AND MATERIAL SUPPLIERS TO FILE LIENS AGAINST YOUR PROPERTY EVEN IF YOU HAVE MADE PAYMENT IN FULL. UNDER FLORIDA LAW, YOUR FAILURE TO MAKE SURE THAT WE ARE PAID MAY RESULT IN A LIEN AGAINST YOUR PROPERTY AND YOUR PAYING TWICE. TO AVOID A LIEN AND PAYING TWICE, YOU MUST OBTAIN A WRITTEN RELEASE FROM US EVERY TIME YOU PAY YOUR CONTRACTOR. NOTICE TO OWNER To (Owner’s name and address) The undersigned hereby informs you that he or she has furnished or is furnishing services or materials as follows: (General description of services or materials) for the improvement of the real property identified as (property description) under an order given by . Florida law prescribes the serving of this notice and restricts your right to make payments under your contract in accordance with Section 713.06 , Florida Statutes. IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YOUR PROTECTION Under Florida’s laws, those who work on your property or provide materials and are not paid have a right to enforce their claim for payment against your property. This claim is known as a construction lien. If your contractor fails to pay subcontractors or material suppliers or neglects to make other legally required payments, the people who are owed money may look to your property for payment, EVEN IF YOU HAVE PAID YOUR CONTRACTOR IN FULL. PROTECT YOURSELF: —RECOGNIZE that this Notice to Owner may result in a lien against your property unless all those supplying a Notice to Owner have been paid. —LEARN more about the Construction Lien Law, Chapter 713, Part I, Florida Statutes, and the meaning of this notice by contacting an attorney or the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. (Lienor’s Signature) (Lienor’s Name) (Lienor’s Address) Copies to: (Those persons listed in Section 713.06 (2)(a) and (b), Florida Statutes) The form may be combined with a notice to contractor given under s. 255.05 or s. 713.23 and, if so, may be entitled “NOTICE TO OWNER/NOTICE TO CONTRACTOR.” (d) A notice to an owner served on a lender must be in writing, must be served in accordance with s. 713.18 , and shall be addressed to the persons designated, if any, and to the place and address designated in the notice of commencement. Any lender who, after receiving a notice provided under this subsection, pays a contractor on behalf of the owner for an improvement shall make proper payments as provided in paragraph (3)(c) as to each such notice received by the lender. The failure of a lender to comply with this paragraph renders the lender liable to the owner for all damages sustained by the owner as a result of that failure. This paragraph does not give any person other than an owner a claim or right of action against a lender for the failure of the lender to comply with this paragraph. Further, this paragraph does not prohibit a lender from disbursing construction funds at any time directly to the owner, in which event the lender has no obligation to make proper payments under this paragraph. (e) A lienor, in the absence of a recorded notice of commencement, may rely on the information contained in the building permit application to serve the notice prescribed in paragraphs (a), (b), and (c). (f) If a lienor has substantially complied with the provisions of paragraphs (a), (b), and (c), errors or omissions do not prevent the enforcement of a claim against a person who has not been adversely affected by such omission or error. However, a lienor must strictly comply with the time requirements of paragraph (a). (3) The owner may make proper payments on the direct contract as to lienors under this section, in the following manner: (a) If the description of the property in the notice prescribed by s. 713.13 is incorrect and the error adversely affects any lienor, payments made on the direct contract shall be held improperly paid to that lienor; but this does not apply to clerical errors when the description listed covers the property where the improvements are. (b) The owner may pay to any laborers the whole or any part of the amounts that shall then be due and payable to them respectively for labor or services performed by them and covered by the direct contract, and shall deduct the same from the balance due the contractor under a direct contract. (c) When any payment becomes due to the contractor on the direct contract, except the final payment: 1. The owner shall pay or cause to be paid, within the limitations imposed by subparagraph 2., the sum then due to each lienor giving notice prior to the time of the payment. The owner may require, and, in such event, the contractor shall furnish as a prerequisite to requiring payment to himself or herself, an affidavit as prescribed in subparagraph (d)1., on any payment made, or to be made, on a direct contract, but the furnishing of the affidavit shall not relieve the owner of his or her responsibility to pay or cause to be paid all lienors giving notice. The owner shall be under no obligation to any lienor, except laborers, from whom he or she has not received a notice to owner at the time of making a payment. 2. When the payment due is insufficient to pay all bills of lienors giving notice, the owner shall prorate the amount then due under the direct contract among the lienors giving notice pro rata in the manner prescribed in subsection (4). Lienors receiving money shall execute partial releases, as provided in s. 713.20 (2), to the extent of the payment received. 3. If any affidavit permitted hereunder recites any outstanding bills for labor, services, or materials, the owner may pay the bills in full direct to the person or firm to which they are due if the balance due on the direct contract at the time the affidavit is given is sufficient to pay the bills and shall deduct the amounts so paid from the balance of payment due the contractor. This subparagraph shall not create any obligation of the owner to pay any person who is not a lienor giving notice. 4. No person furnishing labor or material, or both, who is required to serve a notice under paragraph (2)(a) and who did not serve the notice and whose time for service has expired shall be entitled to be paid by the owner because he or she is listed in an affidavit furnished by the contractor under subparagraph (c)1. 5. If the contract is terminated before completion, the contractor shall comply with subparagraph (d)1. (d) When the final payment under a direct contract becomes due the contractor: 1. The contractor shall give to the owner a final payment affidavit stating, if that be the fact, that all lienors under his or her direct contract who have timely served a notice to owner on the owner and the contractor have been paid in full or, if the fact be otherwise, showing the name of each such lienor who has not been paid in full and the amount due or to become due each for labor, services, or materials furnished. The affidavit must be in substantially the following form: CONTRACTOR’S FINAL PAYMENT AFFIDAVIT State of Florida County of Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared (name of affiant) , who, after being first duly sworn, deposes and says of his or her personal knowledge the following: 1. He or she is the (title of affiant) , of (name of contractor’s business) , which does business in the State of Florida, hereinafter referred to as the “Contractor.” 2. Contractor, pursuant to a contract with (name of owner) , hereinafter referred to as the “Owner,” has furnished or caused to be furnished labor, materials, and services for the construction of certain improvements to real property as more particularly set forth in said contract. 3. This affidavit is executed by the Contractor in accordance with section 713.06 of the Florida Statutes for the purposes of obtaining final payment from the Owner in the amount of $ . 4. All work to be performed under the contract has been fully completed, and all lienors under the direct contract have been paid in full, except the following listed lienors: NAME OF LIENOR AMOUNT DUE Signed, sealed, and delivered this day of , , By (name of affiant) (title of affiant) (name of contractor’s business) Sworn to and subscribed before me this day of by (name of affiant) , who is personally known to me or produced as identification, and did take an oath. (name of notary public) Notary Public My Commission Expires: (date of expiration of commission) The contractor shall have no lien or right of action against the owner for labor, services, or materials furnished under the direct contract while in default for not giving the owner the affidavit; however, the negligent inclusion or omission of any information in the affidavit which has not prejudiced the owner does not constitute a default that operates to defeat an otherwise valid lien. The contractor shall execute the affidavit and deliver it to the owner at least 5 days before instituting an action as a prerequisite to the institution of any action to enforce his or her lien under this chapter, even if the final payment has not become due because the contract is terminated for a reason other than completion and regardless of whether the contractor has any lienors working under him or her or not. 2. If the contractor’s affidavit required in this subsection recites any outstanding bills for labor, services, or materials, the owner may, after giving the contractor at least 10 days’ written notice, pay such bills in full direct to the person or firm to which they are due, if the balance due on a direct contract at the time the affidavit is given is sufficient to pay them and lienors giving notice, and shall deduct the amounts so paid from the balance due the contractor. Lienors listed in said affidavit not giving notice, whose 45-day notice time has not expired, shall be paid in full or pro rata, as appropriate, from any balance then remaining due the contractor; but no lienor whose notice time has expired shall be paid by the owner or by any other person except the person with whom that lienor has a contract. 3. If the balance due is not sufficient to pay in full all lienors listed in the affidavit and entitled to payment from the owner under this part and other lienors giving notice, the owner shall pay no money to anyone until such time as the contractor has furnished him or her with the difference; however, if the contractor fails to furnish the difference within 10 days from delivery of the affidavit or notice from the owner to the contractor to furnish the affidavit, the owner shall determine the amount due each lienor and shall disburse to them the amounts due from him or her on a direct contract in accordance with the procedure established by subsection (4). 4. The owner shall have the right to rely on the contractor’s affidavit given under this paragraph in making the final payment, unless there are lienors giving notice who are not listed in the affidavit. If there are lienors giving notice who are not so listed, the owner may pay such lienors and any persons listed in the affidavit that are entitled to be paid by the owner under subparagraph 2. and shall thereupon be discharged of any further responsibility under the direct contract, except for any balance that may be due to the contractor. 5. The owner shall retain the final payment due under the direct contract that shall not be disbursed until the contractor’s affidavit under subparagraph 1. has been furnished to the owner. 6. When final payment has become due to the contractor and the owner fails to withhold as required by subparagraph 5., the property improved shall be subject to the full amount of all valid liens of which the owner has notice at the time the contractor furnishes his or her affidavit. (e) If the improvement is abandoned before completion, the owner shall determine the amount due each lienor giving notice and shall pay the same in full or prorate in the same manner as provided in subsection (4). (f) No contractor shall have any right to require the owner to pay any money to him or her under a direct contract if such money cannot be properly paid by the owner to the contractor in accordance with this section. (g) Except with written consent of the contractor, before paying any money directly to any lienor except the contractor or any laborer, the owner shall give the contractor at least 10 days’ written notice of his or her intention to do so, and the amount he or she proposes to pay each lienor. (h) When the owner has properly retained all sums required in this section to be retained but has otherwise made improper payments, the owner’s real property shall be liable to all laborers, subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and materialmen complying with this chapter only to the extent of the retentions and the improper payments, notwithstanding the other provisions of this subsection. Any money paid by the owner on a direct contract, the payment of which is proved to have caused no detriment to any certain lienor, shall be held properly paid as to the lienor, and if any of the money shall be held not properly paid as to any other lienors, the entire benefit of its being held not properly paid as to them shall go to the lienors. (4)(a) In determining the amounts for which liens between lienors claiming under a direct contract shall be paid by the owner or allowed by the court within the total amount fixed by the direct contract and under the provisions of this section, the owner or court shall pay or allow such liens in the following order: 1. Liens of all laborers. 2. Liens of all persons other than the contractor. 3. Lien of the contractor. (b) Should the total amount for which liens under such direct contract may be allowed be less than the total amount of liens under such contract in all classes above mentioned, all liens in a class shall be allowed for their full amounts before any liens shall be allowed to any subsequent class. Should the amount applicable to the liens of any single class be insufficient to permit all liens within that class to be allowed for their full amounts, each lien shall be allowed for its pro rata share of the total amount applicable to liens of that class; but if the same labor, services, or materials shall be covered by liens of more than one class, such labor, services, or materials shall be allowed only in the earliest class by which they shall be covered; and also if the same labor, services, or materials shall be covered by liens of two or more lienors of the same class, such labor, services, or materials shall be allowed only in the lien of the lienor farthest removed from the contractor. This section shall not be construed to affect the priority of liens derived under separate direct contracts.

713.01 Definitions. — As used in this part, the term: (1) “Abandoned property” means all tangible personal property that has been disposed of on public property in a wrecked, inoperative, or partially dismantled condition. (2) “Architect” means a person or firm that is authorized to practice architecture pursuant to chapter 481 or a general contractor who provides architectural services under a design-build contract authorized by s. 481.229 (3). (3) “Claim of lien” means the claim recorded as provided in s. 713.08 . (4) “Clerk’s office” means the office of the clerk of the circuit court of the county, or another office serving as the county recorder as provided by law, in which the real property is located. (5) “Commencement of the improvement” means the time of filing for record of the notice of commencement provided in s. 713.13 . (6) “Contract” means an agreement for improving real property, written or unwritten, express or implied, and includes extras or change orders. (7) “Contract price” means the amount agreed upon by the contracting parties for performing all labor and services and furnishing all materials covered by their contract and must be increased or diminished by the price of extras or change orders, or by any amounts attributable to changes in the scope of the work or defects in workmanship or materials or any other breaches of the contract; but no penalty or liquidated damages between the owner and a contractor diminishes the contract price as to any other lienor. If no price is agreed upon by the contracting parties, this term means the value of all labor, services, or materials covered by their contract, with any increases and diminutions, as provided in this subsection. Allowance items are a part of the contract when accepted by the owner. (8) “Contractor” means a person other than a materialman or laborer who enters into a contract with the owner of real property for improving it or who takes over from a contractor as so defined the entire remaining work under such contract. The term “contractor” includes an architect, landscape architect, or engineer who improves real property pursuant to a design-build contract authorized by s. 489.103 (16). The term also includes a licensed general contractor or building contractor, as those terms are defined in s. 489.105 (3)(a) and (b), respectively, who provides construction management services, which include scheduling and coordinating preconstruction and construction phases for the construction project, or who provides program management services, which include schedule control, cost control, and coordinating the provision or procurement of planning, design, and construction for the construction project. (9) “Direct contract” means a contract between the owner and any other person. (10) “Engineer” means a person or firm that is authorized to practice engineering pursuant to chapter 471 or a general contractor who provides engineering services under a design-build contract authorized by s. 471.003 (2)(i). (11) “Extras or change orders” means labor, services, or materials for improving real property authorized by the owner and added to or deleted from labor, services, or materials covered by a previous contract between the same parties. (12) “Final furnishing” means the last date that the lienor furnishes labor, services, or materials. Such date may not be measured by other standards, such as the issuance of a certificate of occupancy or the issuance of a certificate of final completion, and does not include the correction of deficiencies in the lienor’s previously performed work or materials supplied. With respect to rental equipment, the term means the date that the rental equipment was last on the site of the improvement and available for use. (13) “Finance charge” means a contractually specified additional amount to be paid by the obligor on any balance that remains unpaid by the due date set forth in the credit agreement or other contract. (14) “Furnish materials” means supply materials which are incorporated in the improvement including normal wastage in construction operations; or specially fabricated materials for incorporation in the improvement, not including any design work, submittals, or the like preliminary to actual fabrication of the materials; or supply materials used for the construction and not remaining in the improvement, subject to diminution by the salvage value of such materials; and includes supplying rental equipment, but does not include supplying handtools. The delivery of materials to the site of the improvement is prima facie evidence of incorporation of such materials in the improvement. The delivery of rental equipment to the site of the improvement is prima facie evidence of the period of the actual use of the rental equipment from the delivery through the time the equipment is last available for use at the site, or 2 business days after the lessor of the rental equipment receives a written notice from the owner or the lessee of the rental equipment to pick up the equipment, whichever occurs first. (15) “Improve” means build, erect, place, make, alter, remove, repair, or demolish any improvement over, upon, connected with, or beneath the surface of real property, or excavate any land, or furnish materials for any of these purposes, or perform any labor or services upon the improvements, including the furnishing of carpet or rugs or appliances that are permanently affixed to the real property and final construction cleanup to prepare a structure for occupancy; or perform any labor or services or furnish any materials in grading, seeding, sodding, or planting for landscaping purposes, including the furnishing of trees, shrubs, bushes, or plants that are planted on the real property, or in equipping any improvement with fixtures or permanent apparatus or provide any solid-waste collection or disposal on the site of the improvement. (16) “Improvement” means any building, structure, construction, demolition, excavation, solid-waste removal, landscaping, or any part thereof existing, built, erected, placed, made, or done on land or other real property for its permanent benefit. (17) “Laborer” means any person other than an architect, landscape architect, engineer, surveyor and mapper, and the like who, under properly authorized contract, personally performs on the site of the improvement labor or services for improving real property and does not furnish materials or labor service of others. (18) “Lender” means any person who loans money to an owner for construction of an improvement to real property, who secures that loan by recording a mortgage on the real property, and who periodically disburses portions of the proceeds of that loan for the payment of the improvement. (19) “Lienor” means a person who is: (a) A contractor; (b) A subcontractor; (c) A sub-subcontractor; (d) A laborer; (e) A materialman who contracts with the owner, a contractor, a subcontractor, or a sub-subcontractor; or (f) A professional lienor under s. 713.03 ; and who has a lien or prospective lien upon real property under this part, and includes his or her successor in interest. No other person may have a lien under this part. (20) “Lienor giving notice” means any lienor, except a contractor, who has duly and timely served a notice to the owner and, if required, to the contractor and subcontractor, as provided in s. 713.06 (2). (21) “Materialman” means any person who furnishes materials under contract to the owner, contractor, subcontractor, or sub-subcontractor on the site of the improvement or for direct delivery to the site of the improvement or, for specially fabricated materials, off the site of the improvement for the particular improvement, and who performs no labor in the installation thereof. (22) “Notice by lienor” means the notice to owner served as provided in s. 713.06 (2). (23) “Notice of commencement” means the notice recorded as provided in s. 713.13 . (24) “Owner” means a person who is the owner of any legal or equitable interest in real property, which interest can be sold by legal process, and who enters into a contract for the improvement of the real property. The term includes a condominium association pursuant to chapter 718 as to improvements made to association property or common elements. The term does not include any political subdivision, agency, or department of the state, a municipality, or other governmental entity. (25) “Perform” or “furnish” when used in connection with the words “labor” or “services” or “materials” means performance or furnishing by the lienor or by another for him or her. (26) “Post” or “posting” means placing the document referred to on the site of the improvement in a conspicuous place at the front of the site and in a manner that protects the document from the weather. (27) “Real property” means the land that is improved and the improvements thereon, including fixtures, except any such property owned by the state or any county, municipality, school board, or governmental agency, commission, or political subdivision. (28) “Site of the improvement” means the real property which is being improved and on which labor or services are performed or materials furnished in furtherance of the operations of improving such real property. In cases of removal, without demolition and under contract, of an improvement from one lot, parcel, or tract of land to another, this term means the real property to which the improvement is removed. (29) “Subcontractor” means a person other than a materialman or laborer who enters into a contract with a contractor for the performance of any part of such contractor’s contract, including the removal of solid waste from the real property. The term includes a temporary help firm as defined in s. 443.101 . (30) “Sub-subcontractor” means a person other than a materialman or laborer who enters into a contract with a subcontractor for the performance of any part of such subcontractor’s contract, including the removal of solid waste from the real property. The term includes a temporary help firm as defined in s. 443.101 .

553.9081 Florida Building Code; required amendments. — The Florida Building Commission shall amend the Florida Building Code-Energy Conservation to: (1)(a) Eliminate duplicative commissioning reporting requirements for HVAC and electrical systems; and (b) Authorize commissioning reports to be provided by a licensed design professional, electrical engineer, or mechanical engineer. (2) Prohibit the adoption of American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Standard 9.4.1.1(g).

553.80 Enforcement. — (1) Except as provided in paragraphs (a)-(g), each local government and each legally constituted enforcement district with statutory authority shall regulate building construction and, where authorized in the state agency’s enabling legislation, each state agency shall enforce the Florida Building Code required by this part on all public or private buildings, structures, and facilities, unless such responsibility has been delegated to another unit of government under s. 553.79 (11). (a) Construction regulations relating to correctional facilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and the Department of Juvenile Justice are to be enforced exclusively by those departments. (b) Construction regulations relating to elevator equipment under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Elevators of the Department of Business and Professional Regulation shall be enforced exclusively by that department. (c) In addition to the requirements of s. 553.79 and this section, facilities subject to the provisions of chapter 395 and parts II and VIII of chapter 400 shall have facility plans reviewed and construction surveyed by the state agency authorized to do so under the requirements of chapter 395 and parts II and VIII of chapter 400 and the certification requirements of the Federal Government. Facilities subject to the provisions of part IV of chapter 400 may have facility plans reviewed and shall have construction surveyed by the state agency authorized to do so under the requirements of part IV of chapter 400 and the certification requirements of the Federal Government. (d) Building plans approved under s. 553.77 (3) and state-approved manufactured buildings, including buildings manufactured and assembled offsite and not intended for habitation, such as lawn storage buildings and storage sheds, are exempt from local code enforcing agency plan reviews except for provisions of the code relating to erection, assembly, or construction at the site. Erection, assembly, and construction at the site are subject to local permitting and inspections. Lawn storage buildings and storage sheds bearing the insignia of approval of the department are not subject to s. 553.842 . Such buildings that do not exceed 400 square feet may be delivered and installed without need of a contractor’s or specialty license. (e) Construction regulations governing public schools, state universities, and Florida College System institutions shall be enforced as provided in subsection (6). (f) The Florida Building Code as it pertains to toll collection facilities under the jurisdiction of the turnpike enterprise of the Department of Transportation shall be enforced exclusively by the turnpike enterprise. (g) Construction regulations relating to secure mental health treatment facilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of Children and Families shall be enforced exclusively by the department in conjunction with the Agency for Health Care Administration’s review authority under paragraph (c). The governing bodies of local governments may provide a schedule of fees, as authorized by s. 125.56 (2) or s. 166.222 and this section, for the enforcement of the provisions of this part. Such fees shall be used solely for carrying out the local government’s responsibilities in enforcing the Florida Building Code. The authority of state enforcing agencies to set fees for enforcement shall be derived from authority existing on July 1, 1998. However, nothing contained in this subsection shall operate to limit such agencies from adjusting their fee schedule in conformance with existing authority. (2)(a) Any two or more counties or municipalities, or any combination thereof, may, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 163, governing interlocal agreements, form an enforcement district for the purpose of enforcing and administering the provisions of the Florida Building Code. Each district so formed shall be registered with the department on forms to be provided for that purpose. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to supersede provisions of county charters which preempt municipal authorities respective to building codes. (b) With respect to evaluation of design professionals’ documents, if a local government finds it necessary, in order to enforce compliance with the Florida Building Code and issue a permit, to reject design documents required by the code three or more times for failure to correct a code violation specifically and continuously noted in each rejection, including, but not limited to, egress, fire protection, structural stability, energy, accessibility, lighting, ventilation, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and gas systems, or other requirements identified by rule of the Florida Building Commission adopted pursuant to chapter 120, the local government shall impose, each time after the third such review the plans are rejected for that code violation, a fee of four times the amount of the proportion of the permit fee attributed to plans review. (c) With respect to inspections, if a local government finds it necessary, in order to enforce compliance with the Florida Building Code, to conduct any inspection after an initial inspection and one subsequent reinspection of any project or activity for the same code violation specifically and continuously noted in each rejection, including, but not limited to, egress, fire protection, structural stability, energy, accessibility, lighting, ventilation, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, and gas systems, or other requirements identified by rule of the Florida Building Commission adopted pursuant to chapter 120, the local government shall impose a fee of four times the amount of the fee imposed for the initial inspection or first reinspection, whichever is greater, for each such subsequent reinspection. (3)(a) Each enforcement district shall be governed by a board, the composition of which shall be determined by the affected localities. (b)1. At its own option, each enforcement district or local enforcement agency may adopt rules granting to the owner of a single-family residence one or more exemptions from the Florida Building Code relating to: a. Addition, alteration, or repairs performed by the property owner upon his or her own property, provided any addition or alteration shall not exceed 1,000 square feet or the square footage of the primary structure, whichever is less. b. Addition, alteration, or repairs by a nonowner within a specific cost limitation set by rule, provided the total cost shall not exceed $5,000 within any 12-month period. c. Building and inspection fees. 2. However, the exemptions under subparagraph 1. do not apply to single-family residences that are located in mapped flood hazard areas, as defined in the code, unless the enforcement district or local enforcement agency has determined that the work, which is otherwise exempt, does not constitute a substantial improvement, including the repair of substantial damage, of such single-family residences. 3. Each code exemption, as defined in sub-subparagraphs 1.a., b., and c., shall be certified to the local board 10 days prior to implementation and shall only be effective in the territorial jurisdiction of the enforcement district or local enforcement agency implementing it. (4) When an enforcement district has been formed as provided herein, upon its registration with the department, it shall have the same authority and responsibility with respect to building codes as provided by this part for local governing bodies. (5) State and regional agencies with special expertise in building code standards and licensing of contractors and design professionals shall provide support to local governments upon request. (6) Notwithstanding any other law, state universities, Florida College System institutions, and public school districts shall be subject to enforcement of the Florida Building Code under this part. (a)1. State universities, Florida College System institutions, or public school districts shall conduct plan review and construction inspections to enforce building code compliance for their building projects that are subject to the Florida Building Code. These entities must use personnel or contract providers appropriately certified under part XII of chapter 468 to perform the plan reviews and inspections required by the code. Under these arrangements, the entities are not subject to local government permitting requirements, plans review, and inspection fees. State universities, Florida College System institutions, and public school districts are liable and responsible for all of their buildings, structures, and facilities. This paragraph does not limit the authority of the county, municipality, or code enforcement district to ensure that buildings, structures, and facilities owned by these entities comply with the Florida Building Code or to limit the authority and responsibility of the fire official to conduct firesafety inspections under chapter 633. 2. In order to enforce building code compliance independent of a county or municipality, a state university, Florida College System institution, or public school district may create a board of adjustment and appeal to which a substantially affected party may appeal an interpretation of the Florida Building Code which relates to a specific project. The decisions of this board, or, in its absence, the decision of the building code administrator, may be reviewed under s. 553.775 . (b) If a state university, Florida College System institution, or public school district elects to use a local government’s code enforcement offices: 1. Fees charged by counties and municipalities for enforcement of the Florida Building Code on buildings, structures, and facilities of state universities, state colleges, and public school districts may not be more than the actual labor and administrative costs incurred for plans review and inspections to ensure compliance with the code. 2. Counties and municipalities shall expedite building construction permitting, building plans review, and inspections of projects of state universities, Florida College System institutions, and public schools that are subject to the Florida Building Code according to guidelines established by the Florida Building Commission. 3. A party substantially affected by an interpretation of the Florida Building Code by the local government’s code enforcement offices may appeal the interpretation to the local government’s board of adjustment and appeal or to the commission under s. 553.775 if no local board exists. The decision of a local board is reviewable in accordance with s. 553.775 . (c) The Florida Building Commission and code enforcement jurisdictions shall consider balancing code criteria and enforcement to unique functions, where they occur, of research institutions by application of performance criteria in lieu of prescriptive criteria. (d) School boards, Florida College System institution boards, and state universities may use annual facility maintenance permits to facilitate routine maintenance, emergency repairs, building refurbishment, and minor renovations of systems or equipment. The amount expended for maintenance projects may not exceed $200,000 per project. A facility maintenance permit is valid for 1 year. A detailed log of alterations and inspections must be maintained and annually submitted to the building official. The building official retains the right to make inspections at the facility site as he or she considers necessary. Code compliance must be provided upon notification by the building official. If a pattern of code violations is found, the building official may withhold the issuance of future annual facility maintenance permits. This part may not be construed to authorize counties, municipalities, or code enforcement districts to conduct any permitting, plans review, or inspections not covered by the Florida Building Code. Any actions by counties or municipalities not in compliance with this part may be appealed to the Florida Building Commission. The commission, upon a determination that actions not in compliance with this part have delayed permitting or construction, may suspend the authority of a county, municipality, or code enforcement district to enforce the Florida Building Code on the buildings, structures, or facilities of a state university, Florida College System institution, or public school district and provide for code enforcement at the expense of the state university, Florida College System institution, or public school district. (7)(a) The governing bodies of local governments may provide a schedule of reasonable fees, as authorized by s. 125.56 (2) or s. 166.222 and this section, for enforcing this part. These fees, and any fines or investment earnings related to the fees, may only be used for carrying out the local government’s responsibilities in enforcing the Florida Building Code. When providing a schedule of reasonable fees, the total estimated annual revenue derived from fees, and the fines and investment earnings related to the fees, may not exceed the total estimated annual costs of allowable activities. Any unexpended balances must be carried forward to future years for allowable activities or must be refunded at the discretion of the local government. A local government may not carry forward an amount exceeding the average of its operating budget for enforcing the Florida Building Code for the previous 4 fiscal years. For purposes of this subsection, the term “operating budget” does not include reserve amounts. Any amount exceeding this limit must be used as authorized in subparagraph 2. However, a local government that established, as of January 1, 2019, a Building Inspections Fund Advisory Board consisting of five members from the construction stakeholder community and carries an unexpended balance in excess of the average of its operating budget for the previous 4 fiscal years may continue to carry such excess funds forward upon the recommendation of the advisory board. The basis for a fee structure for allowable activities must relate to the level of service provided by the local government and must include consideration for refunding fees due to reduced services based on services provided as prescribed by s. 553.791 , but not provided by the local government. Fees charged must be consistently applied. 1. As used in this subsection, the phrase “enforcing the Florida Building Code” includes the direct costs and reasonable indirect costs associated with review of building plans, building inspections, reinspections, and building permit processing; building code enforcement; and fire inspections associated with new construction. The phrase may also include training costs associated with the enforcement of the Florida Building Code and enforcement action pertaining to unlicensed contractor activity to the extent not funded by other user fees. 2. A local government must use any excess funds that it is prohibited from carrying forward to rebate and reduce fees, to upgrade technology hardware and software systems to enhance service delivery, to pay for the construction of a building or structure that houses a local government’s building code enforcement agency, or for training programs for building officials, inspectors, or plans examiners associated with the enforcement of the Florida Building Code. Excess funds used to construct such a building or structure must be designated for such purpose by the local government and may not be carried forward for more than 4 consecutive years. An owner or builder who has a valid building permit issued by a local government for a fee, or an association of owners or builders located in the state that has members with valid building permits issued by a local government for a fee, may bring a civil action against the local government that issued the permit for a fee to enforce this subparagraph. 3. The following activities may not be funded with fees adopted for enforcing the Florida Building Code: a. Planning and zoning or other general government activities. b. Inspections of public buildings for a reduced fee or no fee. c. Public information requests, community functions, boards, and any program not directly related to enforcement of the Florida Building Code. d. Enforcement and implementation of any other local ordinance, excluding validly adopted local amendments to the Florida Building Code and excluding any local ordinance directly related to enforcing the Florida Building Code as defined in subparagraph 1. 4. A local government must use recognized management, accounting, and oversight practices to ensure that fees, fines, and investment earnings generated under this subsection are maintained and allocated or used solely for the purposes described in subparagraph 1. 5. The local enforcement agency, independent district, or special district may not require at any time, including at the time of application for a permit, the payment of any additional fees, charges, or expenses associated with: a. Providing proof of licensure under chapter 489; b. Recording or filing a license issued under this chapter; c. Providing, recording, or filing evidence of workers’ compensation insurance coverage as required by chapter 440; or d. Charging surcharges or other similar fees not directly related to enforcing the Florida Building Code. (b) By December 31, 2020, the governing body of a local government that provides a schedule of fees shall create a building permit and inspection utilization report and post the report on its website. The information in the report shall be derived from relevant information available in the most recently completed financial audit. After December 31, 2020, the governing body of a local government that provides a schedule of fees shall update its building permit and inspection utilization report before making any adjustments to the fee schedule. The report shall include: 1. Direct and indirect costs incurred by the local government to enforce the Florida Building Code, including costs related to: a. Personnel services costs, including salary and related employee benefit costs incurred by the local government to enforce the Florida Building Code. b. Operating expenditures and expenses. 2. Permit and inspection utilization information, including: a. Number of building permit applications submitted. b. Number of building permits issued or approved. c. Number of building inspections and reinspections requested. d. Number of building inspections and reinspections conducted. e. Number of building inspections conducted by a private provider. f. Number of audits conducted by the local government of private provider building inspections. g. Number of personnel dedicated by the local government to enforce the Florida Building Code, issue building permits, and conduct inspections. h. Other permissible activities for enforcing the Florida Building Code as described in subparagraph (a)1. 3. Revenue information, including: a. Revenue derived from fees pursuant to paragraph (a). b. Revenue derived from fines pursuant to paragraph (a). c. When applicable, investment earnings from the local government’s investment of revenue derived from fees and fines pursuant to paragraph (a). d. Balances carried forward by the local government pursuant to paragraph (a). e. Balances refunded by the local government pursuant to paragraph (a). f. Revenue derived from other sources, including local government general revenue. (c) The governing body of a local government that issues building permits may charge a person only one search fee, in an amount commensurate with the research and time costs incurred by the governing body, for identifying building permits for each unit or subunit assigned by the governing body to a particular tax parcel identification number. (8) Effective January 1, 2023, local governments located in areas designated in the Federal Emergency Management Agency disaster declarations for Hurricane Ian or Hurricane Nicole may not raise building inspection fees, as authorized by s. 125.56 (2) or s. 166.222 and this section, before October 1, 2024. This subsection expires June 30, 2025. (9) The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is not subject to local government permitting requirements, plan review, or inspection fees for agricultural structures, such as equipment storage sheds and pole barns that are not used by the public. (10) A single-family or two-family dwelling that is converted into a certified recovery residence, as defined in s. 397.311 , or a recovery residence, as defined in s. 397.311 , that has a charter from an entity recognized or sanctioned by Congress does not have a change of occupancy as defined in the Florida Building Code solely due to such conversion.

553.79 Permits; applications; issuance; inspections. — (1)(a) After the effective date of the Florida Building Code adopted as herein provided, it shall be unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or governmental entity to construct, erect, alter, modify, repair, or demolish any building within this state without first obtaining a permit therefor from the appropriate enforcing agency or from such persons as may, by appropriate resolution or regulation of the authorized state or local enforcing agency, be delegated authority to issue such permits, upon the payment of such reasonable fees adopted by the enforcing agency. The enforcing agency is empowered to revoke any such permit upon a determination by the agency that the construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of the building for which the permit was issued is in violation of, or not in conformity with, the provisions of the Florida Building Code. Whenever a permit required under this section is denied or revoked because the plan, or the construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of a building, is found by the local enforcing agency to be not in compliance with the Florida Building Code, the local enforcing agency shall identify the specific plan or project features that do not comply with the applicable codes, identify the specific code chapters and sections upon which the finding is based, and provide this information to the permit applicant. A plans reviewer or building code administrator who is responsible for issuing a denial, revocation, or modification request but fails to provide to the permit applicant a reason for denying, revoking, or requesting a modification, based on compliance with the Florida Building Code or local ordinance, is subject to disciplinary action against his or her license pursuant to s. 468.621 (1)(i). Installation, replacement, removal, or metering of any load management control device is exempt from and shall not be subject to the permit process and fees otherwise required by this section. (b) A local enforcement agency shall post each type of building permit application, including a list of all required attachments, drawings, or other requirements for each type of application, on its website. A local enforcement agency must post and update the status of every received application on its website until the issuance of the building permit. Completed applications, including payments, attachments, drawings, or other requirements or parts of the completed permit application, must be able to be submitted electronically to the appropriate building department. Accepted methods of electronic submission include, but are not limited to, e-mail submission of applications in Portable Document Format or submission of applications through an electronic fill-in form available on the building department’s website or through a third-party submission management software. Completed applications, including payments, attachments, drawings, or other requirements or parts of the completed permit application, may also be submitted in person in a nonelectronic format, at the discretion of the building official. (c) A local government that issues building permits may send a written notice of expiration, by e-mail or United States Postal Service, to the owner of the property and the contractor listed on the permit, no less than 30 days before a building permit is set to expire. The written notice must identify the permit that is set to expire and the date the permit will expire. (d) A local enforcement agency must allow requests for inspections to be submitted electronically to the local enforcement agency’s appropriate building department. Acceptable methods of electronic submission include, but are not limited to, e-mail or fill-in form available on the website of the building department or through a third-party submission management software or application that can be downloaded on a mobile device. Requests for inspections may be submitted in a nonelectronic format, at the discretion of the building official. (e) A local enforcement agency must post its procedures for processing, reviewing, and approving submitted building permit applications on its website. (f) A local government may not require a contract between a builder and an owner for the issuance of a building permit or as a requirement for the submission of a building permit application. (2)(a)1. Except as provided in subsection (8), an enforcing agency may not issue any permit for construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of any building or structure until the local building code administrator or inspector has reviewed the plans and specifications required by the Florida Building Code, or local amendment thereto, for such proposal and found the plans to be in compliance with the Florida Building Code. If the local building code administrator or inspector finds that the plans are not in compliance with the Florida Building Code, the local building code administrator or inspector shall identify the specific plan features that do not comply with the applicable codes, identify the specific code chapters and sections upon which the finding is based, and provide this information to the local enforcing agency. If the building code administrator, plans examiner, or inspector requests another local enforcing agency employee or a person contracted by the local enforcing agency to review the plans and that employee or person identifies specific plan features that do not comply with the applicable codes, the building code administrator, plans examiner, or inspector must provide this information to the local enforcing agency. The local enforcing agency shall provide this information to the permit applicant. 2. An enforcing agency may not issue any permit for construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of any building until the appropriate firesafety inspector certified pursuant to s. 633.216 has reviewed the plans and specifications required by the Florida Building Code, or local amendment thereto, for such proposal and found that the plans comply with the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code. Any building or structure which is not subject to a firesafety code shall not be required to have its plans reviewed by the firesafety inspector. 3. Any building or structure that is exempt from the local building permit process may not be required to have its plans reviewed by the local building code administrator. Industrial construction on sites where design, construction, and firesafety are supervised by appropriate design and inspection professionals and which contain adequate in-house fire departments and rescue squads is exempt, subject to local government option, from review of plans and inspections, providing owners certify that applicable codes and standards have been met and supply appropriate approved drawings to local building and firesafety inspectors. 4. The enforcing agency shall issue a permit to construct, erect, alter, modify, repair, or demolish any building or structure when the plans and specifications for such proposal comply with the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code as determined by the local authority in accordance with this chapter and chapter 633. (b) After the local enforcing agency issues a permit, the local enforcing agency may not make or require any substantive changes to the plans or specifications except changes required for compliance with the Florida Building Code, the Florida Fire Prevention Code, or the Life Safety Code, or local amendments thereto. If a local enforcing agency makes or requires substantive changes to the plans or specifications after a permit is issued, the local enforcing agency must identify the specific plan features that do not comply with the applicable codes, identify the specific code chapters and sections upon which the finding is based, and provide the information to the permitholder in writing. (c)1. A plans examiner or inspector who fails to provide the building code administrator with the reasons for making or requiring substantive changes to the plans or specifications is subject to disciplinary action against his or her certificate under s. 468.621 (1)(i). 2. A building code administrator who fails to provide a permit applicant or permitholder with the reasons for making or requiring substantive changes to the plans or specifications is subject to disciplinary action against his or her certificate under s. 468.621 (1)(i). (3) Except as provided in this chapter, the Florida Building Code, after the effective date of adoption pursuant to the provisions of this part, shall supersede all other building construction codes or ordinances in the state, whether at the local or state level and whether adopted by administrative regulation or by legislative enactment. However, this subsection does not apply to the construction of manufactured homes as defined by federal law. Nothing contained in this subsection shall be construed as nullifying or divesting appropriate state or local agencies of authority to make inspections or to enforce the codes within their respective areas of jurisdiction. (4) The Florida Building Code, after the effective date of adoption pursuant to the provisions of this part, may be modified by local governments to require more stringent standards than those specified in the Florida Building Code, provided the conditions of s. 553.73 (4) are met. (5)(a) During new construction or during repair or restoration projects in which the structural system or structural loading of a building is being modified, the enforcing agency shall require a special inspector to perform structural inspections on a threshold building pursuant to a structural inspection plan prepared by the engineer or architect of record. The structural inspection plan must be submitted to and approved by the enforcing agency before the issuance of a building permit for the construction of a threshold building. The purpose of the structural inspection plan is to provide specific inspection procedures and schedules so that the building can be adequately inspected for compliance with the permitted documents. The special inspector may not serve as a surrogate in carrying out the responsibilities of the building official, the architect, or the engineer of record. The contractor’s contractual or statutory obligations are not relieved by any action of the special inspector. The special inspector shall determine that a professional engineer who specializes in shoring design has inspected the shoring and reshoring for conformance with the shoring and reshoring plans submitted to the enforcing agency. A fee simple title owner of a building, which does not meet the minimum size, height, occupancy, occupancy classification, or number-of-stories criteria which would result in classification as a threshold building under s. 553.71 (12), may designate such building as a threshold building, subject to more than the minimum number of inspections required by the Florida Building Code. (b) The fee owner of a threshold building shall select and pay all costs of employing a special inspector, but the special inspector shall be responsible to the enforcement agency. The inspector shall be a person certified, licensed, or registered under chapter 471 as an engineer or under chapter 481 as an architect. (c) The architect or engineer of record may act as the special inspector provided she or he is on the Board of Professional Engineers’ or the Board of Architecture and Interior Design’s list of persons qualified to be special inspectors. School boards may utilize employees as special inspectors provided such employees are on one of the professional licensing board’s list of persons qualified to be special inspectors. (d) The licensed architect or registered engineer serving as the special inspector shall be permitted to send her or his duly authorized representative to the job site to perform the necessary inspections provided all required written reports are prepared by and bear the seal of the special inspector and are submitted to the enforcement agency. (6) A state or local enforcement agency may perform virtual inspections at the discretion of the enforcement agency. However, a state or local enforcement agency may not perform virtual inspections for structural inspections on a threshold building. For purposes of this subsection, the term “virtual inspection” means a form of visual inspection which uses visual or electronic aids to allow a building code administrator or an inspector, or team of inspectors, to perform an inspection without having to be physically present at the job site during the inspection. (7)(a) A local enforcement agency must refund 10 percent of the permit and inspection fees to a permitholder if: 1. The inspector or building code administrator determines that the work, which requires the permit, fails an inspection; and 2. The inspector or building code administrator fails to provide, within 5 business days after the inspection, the permitholder or his or her agent with a reason, based on compliance with the Florida Building Code, Florida Fire Prevention Code, or local ordinance, for why the work failed the inspection. (b) If any permit and inspection fees are refunded under paragraph (a), the surcharges provided in s. 468.631 or s. 553.721 must be recalculated based on the amount of the permit and inspection fees after the refund. (8) A permit may not be issued for any building construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or addition unless the applicant for such permit complies with the requirements for plan review established by the Florida Building Commission within the Florida Building Code. However, the code shall set standards and criteria to authorize preliminary construction before completion of all building plans review, including, but not limited to, special permits for the foundation only, and such standards shall take effect concurrent with the first effective date of the Florida Building Code. After submittal of the appropriate construction documents, the building official may issue a permit for the construction of foundations or any other part of a building or structure before the construction documents for the entire building or structure have been submitted. The holder of such permit for the foundation or other parts of a building or structure shall proceed at the holder’s own risk and without assurance that a permit for the entire structure will be granted. Corrections may be required to meet the requirements of the technical codes. (9) Each enforcement agency shall require that, on every threshold building: (a) The special inspector, upon completion of the building and prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy, file a signed and sealed statement with the enforcement agency in substantially the following form: To the best of my knowledge and belief, the construction of all structural load-bearing components described in the threshold inspection plan complies with the permitted documents, and the specialty shoring design professional engineer has ascertained that the shoring and reshoring conforms with the shoring and reshoring plans submitted to the enforcement agency. (b) Any proposal to install an alternate structural product or system to which building codes apply be submitted to the enforcement agency for review for compliance with the codes and made part of the enforcement agency’s recorded set of permit documents. (c) All shoring and reshoring procedures, plans, and details be submitted to the enforcement agency for recordkeeping. Each shoring and reshoring installation shall be supervised, inspected, and certified to be in compliance with the shoring documents by the contractor. (d) All plans for the building which are required to be signed and sealed by the architect or engineer of record contain a statement that, to the best of the architect’s or engineer’s knowledge, the plans and specifications comply with the applicable minimum building codes and the applicable firesafety standards as determined by the local authority in accordance with this chapter and chapter 633. (10) No enforcing agency may issue a building permit for construction of any threshold building except to a licensed general contractor, as defined in s. 489.105 (3)(a), or to a licensed building contractor, as defined in s. 489.105 (3)(b), within the scope of her or his license. The named contractor to whom the building permit is issued shall have the responsibility for supervision, direction, management, and control of the construction activities on the project for which the building permit was issued. (11) Any state agency whose enabling legislation authorizes it to enforce provisions of the Florida Building Code may enter into an agreement with any other unit of government to delegate its responsibility to enforce those provisions and may expend public funds for permit and inspection fees, which fees may be no greater than the fees charged others. Inspection services that are not required to be performed by a state agency under a federal delegation of responsibility or by a state agency under the Florida Building Code must be performed under the alternative plans review and inspection process created in s. 553.791 or by a local governmental entity having authority to enforce the Florida Building Code. (12) An enforcing authority may not issue a building permit for any building construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or addition unless the permit either includes on its face or there is attached to the permit the following statement: “NOTICE: In addition to the requirements of this permit, there may be additional restrictions applicable to this property that may be found in the public records of this county, and there may be additional permits required from other governmental entities such as water management districts, state agencies, or federal agencies.” (13) The local enforcing agency may not issue a building permit to construct, develop, or modify a public swimming pool without proof of application, whether complete or incomplete, for an operating permit pursuant to s. 514.031 . A certificate of completion or occupancy may not be issued until such operating permit is issued. The local enforcing agency shall conduct its review of the building permit application upon filing and in accordance with this chapter. The local enforcing agency may confer with the Department of Health, if necessary, but may not delay the building permit application review while awaiting comment from the Department of Health. (14) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter or supplement the provisions of part I of this chapter relating to manufactured buildings. (15) One-family and two-family detached residential dwelling units are not subject to plan review by the local fire official as described in this section or inspection by the local fire official as described in s. 633.216 , unless expressly made subject to the plan review or inspection by local ordinance. (16)(a) A property owner, regardless of whether the property owner is the one listed on the application for the building permit, may close a building permit by complying with the following requirements: 1. The property owner may retain the original contractor listed on the permit or hire a different contractor appropriately licensed in this state to perform the work necessary to satisfy the conditions of the permit and to obtain any necessary inspections in order to close the permit. If a contractor other than the original contractor listed on the permit is hired by the property owner to close the permit, such contractor is not liable for any defects in the work performed by the original contractor and is only liable for the work that he or she performs. 2. The property owner may assume the role of an owner-builder, in accordance with ss. 489.103 (7) and 489.503 (6). 3. For purposes of this section, the term “close” means that the requirements of the permit have been satisfied. (b) If a building permit is expired and its requirements have been substantially completed, as determined by the local enforcement agency, the permit may be closed without having to obtain a new building permit, and the work required to close the permit may be done pursuant to the building code in effect at the time the local enforcement agency received the application for the permit, unless the contractor has sought and received approval from the local enforcement agency for an alternative material, design, or method of construction. (c) A local enforcement agency may close a building permit 6 years after the issuance of the permit, even in the absence of a final inspection, if the local enforcement agency determines that no apparent safety hazards exist. (17)(a) A local enforcement agency may not deny issuance of a building permit to; issue a notice of violation to; or fine, penalize, sanction, or assess fees against an arms-length purchaser of a property for value solely because a building permit applied for by a previous owner of the property was not closed. The local enforcement agency shall maintain all rights and remedies against the property owner and contractor listed on the permit. (b) The local enforcement agency may not deny issuance of a building permit to a contractor solely because the contractor is listed on other building permits that were not closed. (18) Certifications by contractors authorized under the provisions of s. 489.115 (4)(b) shall be considered equivalent to sealed plans and specifications by a person licensed under chapter 471 or chapter 481 by local enforcement agencies for plans review for permitting purposes relating to compliance with the wind resistance provisions of the code or alternate methodologies approved by the commission for one and two family dwellings. Local enforcement agencies may rely upon such certification by contractors that the plans and specifications submitted conform to the requirements of the code for wind resistance. Upon good cause shown, local government code enforcement agencies may accept or reject plans sealed by persons licensed under chapter 471, chapter 481, or chapter 489. A truss-placement plan is not required to be signed and sealed by an engineer or architect unless prepared by an engineer or architect or specifically required by the Florida Building Code. (19)(a) The Florida Building Commission shall establish, within the Florida Building Code adopted by rule, standards for permitting residential buildings or structures moved into or within a county or municipality when such structures do not or cannot comply with the code. However, such buildings or structures shall not be required to be brought into compliance with the building code in force at the time the building or structure is moved, provided: 1. The building or structure is structurally sound and in occupiable condition for its intended use; 2. The occupancy use classification for the building or structure is not changed as a result of the move; 3. The building is not substantially remodeled; 4. Current fire code requirements for ingress and egress are met; 5. Electrical, gas, and plumbing systems meet the codes in force at the time of construction and are operational and safe for reconnection; and 6. Foundation plans are sealed by a professional engineer or architect licensed to practice in this state, if required by the building code for all residential buildings or structures of the same occupancy class; (b) The building official shall apply the same standard to a moved residential building or structure as that applied to the remodeling of any comparable residential building or structure to determine whether the moved structure is substantially remodeled. The cost of moving the building and the cost of the foundation on which the moved building or structure is placed shall not be included in the cost of remodeling for purposes of determining whether a moved building or structure has been substantially remodeled. (20) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, state agencies responsible for the construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of public buildings, or the regulation of public and private buildings, structures, and facilities, shall be subject to enforcement of the Florida Building Code by local jurisdictions. This subsection applies in addition to the jurisdiction and authority of the Department of Financial Services to inspect state-owned buildings. This subsection does not apply to the jurisdiction and authority of the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to inspect amusement rides or the Department of Financial Services to inspect state-owned buildings and boilers. (21)(a) A local enforcing agency, and any local building code administrator, inspector, or other official or entity, may not require as a condition of issuance of a one- or two-family residential building permit the inspection of any portion of a building, structure, or real property that is not directly impacted by the construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of the building, structure, or real property for which the permit is sought. (b) This subsection does not apply to a building permit sought for: 1. A substantial improvement as defined in s. 161.54 or as defined in the Florida Building Code. 2. A change of occupancy as defined in the Florida Building Code. 3. A conversion from residential to nonresidential or mixed use pursuant to s. 553.507 (3) or as defined in the Florida Building Code. 4. A historic building as defined in the Florida Building Code. (c) This subsection does not prohibit a local enforcing agency, or any local building code administrator, inspector, or other official or entity, from: 1. Citing any violation inadvertently observed in plain view during the ordinary course of an inspection conducted in accordance with the prohibition in paragraph (a). 2. Inspecting a physically nonadjacent portion of a building, structure, or real property that is directly impacted by the construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of the building, structure, or real property for which the permit is sought in accordance with the prohibition in paragraph (a). 3. Inspecting any portion of a building, structure, or real property for which the owner or other person having control of the building, structure, or real property has voluntarily consented to the inspection of that portion of the building, structure, or real property in accordance with the prohibition in paragraph (a). 4. Inspecting any portion of a building, structure, or real property pursuant to an inspection warrant issued in accordance with ss. 933.20 - 933.30 . (d) This subsection is repealed upon receipt by the Secretary of State of the written certification by the chair of the Florida Building Commission that the commission has adopted an amendment to the Florida Building Code which substantially incorporates this subsection, including the prohibition in paragraph (a), as part of the code and such amendment has taken effect. (22) If an assessment of a new building’s interior radio coverage and signal strength under the Florida Fire Prevention Code determines that installation of a two-way radio communication enhancement system is required, a contractor having the appropriate license issued by the department must submit a design to the local authority having jurisdiction for a two-way radio communication enhancement system to correct noncompliant radio coverage. The local authority having jurisdiction may not withhold issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy for the building based solely on the need for a two-way radio communication enhancement system. Upon approval of the design by the local authority having jurisdiction, the jurisdiction must require the installation of the two-way radio communication enhancement system within 12 months after the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy. An extension for a temporary certificate of occupancy may not be unnecessarily withheld. (23) For the purpose of inspection and record retention, site plans or building permits may be maintained in the original form or in the form of an electronic copy at the worksite. These plans and permits must be open to inspection by the building official or a duly authorized representative, as required by the Florida Building Code. (24)(a) A political subdivision of this state may not adopt or enforce any ordinance or impose any building permit or other development order requirement that: 1. Contains any building, construction, or aesthetic requirement or condition that conflicts with or impairs corporate trademarks, service marks, trade dress, logos, color patterns, design scheme insignia, image standards, or other features of corporate branding identity on real property or improvements thereon used in activities conducted under chapter 526 or in carrying out business activities defined as a franchise by Federal Trade Commission regulations in 16 C.F.R. ss. 436.1, et. seq.; or 2. Imposes any requirement on the design, construction, or location of signage advertising the retail price of gasoline in accordance with the requirements of ss. 526.111 and 526.121 which prevents the signage from being clearly visible and legible to drivers of approaching motor vehicles from a vantage point on any lane of traffic in either direction on a roadway abutting the gas station premises and meets height, width, and spacing standards for Series C, D, or E signs, as applicable, published in the latest edition of Standard Alphabets for Highway Signs published by the United States Department of Commerce, Bureau of Public Roads, Office of Highway Safety. (b) This subsection does not affect any requirement for design and construction in the Florida Building Code. (c) All such ordinances and requirements are hereby preempted and superseded by general law. This subsection shall apply retroactively. (d) This subsection does not apply to property located in a designated historic district. (25)(a) A local law, ordinance, or regulation may not prohibit or otherwise restrict the ability of a private property owner to obtain a building permit to demolish his or her single-family residential structure located in a coastal high-hazard area, moderate flood zone, or special flood hazard area according to a Flood Insurance Rate Map issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the purpose of participating in the National Flood Insurance Program if the lowest finished floor elevation of such structure is at or below base flood elevation as established by the Florida Building Code or a higher base flood elevation as may be required by local ordinance, whichever is higher, provided that such permit otherwise complies with all applicable Florida Building Code, Florida Fire Prevention Code, and Life Safety Code requirements, or local amendments thereto. (b) An application for a demolition permit sought under this subsection may only be reviewed administratively for compliance with the Florida Building Code, the Florida Fire Prevention Code, and the Life Safety Code, or local amendments thereto, and any regulations applicable to a similarly situated parcel. Applications may not be subject to any additional local land development regulations or public hearings. A local government may not penalize a private property owner for a demolition that is in compliance with the demolition permit. (c) If a single-family residential structure is demolished pursuant to a demolition permit, a local government may not impose additional regulatory or building requirements on the new single-family residential structure constructed on the site of the demolished structure which would not otherwise be applicable to a similarly situated vacant parcel. (d) This subsection does not apply to any of the following: 1. A structure designated on the National Register of Historic Places. 2. A privately owned single-family residential structure designated historic by a local, state, or federal governmental agency on or before January 1, 2022. 3. A privately owned single-family residential structure designated historic after January 1, 2022, by a local, state, or federal governmental agency with the consent of its owner.

553.73 Florida Building Code. — (1)(a) The commission shall adopt, by rule pursuant to ss. 120.536 (1) and 120.54 , the Florida Building Code which shall contain or incorporate by reference all laws and rules which pertain to and govern the design, construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, and demolition of public and private buildings, structures, and facilities and enforcement of such laws and rules, except as otherwise provided in this section. (b) The technical portions of the Florida Accessibility Code for Building Construction shall be contained in their entirety in the Florida Building Code. The civil rights portions and the technical portions of the accessibility laws of this state shall remain as currently provided by law. Any revision or amendments to the Florida Accessibility Code for Building Construction pursuant to part II shall be considered adopted by the commission as part of the Florida Building Code. Neither the commission nor any local government shall revise or amend any standard of the Florida Accessibility Code for Building Construction except as provided for in part II. (c) The Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code shall be referenced in the Florida Building Code, but shall be adopted, modified, revised, or amended, interpreted, and maintained by the Department of Financial Services by rule adopted pursuant to ss. 120.536 (1) and 120.54 . The Florida Building Commission may not adopt a fire prevention or lifesafety code, and nothing in the Florida Building Code shall affect the statutory powers, duties, and responsibilities of any fire official or the Department of Financial Services. (d) Conflicting requirements between the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code and Life Safety Code of the state established pursuant to ss. 633.206 and 633.208 shall be resolved by agreement between the commission and the State Fire Marshal in favor of the requirement that offers the greatest degree of lifesafety or alternatives that would provide an equivalent degree of lifesafety and an equivalent method of construction. If the commission and State Fire Marshal are unable to agree on a resolution, the question shall be referred to a mediator, mutually agreeable to both parties, to resolve the conflict in favor of the provision that offers the greatest lifesafety, or alternatives that would provide an equivalent degree of lifesafety and an equivalent method of construction. (e) Subject to the provisions of this act, responsibility for enforcement, interpretation, and regulation of the Florida Building Code shall be vested in a specified local board or agency, and the words “local government” and “local governing body” as used in this part shall be construed to refer exclusively to such local board or agency. (2) The Florida Building Code shall contain provisions or requirements for public and private buildings, structures, and facilities relative to structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, energy, and gas systems, existing buildings, historical buildings, manufactured buildings, elevators, coastal construction, lodging facilities, food sales and food service facilities, health care facilities, including assisted living facilities, adult day care facilities, hospice residential and inpatient facilities and units, and facilities for the control of radiation hazards, public or private educational facilities, swimming pools, and correctional facilities and enforcement of and compliance with such provisions or requirements. Further, the Florida Building Code must provide for uniform implementation of ss. 515.25 , 515.27 , and 515.29 by including standards and criteria for residential swimming pool barriers, pool covers, latching devices, door and window exit alarms, and other equipment required therein, which are consistent with the intent of s. 515.23 . Technical provisions to be contained within the Florida Building Code are restricted to requirements related to the types of materials used and construction methods and standards employed in order to meet criteria specified in the Florida Building Code. Provisions relating to the personnel, supervision or training of personnel, or any other professional qualification requirements relating to contractors or their workforce may not be included within the Florida Building Code, and subsections (4), (6), (7), (8), and (9) are not to be construed to allow the inclusion of such provisions within the Florida Building Code by amendment. This restriction applies to both initial development and amendment of the Florida Building Code. (3) The commission shall use the International Codes published by the International Code Council, the National Electric Code (NFPA 70), or other nationally adopted model codes and standards for updates to the Florida Building Code. The commission may approve technical amendments to the code as provided in subsections (8) and (9), subject to all of the following conditions: (a) The proposed amendment must have been published on the commission’s website for a minimum of 45 days and all the associated documentation must have been made available to any interested party before consideration by a technical advisory committee. (b) In order for a technical advisory committee to make a favorable recommendation to the commission, the proposal must receive a two-thirds vote of the members present at the meeting. At least half of the regular members must be present in order to conduct a meeting. (c) After the technical advisory committee has considered and recommended approval of any proposed amendment, the proposal must be published on the commission’s website for at least 45 days before consideration by the commission. (d) A proposal may be modified by the commission based on public testimony and evidence from a public hearing held in accordance with chapter 120. The commission shall incorporate within the Florida Building Code provisions that address regional and local concerns and variations. The commission shall make every effort to minimize conflicts between the Florida Building Code, the Florida Fire Prevention Code, and the Life Safety Code. (4)(a) All entities authorized to enforce the Florida Building Code under s. 553.80 shall comply with applicable standards for issuance of mandatory certificates of occupancy, minimum types of inspections, and procedures for plans review and inspections as established by the commission by rule. Local governments may adopt amendments to the administrative provisions of the Florida Building Code, subject to the limitations in this subsection. Local amendments must be more stringent than the minimum standards described in this section and must be transmitted to the commission within 30 days after enactment. The local government shall make such amendments available to the general public in a usable format. The State Fire Marshal is responsible for establishing the standards and procedures required in this subsection for governmental entities with respect to applying the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code. (b) Local governments may, subject to the limitations in this section and not more than once every 6 months, adopt amendments to the technical provisions of the Florida Building Code that apply solely within the jurisdiction of such government and that provide for more stringent requirements than those specified in the Florida Building Code. A local government may adopt technical amendments that address local needs if: 1. The local governing body determines, following a public hearing which has been advertised in a newspaper of general circulation at least 10 days before the hearing, that there is a need to strengthen the requirements of the Florida Building Code. The determination must be based upon a review of local conditions by the local governing body, which review demonstrates by evidence or data that the geographical jurisdiction governed by the local governing body exhibits a local need to strengthen the Florida Building Code beyond the needs or regional variation addressed by the Florida Building Code, that the local need is addressed by the proposed local amendment, and that the amendment is no more stringent than necessary to address the local need. 2. Such additional requirements are not discriminatory against materials, products, or construction techniques of demonstrated capabilities. 3. Such additional requirements may not introduce a new subject not addressed in the Florida Building Code. (c) The enforcing agency shall make readily available, in a usable format, all amendments adopted under this section. (d) Any amendment to the Florida Building Code shall be transmitted within 30 days after adoption by the local government to the commission. The commission shall maintain copies of all such amendments in a format that is usable and obtainable by the public. Local technical amendments are not effective until 30 days after the amendment has been received and published by the commission. (e) An amendment to the Florida Building Code adopted by a local government under this subsection is effective only until the adoption of the new edition of the Florida Building Code by the commission every third year. At such time, the commission shall review such amendment for consistency with the criteria in paragraph (9)(a) and adopt such amendment as part of the Florida Building Code or rescind the amendment. The commission shall immediately notify the respective local government of the rescission of any amendment. After receiving such notice, the respective local government may readopt the rescinded amendment under the provisions of this subsection. (f) Each county and municipality desiring to make local technical amendments to the Florida Building Code shall establish by interlocal agreement a countywide compliance review board to review any amendment to the Florida Building Code that is adopted by a local government within the county under this subsection and that is challenged by a substantially affected party for purposes of determining the amendment’s compliance with this subsection. If challenged, the local technical amendments are not effective until the time for filing an appeal under paragraph (g) has expired or, if there is an appeal, until the commission issues its final order determining if the adopted amendment is in compliance with this subsection. (g) If the compliance review board determines such amendment is not in compliance with this subsection, the compliance review board shall notify such local government of the noncompliance and that the amendment is invalid and unenforceable until the local government corrects the amendment to bring it into compliance. The local government may appeal the decision of the compliance review board to the commission. If the compliance review board determines that such amendment is in compliance with this subsection, any substantially affected party may appeal such determination to the commission. Any such appeal must be filed with the commission within 14 days after the board’s written determination. The commission shall promptly refer the appeal to the Division of Administrative Hearings by electronic means through the division’s website for the assignment of an administrative law judge. The administrative law judge shall conduct the required hearing within 30 days after being assigned to the appeal, and shall enter a recommended order within 30 days after the conclusion of such hearing. The commission shall enter a final order within 30 days after an order is rendered. Chapter 120 and the uniform rules of procedure shall apply to such proceedings. The local government adopting the amendment that is subject to challenge has the burden of proving that the amendment complies with this subsection in proceedings before the compliance review board and the commission, as applicable. Actions of the commission are subject to judicial review under s. 120.68 . The compliance review board shall determine whether its decisions apply to a respective local jurisdiction or apply countywide. (h) An amendment adopted under this subsection must include a fiscal impact statement that documents the costs and benefits of the proposed amendment. Criteria for the fiscal impact statement shall include the impact to local government relative to enforcement and the impact to property and building owners and industry relative to the cost of compliance. The fiscal impact statement may not be used as a basis for challenging the amendment for compliance. (i) In addition to paragraphs (f) and (g), the commission may review any amendments adopted under this subsection and make nonbinding recommendations related to compliance of such amendments with this subsection. (j) Any amendment adopted by a local enforcing agency under this subsection may not apply to state or school district owned buildings, manufactured buildings or factory-built school buildings approved by the commission, or prototype buildings approved under s. 553.77 (3). The respective responsible entities shall consider the physical performance parameters substantiating such amendments when designing, specifying, and constructing such exempt buildings. (k) A technical amendment to the Florida Building Code related to water conservation practices or design criteria adopted by a local government under this subsection is not void when the code is updated if the technical amendment is necessary to protect or provide for more efficient use of water resources as provided in s. 373.621 . However, any such technical amendment carried forward into the next edition of the code under this paragraph is subject to review or modification as provided in this part. (l) If a local government adopts a regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision without using the process established in this subsection, and a substantially affected person considers such regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision to be a technical amendment to the Florida Building Code, then the substantially affected person may submit a petition to the commission for a nonbinding advisory opinion. If a substantially affected person submits a request in accordance with this paragraph, the commission shall issue a nonbinding advisory opinion stating whether or not the commission interprets the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision as a technical amendment to the Florida Building Code. As used in this paragraph, the term “local government” means a county, municipality, special district, or political subdivision of the state. 1. Requests to review a local government regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision may be initiated by any substantially affected person. A substantially affected person includes an owner or builder subject to the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision, or an association of owners or builders having members who are subject to the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision. 2. In order to initiate a review, a substantially affected person must file a petition with the commission. The commission shall adopt a form for the petition and directions for filing, which shall be published on the Building Code Information System. The form shall, at a minimum, require the following: a. The name of the local government that enacted the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision. b. The name and address of the local government’s general counsel or administrator. c. The name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner; the name, address, and telephone number of the petitioner’s representative, if any; and an explanation of how the petitioner’s substantial interests are being affected by the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision. d. A statement explaining why the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision is a technical amendment to the Florida Building Code, and which provisions of the Florida Building Code, if any, are being amended by the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision. 3. The petitioner shall serve the petition on the local government’s general counsel or administrator by certified mail, return receipt requested, and send a copy of the petition to the commission, in accordance with the commission’s published directions. The local government shall respond to the petition in accordance with the form by certified mail, return receipt requested, and send a copy of its response to the commission, within 14 days after receipt of the petition, including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. 4. Upon receipt of a petition that meets the requirements of this paragraph, the commission shall publish the petition, including any response submitted by the local government, on the Building Code Information System in a manner that allows interested persons to address the issues by posting comments. 5. Before issuing an advisory opinion, the commission shall consider the petition, the response, and any comments posted on the Building Code Information System. The commission may also provide the petition, the response, and any comments posted on the Building Code Information System to a technical advisory committee, and may consider any recommendation provided by the technical advisory committee. The commission shall issue an advisory opinion stating whether the regulation, law, ordinance, policy, amendment, or land use or zoning provision is a technical amendment to the Florida Building Code within 30 days after the filing of the petition, including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The commission shall publish its advisory opinion on the Building Code Information System and in the Florida Administrative Register. The commission’s advisory opinion is nonbinding and is not a declaratory statement under s. 120.565 . (5) Notwithstanding subsection (4), counties and municipalities may adopt by ordinance an administrative or technical amendment to the Florida Building Code relating to flood resistance in order to implement the National Flood Insurance Program or incentives. Specifically, an administrative amendment may assign the duty to enforce all or portions of flood-related code provisions to the appropriate agencies of the local government and adopt procedures for variances and exceptions from flood-related code provisions other than provisions for structures seaward of the coastal construction control line consistent with the requirements in 44 C.F.R. s. 60.6. A technical amendment is authorized to the extent it is more stringent than the code. A technical amendment is not subject to the requirements of subsection (4) and may not be rendered void when the code is updated if the amendment is adopted for the purpose of participating in the Community Rating System promulgated pursuant to 42 U.S.C. s. 4022, the amendment had already been adopted by local ordinance prior to July 1, 2010, or the amendment requires a design flood elevation above the base flood elevation. Any amendment adopted under this subsection shall be transmitted to the commission within 30 days after being adopted. A municipality, county, or special district may not use preliminary maps issued by the Federal Emergency Management Agency for any law, ordinance, rule, or other measure that has the effect of imposing land use changes or permits. (6) The initial adoption of, and any subsequent update or amendment to, the Florida Building Code by the commission is deemed adopted for use statewide without adoptions by local government. For a building permit for which an application is submitted prior to the effective date of the Florida Building Code, the state minimum building code in effect in the permitting jurisdiction on the date of the application governs the permitted work for the life of the permit and any extension granted to the permit. (7)(a) The commission shall adopt an updated Florida Building Code every 3 years through review of the most current updates of the International Building Code, the International Fuel Gas Code, the International Existing Building Code, the International Mechanical Code, the International Plumbing Code, and the International Residential Code, all of which are copyrighted and published by the International Code Council, and the National Electrical Code, which is copyrighted and published by the National Fire Protection Association. At a minimum, the commission shall adopt any updates to such codes or any other code necessary to maintain eligibility for federal funding and discounts from the National Flood Insurance Program, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development. The commission shall also review and adopt updates based on the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC); however, the commission shall maintain the efficiencies of the Florida Energy Efficiency Code for Building Construction adopted and amended pursuant to s. 553.901 . Every 3 years, the commission may approve updates to the Florida Building Code without a finding that the updates are needed in order to accommodate the specific needs of this state. The commission shall adopt updated codes by rule. (b) Codes regarding noise contour lines shall be reviewed annually, and the most current federal guidelines shall be adopted. (c) The commission may also adopt as a technical amendment to the Florida Building Code any portion of the codes identified in paragraph (a), but only as needed to accommodate the specific needs of this state. Standards or criteria adopted from these codes shall be incorporated by reference to the specific provisions adopted. If a referenced standard or criterion requires amplification or modification to be appropriate for use in this state, only the amplification or modification shall be set forth in the Florida Building Code. The commission may approve technical amendments to the updated Florida Building Code after the amendments have been subject to the conditions set forth in paragraphs (3)(a)-(d). Amendments that are adopted in accordance with this subsection shall be clearly marked in printed versions of the Florida Building Code so that the fact that the provisions are amendments is readily apparent. (d) The commission shall further consider the commission’s own interpretations, declaratory statements, appellate decisions, and approved statewide and local technical amendments and shall incorporate such interpretations, statements, decisions, and amendments into the updated Florida Building Code only to the extent that they are needed to accommodate the specific needs of the state. A change made by an institute or standards organization to any standard or criterion that is adopted by reference in the Florida Building Code does not become effective statewide until it has been adopted by the commission. Furthermore, the edition of the Florida Building Code which is in effect on the date of application for any permit authorized by the code governs the permitted work for the life of the permit and any extension granted to the permit. (e) A rule updating the Florida Building Code in accordance with this subsection shall take effect no sooner than 6 months after publication of the updated code. Any amendment to the Florida Building Code which is adopted upon a finding by the commission that the amendment is necessary to protect the public from immediate threat of harm takes effect immediately. If energy code compliance software is not approved by the commission at least 3 months before the effective date of the updated Florida Building Code, the commission may delay the effective date of the energy provisions of the Florida Building Code for up to 3 additional months. (f) Provisions of the Florida Building Code, including those contained in referenced standards and criteria, relating to wind resistance or the prevention of water intrusion may not be modified to diminish those construction requirements; however, the commission may, subject to conditions in this subsection, modify the provisions to enhance those construction requirements. (g) The commission shall modify the Florida Building Code to state that sealed drawings by a design professional are not required for the replacement of windows, doors, or garage doors in an existing one-family or two-family dwelling or townhouse if all of the following conditions are met: 1. The replacement windows, doors, or garage doors are installed in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions for the appropriate wind zone. 2. The replacement windows, doors, or garage doors meet the design pressure requirements in the most recent version of the Florida Building Code, Residential. 3. A copy of the manufacturer’s instructions is submitted with the permit application in a printed or digital format. 4. The replacement windows, doors, or garage doors are the same size and are installed in the same opening as the existing windows, doors, or garage doors. (8) Notwithstanding subsection (3) or subsection (7), the commission may address issues identified in this subsection by amending the code under the rule adoption procedures in chapter 120. Updates to the Florida Building Code, including provisions contained in referenced standards and criteria which relate to wind resistance or the prevention of water intrusion, may not be amended under this subsection to diminish those standards; however, the commission may amend the Florida Building Code to enhance such standards. Following the approval of any amendments to the Florida Building Code by the commission and publication of the amendments on the commission’s website, authorities having jurisdiction to enforce the Florida Building Code may enforce the amendments. (a) The commission may approve amendments that are needed to address: 1. Conflicts within the updated code; 2. Conflicts between the updated code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code adopted under chapter 633; 3. Unintended results from the integration of previously adopted amendments with the model code; 4. Equivalency of standards; 5. Changes to or inconsistencies with federal or state law; or 6. Adoption of an updated edition of the National Electrical Code if the commission finds that delay of implementing the updated edition causes undue hardship to stakeholders or otherwise threatens the public health, safety, and welfare. (b) The commission may issue errata to the code pursuant to the rule adoption procedures in chapter 120 to list demonstrated errors in provisions contained within the Florida Building Code. The determination of such errors and the issuance of errata to the code must be approved by a 75-percent supermajority vote of the commission. For purposes of this paragraph, “errata to the code” means a list of errors on current and previous editions of the Florida Building Code. (9)(a) The commission may approve technical amendments to the Florida Building Code once each year for statewide or regional application upon a finding that the amendment: 1. Is needed in order to accommodate the specific needs of this state. 2. Has a reasonable and substantial connection with the health, safety, and welfare of the general public. 3. Strengthens or improves the Florida Building Code, or in the case of innovation or new technology, will provide equivalent or better products or methods or systems of construction. 4. Does not discriminate against materials, products, methods, or systems of construction of demonstrated capabilities. 5. Does not degrade the effectiveness of the Florida Building Code. The Florida Building Commission may approve technical amendments to the code once each year to incorporate into the Florida Building Code its own interpretations of the code which are embodied in its opinions, final orders, declaratory statements, and interpretations of hearing officer panels under s. 553.775 (3)(c), but only to the extent that the incorporation of interpretations is needed to modify the code to accommodate the specific needs of this state. Amendments approved under this paragraph shall be adopted by rule after the amendments have been subjected to subsection (3). (b) A proposed amendment must include a fiscal impact statement that documents the costs and benefits of the proposed amendment. Criteria for the fiscal impact statement shall be established by rule by the commission and shall include the impact to local government relative to enforcement, the impact to property and building owners, and the impact to industry, relative to the cost of compliance. The amendment must demonstrate by evidence or data that the state’s geographical jurisdiction exhibits a need to strengthen the code beyond the needs or regional variations addressed by the code and why the proposed amendment applies to this state. (c) The commission may not approve any proposed amendment that does not accurately and completely address all requirements for amendment which are set forth in this section. The commission shall require all proposed amendments and information submitted with proposed amendments to be reviewed by commission staff prior to consideration by any technical advisory committee. These reviews shall be for sufficiency only and are not intended to be qualitative in nature. Staff members shall reject any proposed amendment that fails to include a fiscal impact statement. Proposed amendments rejected by members of the staff may not be considered by the commission or any technical advisory committee. (d) Provisions of the Florida Building Code, including those contained in referenced standards and criteria, relating to wind resistance or the prevention of water intrusion may not be amended pursuant to this subsection to diminish those construction requirements; however, the commission may, subject to conditions in this subsection, amend the provisions to enhance those construction requirements. (10) The following buildings, structures, and facilities are exempt from the Florida Building Code as provided by law, and any further exemptions shall be as determined by the Legislature and provided by law: (a) Buildings and structures specifically regulated and preempted by the Federal Government. (b) Railroads and ancillary facilities associated with the railroad. (c) Nonresidential farm buildings on farms. (d) Temporary buildings or sheds used exclusively for construction purposes. (e) Mobile or modular structures used as temporary offices, except that the provisions of part II relating to accessibility by persons with disabilities apply to such mobile or modular structures. (f) Those structures or facilities of electric utilities, as defined in s. 366.02 , which are directly involved in the generation, transmission, or distribution of electricity. (g) Temporary sets, assemblies, or structures used in commercial motion picture or television production, or any sound-recording equipment used in such production, on or off the premises. (h) Storage sheds that are not designed for human habitation and that have a floor area of 720 square feet or less are not required to comply with the mandatory wind-borne-debris-impact standards of the Florida Building Code. In addition, such buildings that are 400 square feet or less and that are intended for use in conjunction with one- and two-family residences are not subject to the door height and width requirements of the Florida Building Code. (i) Chickees constructed by the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida or the Seminole Tribe of Florida. As used in this paragraph, the term “chickee” means an open-sided wooden hut that has a thatched roof of palm or palmetto or other traditional materials, and that does not incorporate any electrical, plumbing, or other nonwood features. (j) Family mausoleums not exceeding 250 square feet in area which are prefabricated and assembled on site or preassembled and delivered on site and have walls, roofs, and a floor constructed of granite, marble, or reinforced concrete. (k) A building or structure having less than 1,000 square feet which is constructed and owned by a natural person for hunting and which is repaired or reconstructed to the same dimension and condition as existed on January 1, 2011, if the building or structure: 1. Is not rented or leased or used as a principal residence; 2. Is not located within the 100-year floodplain according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s current Flood Insurance Rate Map; and 3. Is not connected to an offsite electric power or water supply. (l) A drone port as defined in s. 330.41 (2). With the exception of paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (f), in order to preserve the health, safety, and welfare of the public, the Florida Building Commission may, by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 120, provide for exceptions to the broad categories of buildings exempted in this section, including exceptions for application of specific sections of the code or standards adopted therein. The Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services shall have exclusive authority to adopt by rule, pursuant to chapter 120, exceptions to nonresidential farm buildings exempted in paragraph (c) when reasonably necessary to preserve public health, safety, and welfare. The exceptions must be based upon specific criteria, such as under-roof floor area, aggregate electrical service capacity, HVAC system capacity, or other building requirements. Further, the commission may recommend to the Legislature additional categories of buildings, structures, or facilities which should be exempted from the Florida Building Code, to be provided by law. The Florida Building Code does not apply to temporary housing provided by the Department of Corrections to any prisoner in the state correctional system. (11)(a) In the event of a conflict between the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code as applied to a specific project, the conflict shall be resolved by agreement between the local building code enforcement official and the local fire code enforcement official in favor of the requirement of the code which offers the greatest degree of lifesafety or alternatives which would provide an equivalent degree of lifesafety and an equivalent method of construction. Local boards created to address issues arising under the Florida Building Code or the Florida Fire Prevention Code may combine the appeals boards to create a single, local board having jurisdiction over matters arising under either code or both codes. The combined local appeals board may grant alternatives or modifications through procedures outlined in NFPA 1, Section 1.4, but may not waive the requirements of the Florida Fire Prevention Code. To meet the quorum requirement for convening the combined local appeals board, at least one member of the board who is a fire protection contractor, a fire protection design professional, a fire department operations professional, or a fire code enforcement professional must be present. (b) Any decision made by the local fire official regarding application, interpretation, or enforcement of the Florida Fire Prevention Code or by the local building official regarding application, interpretation, or enforcement of the Florida Building Code, or the appropriate application of either code or both codes in the case of a conflict between the codes, may be appealed to a local administrative board designated by the municipality, county, or special district having firesafety responsibilities. If the decision of the local fire official and the local building official is to apply the provisions of either the Florida Building Code or the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code, the board may not alter the decision unless the board determines that the application of such code is not reasonable. If the decision of the local fire official and the local building official is to adopt an alternative to the codes, the local administrative board shall give due regard to the decision rendered by the local officials and may modify that decision if the administrative board adopts a better alternative, taking into consideration all relevant circumstances. In any case in which the local administrative board adopts alternatives to the decision rendered by the local fire official and the local building official, such alternatives shall provide an equivalent degree of lifesafety and an equivalent method of construction as the decision rendered by the local officials. (c) If the local building official and the local fire official are unable to agree on a resolution of the conflict between the Florida Building Code and the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Life Safety Code, the local administrative board shall resolve the conflict in favor of the code which offers the greatest degree of lifesafety or alternatives which would provide an equivalent degree of lifesafety and an equivalent method of construction. (d) All decisions of the local administrative board or, if none exists, the local building official and the local fire official in regard to the application, enforcement, or interpretation of the Florida Fire Prevention Code, or conflicts between the Florida Fire Prevention Code and the Florida Building Code, are subject to review by a joint committee composed of members of the Florida Building Commission and the Fire Code Advisory Council. If the joint committee is unable to resolve conflicts between the codes as applied to a specific project, the matter shall be resolved pursuant to paragraph (1)(d). Decisions of the local administrative board related solely to the Florida Building Code are subject to review as set forth in s. 553.775 . (e) The local administrative board shall, to the greatest extent possible, be composed of members with expertise in building construction and firesafety standards. (f) All decisions of the local building official and local fire official and all decisions of the administrative board shall be in writing and shall be binding upon a person but do not limit the authority of the State Fire Marshal or the Florida Building Commission pursuant to paragraph (1)(d) and ss. 633.104 and 633.228 . Decisions of general application shall be indexed by building and fire code sections and shall be available for inspection during normal business hours. (12) Except within coastal building zones as defined in s. 161.54 , specification standards developed by nationally recognized code promulgation organizations to determine compliance with engineering criteria of the Florida Building Code for wind load design shall not apply to one or two family dwellings which are two stories or less in height unless approved by the commission for use or unless expressly made subject to said standards and criteria by local ordinance adopted in accordance with the provisions of subsection (4). (13) The Florida Building Code does not apply to, and no code enforcement action shall be brought with respect to, zoning requirements, land use requirements, and owner specifications or programmatic requirements which do not pertain to and govern the design, construction, erection, alteration, modification, repair, or demolition of public or private buildings, structures, or facilities or to programmatic requirements that do not pertain to enforcement of the Florida Building Code. Additionally, a local code enforcement agency may not administer or enforce the Florida Building Code to prevent the siting of any publicly owned facility, including, but not limited to, correctional facilities, juvenile justice facilities, or state universities, community colleges, or public education facilities, as provided by law. (14) The general provisions of the Florida Building Code for buildings and other structures shall not apply to commercial wireless communication towers when such general provisions are inconsistent with the provisions of the code controlling radio and television towers. This subsection is intended to be remedial in nature and to clarify existing law. (15) An agency or local government may not require that existing mechanical equipment located on or above the surface of a roof be installed in compliance with the requirements of the Florida Building Code except during reroofing when the equipment is being replaced or moved and is not in compliance with the provisions of the Florida Building Code relating to roof-mounted mechanical units. (16) The Florida Building Code must require that the illumination in classroom units be designed to provide and maintain an average of 40 foot-candles of light at each desktop. Public educational facilities must consider using light-emitting diode lighting before considering other lighting sources. (17) A provision of the International Residential Code relating to mandated fire sprinklers may not be incorporated into the Florida Building Code as adopted by the Florida Building Commission and may not be adopted as a local amendment to the Florida Building Code. This subsection does not prohibit the application of cost-saving incentives for residential fire sprinklers that are authorized in the International Residential Code upon a mutual agreement between the builder and the code official. This subsection does not apply to a local government that has a lawfully adopted ordinance relating to fire sprinklers which has been in effect since January 1, 2010. (18) In a single-family dwelling, makeup air is not required for range hood exhaust systems capable of exhausting: (a) Four hundred cubic feet per minute or less; or (b) More than 400 cubic feet per minute but no more than 800 cubic feet per minute if there are no gravity vent appliances within the conditioned living space of the structure. (19) The Florida Building Code shall require two fire service access elevators in all buildings with a height greater than 120 feet measured from the elevation of street-level access to the level of the highest occupiable floor. All remaining elevators, if any, shall be provided with Phase I and II emergency operations. Where a fire service access elevator is required, a 1-hour fire-rated fire service access elevator lobby with direct access from the fire service access elevator is not required if the fire service access elevator opens into an exit access corridor that is no less than 6 feet wide for its entire length and is at least 150 square feet with the exception of door openings, and has a minimum 1-hour fire rating with three-quarter hour fire and smoke rated openings; and during a fire event the fire service access elevator is pressurized and floor-to-floor smoke control is provided. However, where transient residential occupancies occur at floor levels more than 420 feet above the level of fire service access, a 1-hour fire-rated service access elevator lobby with direct access from the fire service access elevator is required. Standpipes in high-rise buildings of Florida Building Code — Building Occupancy Group R1 or R2 must be located in stairwells and are subject only to the requirements of the Florida Fire Prevention Code and NFPA 14, Standard for the Installation of Standpipes and Hose Systems, adopted by the State Fire Marshal. (20) The Florida Building Commission may not: (a) Adopt the 2016 version of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Standard 9.4.1.1(g). (b) Adopt any provision that requires a door located in the opening between a garage and a single-family residence to be equipped with a self-closing device.

489.537 Application of this part. — (1) This part applies to any contractor performing work for the state or any county or municipality. (2)(a) The scope of electrical contracting shall apply to private and public property and shall include any excavation, paving, and other related work incidental thereto and shall include the work of all specialty electrical contractors. However, such electrical contractor shall subcontract the work of any other craft for which an examination for a certificate of competency or registration or a license is required, unless such contractor is certified or registered or holds a license for the respective trade category as required by the appropriate local authority. (b) A registered electrical contractor may bid on electrical contracts which include alarm systems contracting as a part of the contract, provided that the individual shall subcontract such alarm systems contracting, except raceway systems, to a properly certified or registered alarm system contractor. Registered electrical contractors may install raceways for alarm systems. However, if the registered electrical contractor is properly certified or registered as an alarm system contractor, the individual is not required to subcontract out the alarm system contracting. (3) Nothing in this act limits the power of a municipality or county: (a) To regulate the quality and character of work performed by contractors through a system of permits, fees, and inspections which is designed to secure compliance with, and aid in the implementation of, state and local building laws or to enforce other local laws for the protection of the public health and safety. However, a certified alarm system contractor or certified electrical contractor is not subject to any additional certification or licensure requirements that are not required by this part. (b) To collect fees for business tax receipts and inspections for engaging in contracting or examination fees from persons who are registered with the local boards pursuant to local examination requirements. (c) To adopt any system of permits requiring submission to and approval by the municipality or county of plans and specifications for work to be performed by contractors before commencement of the work. (d) To require one bond for each electrical contractor in an amount not to exceed $5,000, which bond shall be conditioned only upon compliance with the Florida Building Code adopted pursuant to s. 553.73 . Any such bond must be equally available to all electrical contractors without regard to the period of time an electrical contractor has been certified or registered and without regard to any financial responsibility requirements. Any such bonds shall be payable to the Governor and filed in each county or municipality in which a building permit is requested. Bond reciprocity shall be granted statewide. All such bonds shall be included in meeting any financial responsibility requirements imposed by any statute or rule. (e)1. To refuse to issue permits or issue permits with specific conditions to a contractor who has committed multiple violations, when he or she has been disciplined for each of them by the board and when each disciplinary action has involved revocation or suspension of a license, imposition of an administrative fine of at least $1,000, or probation. 2. To issue permits with specific conditions to a contractor who, within the previous 12 months, has had final action taken against him or her, by the department or by a local board or agency which licenses contractors and has reported the action pursuant to paragraph (5)(c), for engaging in the business or acting in the capacity of a contractor without a license. (f) To require that one electrical journeyman, who is a graduate of the Institute of Applied Technology in Construction Excellence or licensed pursuant to s. 489.5335 , be present on an industrial or commercial new construction site with a facility of 50,000 gross square feet or more when electrical work in excess of 77 volts is being performed in order to supervise or perform such work, except as provided in s. 489.503 . (4) Any official authorized to issue building or other related permits shall ascertain that the applicant contractor is certified or registered and duly qualified according to any local requirements in the area where the construction is to take place before issuing the permit. The evidence shall consist only of the exhibition to him or her of current evidence of proper certification or registration and local qualification. (5)(a) Municipalities or counties may continue to provide examinations for their territorial area, provided that no examination is given the holder of a certificate. (b) To engage in contracting in the territorial area, an applicant shall also be registered with the board. (c) Each local board or agency which licenses contractors shall transmit monthly to the board a report of any disciplinary action taken against contractors and any administrative or disciplinary action taken against unlicensed persons for engaging in the business or acting in the capacity of a contractor, including any cease and desist order issued pursuant to s. 489.516 (2)(b). (6) The right to create local boards in the future by any municipality or county is preserved. (7) The scope of work of a certified unlimited electrical contractor includes the work of a certified alarm system contractor as provided in this part. (8) Persons licensed under this part are subject to ss. 205.0535 (1) and 205.065 , as applicable. (9) A registered electrical contractor, an alarm system contractor II certificateholder, and a registered alarm system contractor II shall be allowed to install residential smoke detectors or residential heat detectors.

489.5335 Journeyman; reciprocity; standards. — (1) Counties and municipalities are authorized to issue journeyman licenses in the electrical and alarm system trades to an individual who: (a) Has scored at least 70 percent, or after October 1, 1997, at least 75 percent, on a proctored journeyman Block and Associates examination or other proctored examination approved by the board for the trade in which he or she is licensed; (b) Has completed a registered and state-approved apprenticeship program as defined in s. 446.021 (6) or has at least 12,000 hours of on-the-job training in his or her specific trade; and (c) Has satisfactorily completed specialized and advanced module coursework approved by the Florida Building Commission, as part of the building code training program established in s. 553.841 , specific to the discipline or, pursuant to authorization by the certifying authority, provides proof of completion of such curriculum or coursework within 6 months after such certification. (2) Counties and municipalities must recognize a person as a journeyman in the electrical and alarm system trades if the person was issued a journeyman license in such trade by a county or municipality in the state.

489.533 Disciplinary proceedings. — (1) The following acts shall constitute grounds for disciplinary actions as provided in subsection (2): (a) Failure to comply with any provision of chapter 455. (b) Attempting to procure a certificate or registration to practice electrical or alarm system contracting by bribery or fraudulent or willful misrepresentations. (c) Having a certificate or registration to practice contracting revoked, suspended, or otherwise acted against, including the denial of licensure, by the licensing authority of another state, territory, or country. (d) Being convicted or found guilty of, or entering a plea of nolo contendere to, regardless of adjudication, a crime in any jurisdiction which directly relates to the practice of electrical or alarm system contracting or the ability to practice electrical or alarm system contracting. (e) Making or filing a report or record which the certificateholder or registrant knows to be false, willfully failing to file a report or record required by state or federal law, willfully impeding or obstructing such filing, or inducing another person to impede or obstruct such filing. Such reports or records shall include only those which are signed in the capacity of a certified electrical or alarm system contractor. (f) Committing fraud or deceit, or negligence, incompetency, or misconduct in the practice of electrical or alarm system contracting. (g) Violating chapter 633 or the rules of the State Fire Marshal. (h) Practicing on a revoked, suspended, inactive, or delinquent certificate or registration. (i) Violating the applicable building codes or laws of the state or any municipality or county thereof. (j) Performing any act which assists a person or entity in engaging in the prohibited uncertified and unregistered practice of contracting, if the certificateholder or registrant knows or has reasonable grounds to know that the person or entity was uncertified and unregistered. (k) Knowingly combining or conspiring with any person by allowing one’s certificate to be used by any uncertified person with intent to evade the provisions of this part. When a certificateholder allows his or her certificate to be used by one or more companies without having any active participation in the operations or management of said companies, such act constitutes prima facie evidence of an intent to evade the provisions of this part. (l) Acting in the capacity of a contractor under any certificate or registration issued hereunder except in the name of the certificateholder or registrant as set forth on the issued certificate or registration or in accordance with the personnel of the certificateholder or registrant as set forth in the application for the certificate or registration or as later changed as provided in this part. (m) Committing financial mismanagement or misconduct in the practice of contracting that causes financial harm to a customer. Financial mismanagement or misconduct occurs if: 1. A valid lien has been recorded against the property of a contractor’s customer for supplies or services ordered by the contractor for the customer’s job, the contractor has received funds from the customer to pay for the supplies or services, and the contractor has not had the lien removed from the property, by payment or by bond, within 75 days after the date of the lien; 2. A contractor has abandoned a customer’s job and the percentage of completion is less than the percentage of the total contract price that had been paid to the contractor as of the time of abandonment, unless the contractor is entitled to retain the excess funds under the terms of the contract or refunds the excess funds within 30 days after the date of abandonment; 3. The contractor’s job has been completed and it is shown that the customer has had to pay more for the contracted job than the original contract price, as adjusted for subsequent change orders, unless such increase in cost was the result of circumstances beyond the control of the contractor, was the result of circumstances caused by the customer, or was otherwise permitted by the terms of the contract between the contractor and the customer; or 4. The contractor fails, within 18 months, to pay or comply with a repayment schedule of a judgment obtained against the contractor or a business qualified by the contractor and relating to the practice of contracting. (n) Being disciplined by any municipality or county for an act that is a violation of this section. (o) Failing in any material respect to comply with the provisions of this part and the rules adopted pursuant thereto. (p) Abandoning a project which the contractor is engaged in or is under contractual obligation to perform. A project is to be considered abandoned after 90 days if the contractor terminates the project without just cause or without proper notification to the prospective owner, including the reason for termination, or fails to perform work without just cause for 90 consecutive days. (q) Failing to affix a registration or certification number as required by s. 489.521 (7). (r) Proceeding on any job without obtaining applicable local building department permits and inspections. (s) Practicing beyond the scope of a certification or registration. For the purposes of this subsection, construction is considered to be commenced when the contract is executed and the contractor has accepted funds from the customer or lender. (2) When the board finds any applicant, contractor, or business organization for which the contractor is a primary qualifying agent or secondary qualifying agent responsible under s. 489.522 guilty of any of the grounds set forth in subsection (1), it may enter an order imposing one or more of the following penalties: (a) Denial of an application for certification or registration. (b) Revocation or suspension of a certificate or registration. (c) Imposition of an administrative fine not to exceed $10,000 for each count or separate offense. (d) Issuance of a reprimand. (e) Placement of the contractor on probation for a period of time and subject to such conditions as the board may specify, including requiring the contractor to attend continuing education courses or to work under the supervision of another contractor. (f) Restriction of the authorized scope of practice by the contractor. (g) Require financial restitution to a consumer. (3) In recommending penalties in any proposed recommended final order, the department shall follow the penalty guidelines established by the board by rule. The department shall advise the administrative law judge of the appropriate penalty, including mitigating and aggravating circumstances, and the specific rule citation. (4) The board may not reinstate the certificate or registration of, or cause a certificate or registration to be issued to, a person who the board has determined unqualified until it is satisfied that such person has complied with all the terms and conditions set forth in the final order and is capable of competently engaging in the business of contracting. (5) When the board imposes administrative fines pursuant to subsection (2) resulting from violation of chapter 633 or violation of the rules of the State Fire Marshal, 50 percent of the fine shall be paid into the Insurance Regulatory Trust Fund to help defray the costs of investigating the violations and obtaining the corrective action. The State Fire Marshal may participate at its discretion, but not as a party, in any proceedings before the board relating to violation of chapter 633 or the rules of the State Fire Marshal, in order to make recommendations as to the appropriate penalty in such case. However, the State Fire Marshal shall not have standing to bring disciplinary proceedings regarding certification. (6) The board may restrain any violation of this part by action in a court of competent jurisdiction. (7)(a) The department may, by rule, provide for a mediation process for the complainant and the licensee. Notwithstanding the provisions of chapters 120 and 455, upon receipt of a legally sufficient consumer complaint alleging a violation of this part, both the licensee and the complainant may consent in writing to mediation within 15 days following notification of this process by the department. The department may suspend all action in the matter for 45 days when notice of consent to mediation is received by the department. If the mediation process is successfully concluded within the 60-day period, the department may close the case file with a notation of the disposition and the licensee’s record shall reflect only that a complaint was filed and resolved through mediation. If mediation is rejected by either the complainant or licensee, or should said parties fail to reach a mediated solution within the 60-day period, the department shall process the complaint in the manner required by chapters 120 and 455. The mediator shall provide a written report to the department of the mediation results within 10 days of the conclusion of the mediation process as provided by rule. (b) No licensee may avail himself or herself of the mediation process more than three times without the approval of the board. The board may consider the subject and the dates of the earlier complaints in rendering its decision. The board’s decision shall not be considered a final agency action and is not appealable. (c) The licensee shall bear all costs of mediation. (d) Mediation shall be conducted according to rules of practice and procedure for circuit court as adopted by the Supreme Court. The mediator shall be a certified circuit court mediator. (e) The department, in conjunction with the board, shall determine by rule the types of cases which may be included in the mediation process. The department may initiate or continue disciplinary action, pursuant to chapter 455 and this chapter against the licensee as determined by rule.

489.531 Prohibitions; penalties. — (1) A person may not: (a) Practice contracting unless the person is certified or registered; (b) Use the name or title “electrical contractor” or “alarm system contractor” or words to that effect, or advertise himself or herself or a business organization as available to practice electrical or alarm system contracting, when the person is not then the holder of a valid certification or registration issued pursuant to this part; (c) Present as his or her own the certificate or registration of another; (d) Use or attempt to use a certificate or registration that has been suspended, revoked, or placed on inactive or delinquent status; (e) Employ persons who are not certified or registered to practice contracting; (f) Knowingly give false or forged evidence to the department, the board, or a member thereof; (g) Operate a business organization engaged in contracting after 60 days following the termination of its only qualifying agent without designating another primary qualifying agent; (h) Conceal information relative to violations of this part; (i) Commence or perform work for which a building permit is required pursuant to part IV of chapter 553 without the building permit being in effect; or (j) Willfully or deliberately disregard or violate any municipal or county ordinance relating to uncertified or unregistered contractors. (2) Any person who violates any provision of subsection (1) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 . (3)(a) Any unlicensed person who violates any of the provisions of subsection (1) commits a misdemeanor of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 . (b) Any unlicensed person who commits a violation of subsection (1) after having been previously found guilty of such violation commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 . (c) Any unlicensed person who commits a violation of subsection (1) during the existence of a state of emergency declared by executive order of the Governor commits a felony of the third degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 . The remedies set forth in this subsection are not exclusive and may be imposed in addition to the remedies set forth in s. 489.533 (2). (4) Each county or municipality may, at its option, designate one or more of its code enforcement officers, as defined in chapter 162, to enforce, as set out in this subsection, the provisions of subsection (1) against persons who engage in activity for which county or municipal certification is required. (a) A code enforcement officer designated pursuant to this subsection may issue a citation for any violation of subsection (1) whenever, based upon personal investigation, the code enforcement officer has reasonable and probable grounds to believe that such a violation has occurred. (b) A citation issued by a code enforcement officer shall be in a form prescribed by the local governing body of the county or municipality and shall state: 1. The time and date of issuance. 2. The name and address of the person to whom the citation is issued. 3. The time and date of the violation. 4. A brief description of the violation and the facts constituting reasonable cause. 5. The name of the code enforcement officer. 6. The procedure for the person to follow in order to pay the civil penalty or to contest the citation. 7. The applicable civil penalty if the person elects not to contest the citation. (c) The local governing body of the county or municipality may enforce codes and ordinances against unlicensed contractors under the provisions of this section and may enact an ordinance establishing procedures for implementing this section, including a schedule of penalties to be assessed by the code enforcement officers. The maximum civil penalty which may be levied may not exceed $2,000. Moneys collected pursuant to this section shall be retained locally as provided for by local ordinance and may be set aside in a specific fund to support future enforcement activities against unlicensed contractors. (d) The act for which the citation is issued shall be ceased upon receipt of the citation; and the person charged with the violation shall elect either to correct the violation and pay the civil penalty in the manner indicated on the citation or, within 10 days of receipt of the citation, exclusive of weekends and legal holidays, request an administrative hearing before the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate to appeal the issuance of the citation by the code enforcement officer. 1. Hearings shall be held before an enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate as established by s. 162.03 (2), and such hearings shall be conducted pursuant to ss. 162.07 and 162.08 . 2. Failure of a violator to appeal the decision of the code enforcement officer within the time period set forth in this paragraph shall constitute a waiver of the violator’s right to an administrative hearing. A waiver of the right to administrative hearing shall be deemed an admission of the violation and, penalties may be imposed accordingly. 3. If the person issued the citation, or his or her designated representative, shows that the citation is invalid or that the violation has been corrected prior to appearing before the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate, the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate shall dismiss the citation unless the violation is irreparable or irreversible. 4. Each day a willful, knowing violation continues shall constitute a separate offense under the provisions of this subsection. (e) A person cited for a violation pursuant to this subsection is deemed to be charged with a noncriminal infraction. (f) If the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate finds that a violation exists, the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate may order the violator to pay a civil penalty of not less than the amount set forth on the citation but not more than $2,500 per day for each violation. In determining the amount of the penalty, the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate shall consider the following factors: 1. The gravity of the violation. 2. Any actions taken by the violator to correct the violation. 3. Any previous violations committed by the violator. (g) Upon written notification by the code enforcement officer that a violator had not contested the citation or paid the civil penalty within the timeframe allowed on the citation, or if a violation has not been corrected within the timeframe set forth on the notice of violation, the enforcement or licensing board or the designated special magistrate shall enter an order ordering the violator to pay the civil penalty set forth on the citation or notice of violation, and a hearing shall not be necessary for the issuance of such order. (h) A certified copy of an order imposing a civil penalty against an uncertified contractor may be recorded in the public records and thereafter shall constitute a lien against any real or personal property owned by the violator. Upon petition to the circuit court, such order may be enforced in the same manner as a court judgment by the sheriffs of this state, including a levy against personal property; however, such order shall not be deemed to be a court judgment except for enforcement purposes. A civil penalty imposed pursuant to this part shall continue to accrue until the violator comes into compliance or until judgment is rendered in a suit to foreclose on a lien filed pursuant to this section, whichever occurs first. After 3 months from the filing of any such lien which remains unpaid, the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate may authorize the local governing body’s attorney to foreclose on the lien. No lien created pursuant to the provisions of this part may be foreclosed on real property which is a homestead under s. 4, Art. X of the State Constitution. (i) This subsection does not authorize or permit a code enforcement officer to perform any function or duty of a law enforcement officer other than a function or duty that is authorized in this subsection. (j) An aggrieved party, including the local governing body, may appeal a final administrative order of an enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate to the circuit court. Such an appeal shall not be a hearing de novo but shall be limited to appellate review of the record created before the enforcement or licensing board or designated special magistrate. An appeal shall be filed within 30 days of the execution of the order to be appealed. (k) All notices required by this subsection shall be provided to the alleged violator by certified mail, return receipt requested; by hand delivery by the sheriff or other law enforcement officer or code enforcement officer; by leaving the notice at the violator’s usual place of residence with some person of his or her family above 15 years of age and informing such person of the contents of the notice; or by including a hearing date within the citation. (l) For those counties which enact ordinances to implement this subsection and which have local construction licensing boards or local government code enforcement boards, the local construction licensing board or local government code enforcement board shall be responsible for the administration of such citation program and training of code enforcement officers. The local governing body of the county shall enter into interlocal agreements with any municipalities in the county so that such municipalities may by ordinance, resolution, policy, or administrative order, authorize individuals to enforce the provisions of this section. Such individuals shall be subject to the requirements of training as specified by the local construction licensing board. (m) Any person who willfully refuses to sign and accept a citation issued by a code enforcement officer commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 . (n) Nothing contained in this section shall prohibit a county or municipality from enforcing its codes or ordinances by any other means. (o) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to authorize local jurisdictions to exercise disciplinary authority or procedures established in this subsection against an individual holding a proper valid certificate issued pursuant to this part. (5) Local building departments may collect outstanding fines against registered or certified contractors issued by the Electrical Contractors’ Licensing Board and may retain 25 percent of the fines they are able to collect, provided that they transmit 75 percent of the fines they are able to collect to the department according to a procedure to be determined by the department. (6)(a) The local governing body of a county or municipality, or its local enforcement body, is authorized to enforce the provisions of this part as well as its local ordinances against registered contractors, as appropriate. The local jurisdiction enforcement body may conduct disciplinary proceedings against a registered contractor and may require restitution or impose a suspension or revocation of the local license or a fine not to exceed $5,000, or a combination thereof, against the registered contractor, according to ordinances which a local jurisdiction may enact. In addition, the local jurisdiction may assess reasonable investigative and legal costs for the prosecution of the violation against the registered contractor, according to such ordinances as the local jurisdiction may enact. (b) In addition to any action the local jurisdiction enforcement body may take against the individual’s local license, and any fine the local jurisdiction may impose, the local jurisdiction enforcement body shall issue a recommended penalty for board action. This recommended penalty may include a recommendation for no further action or a recommendation for suspension, revocation, or restriction of the registration or imposition of a fine to be levied by the board, or a combination thereof. The local jurisdiction enforcement body shall inform the disciplined registered contractor and the complainant of the local penalty imposed, the board penalty recommended, the rights to appeal, and the consequences should the registered contractor decide not to appeal. The local jurisdiction enforcement body shall, upon having reached adjudication or having accepted a plea of nolo contendere, immediately inform the board of its action and the recommended board penalty. (c) The department, the disciplined registered contractor, or the complainant may challenge the local jurisdiction enforcement body’s recommended penalty for board action to the Electrical Contractors’ Licensing Board. A challenge shall be filed within 60 days after the issuance of the recommended penalty to the board. If challenged, there is a presumptive finding of probable cause and the case may proceed without the need for a probable cause hearing. (d) Failure of the department, the disciplined registered contractor, or the complainant to challenge the local jurisdiction’s recommended penalty within the time period set forth in this subsection shall constitute a waiver of the right to a hearing before the board. A waiver of the right to a hearing before the board shall be deemed an admission of the violation, and the penalty recommended shall become a final order according to procedures developed by board rule without further board action. The disciplined registered contractor may appeal this board action to the district court. (e) The department may investigate any complaint which is made with the department. However, if the department determines that the complaint against a registered contractor is for an action which a local jurisdiction enforcement body has investigated and reached adjudication or accepted a plea of nolo contendere, including a recommended penalty to the board, the department shall not initiate prosecution for that action, unless the secretary has initiated summary procedures pursuant to s. 455.225 (8). (f) Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to allow local jurisdictions to exercise disciplinary authority over certified contractors. (7) The right to create local boards in the future by any municipality or county is preserved. (8) The department may issue a stop-work order for all unlicensed work on a project upon finding probable cause to believe that electrical or alarm system work which requires certification or registration is being performed without a current, valid certificate or registration. Stop-work orders may be enforced using the procedure and remedies set forth in s. 455.228 .

489.521 Business organizations; qualifying agents. — (1) If an individual proposes to engage in contracting as a sole proprietorship, certification shall be issued in the name of that individual. If a fictitious name is used, the applicant shall furnish evidence of statutory compliance. (2)(a)1. If the applicant proposing to engage in contracting is a partnership, corporation, business trust, or other legal entity, other than a sole proprietorship, the application shall state the name of the partnership and its partners; the name of the corporation and its officers and directors and the name of each of its stockholders who is also an officer or director; the name of the business trust and its trustees; or the name of such other legal entity and its members. In addition, the applicant shall furnish evidence of statutory compliance if a fictitious name is used. A joint venture, including a joint venture composed of qualified business organizations, is itself a separate and distinct organization that shall be qualified in accordance with board rules. The registration or certification, when issued upon application of a business organization, shall be in the name of the qualifying agent, and the name of the business organization shall be noted thereon. If there is a change in any information that is required to be stated on the application, the business organization shall, within 45 days after such change occurs, mail the correct information to the department. 2. Any person certified or registered pursuant to this part who has had his or her license revoked shall not be eligible for a 5-year period to be a partner, officer, director, or trustee of a business organization as defined by this section. Such person shall also be ineligible to reapply for certification or registration under this part for a period of 5 years. (b) The applicant shall also show that the proposed qualifying agent is legally qualified to act for the business organization in all matters connected with its electrical or alarm system contracting business and concerning regulations by the board and that he or she has authority to supervise electrical or alarm system contracting undertaken by the business organization. (c) The proposed qualifying agent shall demonstrate that he or she possesses the required skill, knowledge, and experience to qualify the business organization in the following manner: 1. Having met the qualifications provided in s. 489.511 and been issued a certificate of competency pursuant to the provisions of s. 489.511 ; or 2. Having demonstrated that he or she possesses the required experience and education requirements provided in s. 489.511 which would qualify him or her as eligible to take the certification examination. (3)(a) The applicant shall furnish evidence of financial responsibility, credit, and business reputation of the business organization, as well as the name of the qualifying agent. The board shall adopt rules defining financial responsibility based upon the business organization’s credit history, ability to be bonded, and any history of bankruptcy or assignment of receivers. Such rules shall specify the financial responsibility grounds on which the board may determine that a business organization is not qualified to engage in contracting. (b) In the event a qualifying agent must take the certification examination, the board shall, within 60 days from the date of the examination, inform the business organization in writing whether or not its qualifying agent has qualified. (c) If the qualifying agent of a business organization applying to engage in contracting, after having been notified to do so, does not appear for examination within 1 year from the date of filing of the application, the examination fee paid by it shall be credited as an earned fee to the department. A new application to engage in contracting shall be accompanied by another application fee fixed pursuant to this act. Forfeiture of a fee may be waived by the board for good cause. (d) Once the board has determined that the business organization’s proposed qualifying agent has qualified, the business organization shall be authorized to engage in the contracting business. The certificate, when issued, shall be in the name of the qualifying agent, and the name of the business organization shall be noted thereon. (4) As a prerequisite to the initial issuance of a certificate, the applicant or the business organization he or she qualifies shall submit evidence that he or she or the business organization has obtained public liability and property damage insurance for the safety and welfare of the public in an amount to be determined by board rule. (5) At least one officer or supervising employee of the business organization must be qualified under this act in order for the business organization to be qualified to engage in contracting in the category of the business conducted. If any individual so qualified on behalf of the business organization ceases to qualify the business organization, he or she shall notify the board and the department thereof within 30 days after such occurrence. In addition, if the individual is the only individual who qualifies the business organization, the business organization shall notify the board and the department of the individual’s termination, and it shall have a period of 60 days from the termination of the individual to qualify another person under the provision of this act, failing which, the board shall determine that the business organization is no longer qualified to engage in contracting. The individual shall also inform the board in writing when he or she proposes to engage in contracting in his or her own name or in affiliation with another business organization, and the individual, or such new business organization, shall supply the same information to the board as required for applicants under this act. After an investigation of the financial responsibility, credit, and business reputation of the individual or the new business organization and upon a favorable determination, the board shall certify the business organization as qualified, and the department shall issue, without examination, a new certificate in the individual’s name, which shall include the name of the new business organization, as provided in this section. (6) When a business organization qualified to engage in contracting makes application for a business tax receipt in any municipality or county of this state, the application shall be made with the tax collector in the name of the business organization, and the business tax receipt, when issued, shall be issued to the business organization upon payment of the appropriate licensing fee and exhibition to the tax collector of a valid certificate issued by the department. (7)(a) Each registered or certified contractor shall affix the number of his or her registration or certification to each application for a building permit and to each building permit issued and recorded. Each city or county building department shall require, as a precondition for the issuance of a building permit, that the contractor applying for the permit provide verification giving the number of his or her registration or certification under this part. (b) The registration or certification number of a contractor shall be stated in each offer of services, business proposal, or advertisement, regardless of medium, used by that contractor. For the purposes of this part, the term “advertisement” does not include business stationery or any promotional novelties such as balloons, pencils, trinkets, or articles of clothing. This paragraph does not apply to a newspaper, magazine, flyer, billboard, phone book, Internet, or broadcast advertisement for alarm system contracting as long as the contractor maintains an Internet website that contains the contractor’s registration or certification number and the advertisement directs consumers to the contractor’s Internet website. (c) The board shall assess a fine of not less than $100 or issue a citation to any contractor who fails to include that contractor’s certification or registration number when submitting an advertisement for publication, broadcast, or printing. In addition, any person who claims in any advertisement to be a certified or registered contractor, but who does not hold a valid state certification or registration, commits a misdemeanor of the second degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082 or s. 775.083 . (8) Each qualifying agent shall pay the department an amount equal to the original fee for certification or registration to qualify any additional business organizations. If the qualifying agent for a business organization desires to qualify additional business organizations, the board shall require him or her to present evidence of supervisory ability and financial responsibility of each such organization. Allowing a licensee to qualify more than one business organization shall be conditioned upon the licensee showing that the licensee has both the capacity and intent to adequately supervise each business organization in accordance with s. 489.522 (1). The board shall not limit the number of business organizations which the licensee may qualify except upon the licensee’s failing to provide such information as is required under this subsection or upon a finding that such information or evidence as is supplied is incomplete or unpersuasive in showing the licensee’s capacity and intent to comply with the requirements of this subsection. A qualification for an additional business organization may be revoked or suspended upon a finding by the board that the licensee has failed in the licensee’s responsibility to adequately supervise the operations of that business organization in accordance with s. 489.522 (1). Failure of the responsibility to adequately supervise the operations of a business organization in accordance with s. 489.522 (1) shall be grounds for denial to qualify additional business organizations. (9) If a business organization or any of its partners, officers, directors, trustees, or members is disciplined for violating s. 489.533 (1), the board may, on that basis alone, deny issuance of a certificate or registration to a qualifying agent on behalf of that business organization. (10)(a) A business organization proposing to engage in contracting is not required to apply for or obtain authorization under this part to engage in contracting if: 1. The business organization employs one or more registered or certified contractors licensed in accordance with this part who are responsible for obtaining permits and supervising all of the business organization’s contracting activities; 2. The business organization engages only in contracting on property owned by the business organization or by its parent, subsidiary, or affiliated entities; and 3. The business organization, or its parent entity if the business organization is a wholly owned subsidiary, maintains a minimum net worth of $20 million. (b) Any business organization engaging in contracting under this subsection shall provide the board with the name and license number of each registered or certified contractor employed by the business organization to supervise its contracting activities. The business organization is not required to post a bond or otherwise evidence any financial or credit information except as necessary to demonstrate compliance with paragraph (a). (c) A registered or certified contractor employed by a business organization to supervise its contracting activities under this subsection shall not be required to post a bond or otherwise evidence any personal financial or credit information so long as the individual performs contracting activities exclusively on behalf of a business organization meeting all of the requirements of paragraph (a).

489.520 Automated licensure status information system. — By January 1, 1995, the department shall implement an automated licensure status information system for electrical and alarm system contracting. The system shall provide instant notification to local building departments and other interested parties, as determined by the board or department, regarding the status of the certification or registration of any contractor certified or registered pursuant to the provisions of this part. The provision of such information shall consist, at a minimum, of an indication of whether the certification or registration of the contractor applying for a permit is active, of any current failure of the contractor to make restitution according to the terms of any final action by the board, of any ongoing disciplinary cases against the contractor that are subject to public disclosure, and whether there are any outstanding fines against the contractor.

489.517 Renewal of certificate or registration; continuing education. — (1) The department shall renew a certificate or registration upon receipt of the renewal application and fee and proof of meeting all continuing education requirements. (2) The department shall adopt rules establishing a procedure for the biennial renewal of certificates and registrations. (3)(a) Each certificateholder or registrant licensed as a specialty contractor or an alarm system contractor shall provide proof, in a form established by rule of the board, that the certificateholder or registrant has completed at least 7 classroom hours of at least 50 minutes each of continuing education courses during each biennium since the issuance or renewal of the certificate or registration. The board shall by rule establish criteria for the approval of continuing education courses and providers and may by rule establish criteria for accepting alternative nonclassroom continuing education on an hour-for-hour basis. (b) Each certificateholder or registrant licensed as an electrical contractor shall provide proof, in a form established by rule of the board, that the certificateholder or registrant has completed at least 11 classroom hours of at least 50 minutes each of continuing education courses during each biennium since the issuance or renewal of the certificate or registration. The board shall by rule establish criteria for the approval of continuing education courses and providers and may by rule establish criteria for accepting alternative nonclassroom continuing education on an hour-for-hour basis. (4)(a) If a certificateholder or registrant holds a license under both this part and part I and is required to have continuing education courses under s. 489.115 (4)(b)1., the certificateholder or registrant may apply those course hours for workers’ compensation, workplace safety, and business practices obtained under part I to the requirements under this part. (b)1. For licensed specialty contractors or alarm system contractors, of the 7 classroom hours of continuing education required, at least 1 hour must be on technical subjects, 1 hour on workers’ compensation, 1 hour on workplace safety, 1 hour on business practices, and 2 hours on false alarm prevention. 2. For licensed electrical contractors, of the minimum 11 classroom hours of continuing education required, at least 7 hours must be on technical subjects, 1 hour on workers’ compensation, 1 hour on workplace safety, and 1 hour on business practices. Electrical contractors engaged in alarm system contracting must also complete 2 hours on false alarm prevention. (5) By applying for renewal, each certificateholder or registrant certifies that he or she has continually maintained the required amounts of public liability and property damage insurance as specified by board rule. The board shall establish by rule a procedure to verify the public liability and property damage insurance for a specified period, based upon a random sampling method. (6) The board shall require, by rule adopted pursuant to ss. 120.536 (1) and 120.54 , a specialized number of hours in specialized or advanced module courses, approved by the Florida Building Commission, on any portion of the Florida Building Code, adopted pursuant to part IV of chapter 553, relating to the contractor’s respective discipline.

489.516 Qualifications to practice; restrictions; prerequisites. — (1) Any person who desires to engage in electrical or alarm system contracting on a statewide basis shall, as a prerequisite thereto, establish his or her competency and qualifications to be certified pursuant to this part. To establish competency, a person shall pass the appropriate examination administered by the department. Any person who desires to engage in contracting on other than a statewide basis shall, as a prerequisite thereto, be registered pursuant to this part, unless exempted by this part. (2) No person who is not certified or registered shall engage in the business of contracting in this state. To enforce this subsection: (a) The department shall issue a cease and desist order to prohibit any person from engaging in the business of contracting who does not hold the required certification or registration for the work being performed under this part. For the purpose of enforcing a cease and desist order, the department may file a proceeding in the name of the state seeking issuance of an injunction or a writ of mandamus against any person who violates any provision of such order. (b) A county or municipality may issue a cease and desist order to prohibit any person from engaging in the business of contracting who does not hold the required certification or registration for the work being performed under this part. (3) When a certificateholder desires to engage in contracting in any area of the state, as a prerequisite therefor, he or she shall only be required to exhibit to the local building official, tax collector, or other authorized person in charge of the issuance of licenses and building or electrical permits in the area evidence of holding a current certificate and a current business tax receipt issued by the jurisdiction in which the certificateholder’s principal place of business is located and having paid the fee for the permit required of other persons. However, a local construction regulation board may deny the issuance of an electrical permit to a certified contractor, or issue a permit with specific conditions, if the local construction regulation board has found such contractor, through the public hearing process, to be guilty of fraud or a willful building code violation within the county or municipality that the local construction regulation board represents, or if the local construction regulation board has proof that such contractor, through the public hearing process, has been found guilty, in another county or municipality within the past 12 months, of fraud or a willful building code violation and finds, after providing notice to the contractor, that such fraud or violation would have been fraud or a violation if committed in the county or municipality that the local construction board represents. Notification of and information concerning such permit denial shall be submitted to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation within 15 days after the local construction regulation board decides to deny the permit. (4) A county or municipality may suspend or deny a locally issued permit when the local building official, tax collector, or other authorized person determines that the contractor has failed to obtain both workers’ compensation insurance or an acceptable exemption certificate issued by the department and public liability and property damage insurance in the amounts determined by rule of the board. (5) This part does not prevent any certified electrical or alarm system contractor from acting as a prime contractor when the majority of the work to be performed under the contract is within the scope of his or her license or from subcontracting to other licensed contractors any remaining work that is part of the project contracted. (6) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a certified electrical contractor, registered alarm system contractor I, registered alarm system contractor II, or alarm system contractor I or alarm system contractor II that is a certified alarm system contractor is exempt from any local law, local ordinance, or local code that requires a contractor to be listed or placarded by a nationally recognized testing laboratory or to be certified by any regionally or nationally recognized certification organization. However, a county, municipality, or special district may require any such electrical contractor or alarm system contractor to provide, at the final inspection of a fire alarm system, the documentation required by NFPA No. 72, “National Fire Alarm Code,” for installation and monitoring. This subsection does not prohibit a county, municipality, or special district from requiring compliance with the Florida Fire Prevention Code or with NFPA No. 72.

489.514 Certification for registered contractors; grandfathering provisions. — (1) The board shall, upon receipt of a completed application, appropriate fee, and proof of compliance with the provisions of this section, issue: (a) To an applying registered electrical contractor, a certificate as an electrical contractor, as defined in s. 489.505 (12); (b) To an applying registered alarm system contractor, a certificate in the matching alarm system contractor category, as defined in s. 489.505 (2)(a) or (b); or (c) To an applying registered electrical specialty contractor, a certificate in the matching electrical specialty contractor category, as defined in s. 489.505 (19). (2) Any contractor registered under this part who makes application under this section to the board shall meet each of the following requirements for certification: (a) Currently holds a valid registered local license in the category of electrical contractor, alarm system contractor, or electrical specialty contractor. (b) Has, for that category, passed a written, proctored examination that the board finds to be substantially similar to the examination required to be licensed as a certified contractor under this part. For purposes of this subsection, a written, proctored examination such as that produced by the National Assessment Institute, Block and Associates, NAI/Block, Experior Assessments, Professional Testing, Inc., or Assessment Systems, Inc., shall be considered to be substantially similar to the examination required to be licensed as a certified contractor. The board may not impose or make any requirements regarding the nature or content of these cited examinations. (c) Has at least 5 years of experience as a contractor in that contracting category, or as an inspector or building administrator with oversight over that category, at the time of application. For contractors, only time periods in which the contractor license is active and the contractor is not on probation shall count toward the 5 years required under this subsection. (d) Has not had his or her contractor’s license revoked at any time, had his or her contractor’s license suspended in the last 5 years, or been assessed a fine in excess of $500 in the last 5 years. (e) Is in compliance with the insurance and financial responsibility requirements in s. 489.515 (1)(b).

489.511 Certification; application; examinations; endorsement. — (1)(a) Any person who is at least 18 years of age may take the certification examination. (b) Any person desiring to be certified as a contractor shall apply to the department in writing and must meet the following criteria: 1. Be of good moral character; 2. Pass the certification examination, achieving a passing grade as established by board rule; and 3. Meet eligibility requirements according to one of the following criteria: a. Has, within the 6 years immediately preceding the filing of the application, at least 3 years of proven management experience in the trade or education equivalent thereto, or a combination thereof, but not more than one-half of such experience may be educational equivalent; b. Has, within the 8 years immediately preceding the filing of the application, at least 4 years of experience as a supervisor or contractor in the trade for which he or she is making application, or at least 4 years of experience as a supervisor in electrical or alarm system work with the United States Armed Forces; c. Has, within the 12 years immediately preceding the filing of the application, at least 6 years of comprehensive training, technical education, or supervisory experience associated with an electrical or alarm system contracting business, or at least 6 years of technical experience, education, or training in electrical or alarm system work with the United States Armed Forces or a governmental entity; d. Has, within the 12 years immediately preceding the filing of the application, been licensed for 3 years as a professional engineer who is qualified by education, training, or experience to practice electrical engineering; or e. Has any combination of qualifications under sub-subparagraphs a.-c. totaling 6 years of experience. (c) For purposes of this subsection, “supervisor” means a person having the experience gained while having the general duty of overseeing the technical duties of the trade, provided that such experience is gained by a person who is able to perform the technical duties of the trade without supervision. (d) For purposes of this subsection, at least 40 percent of the work experience for an alarm system contractor I must be in the types of fire alarm systems typically used in a commercial setting. (2) The board may determine by rule the number of times per year the applicant may take the examination and after three unsuccessful attempts may require the applicant to complete additional college-level or technical education courses in the areas of deficiency, as determined by the board, as a condition of future eligibility to take the examination. (3)(a) “Good moral character” means a personal history of honesty, fairness, and respect for the rights of others and for laws of this state and nation. (b) The board may determine that an individual applying for certification is ineligible for failure to satisfy the requirement of good moral character only if: 1. There is a substantial connection between the lack of good moral character of the individual and the professional responsibilities of a certified contractor; and 2. The finding by the board of lack of good moral character is supported by clear and convincing evidence. (c) When an individual is found to be unqualified for certification because of a lack of good moral character, the board shall furnish such individual a statement containing the findings of the board, a complete record of the evidence upon which the determination was based, and a notice of the rights of the individual to a rehearing and appeal. (4) The board shall, by rule, designate those types of specialty electrical or alarm system contractors who may be certified under this part. The limit of the scope of work and responsibility of a certified specialty contractor shall be established by board rule. A certified specialty contractor category exists as an optional statewide licensing category. Qualification for certification in a specialty category created by rule shall be the same as set forth in paragraph (1)(b). The existence of a specialty category created by rule does not itself create any licensing requirement; however, neither does its optional nature remove any licensure requirement established elsewhere in this part. (5) The board shall certify as qualified for certification by endorsement any individual applying for certification who: (a) Meets the requirements for certification as set forth in this section; has passed a national, regional, state, or United States territorial licensing examination that is substantially equivalent to the examination required by this part; and has satisfied the requirements set forth in s. 489.521 ; (b) Holds a valid license to practice electrical or alarm system contracting issued by another state or territory of the United States, if the criteria for issuance of such license were substantially equivalent to the certification criteria that existed in this state at the time the certificate was issued; or (c) Has held a valid, current license to practice electrical or alarm system contracting issued by another state or territory of the United States for at least 10 years before the date of application and is applying for the same or similar license in this state, subject to ss. 489.510 and 489.521 (3)(a) and subparagraph (1)(b)1. Such application must be made either when the license in another state or territory is active or within 2 years after such license was last active. Electrical contractors and alarm system contractors must complete a 2-hour course on the Florida Building Code. The required courses may be completed online. (6) Upon the issuance of a certificate, any previously issued registered licenses for the classification in which the certification is issued are rendered void.

489.503 Exemptions. — This part does not apply to: (1) Any employee of a certificateholder, registrant, or business organization authorized to engage in contracting who is acting within the scope of the license held by that certificateholder or registrant and with the knowledge and permission of the licenseholder. However: (a) If the employer is not a certificateholder or registrant in that type of contracting, and the employee performs any of the following, the employee is not exempt: 1. Holds himself or herself or his or her employer out to be licensed or qualified by a licensee; 2. Leads the consumer to believe that the employee has an ownership or management interest in the company; or 3. Performs any of the acts which constitute contracting. (b) The legislative intent of this subsection is to place equal responsibility on the unlicensed business and its employees for the protection of the consumers in contracting transactions. For the purpose of this part, “employee” is defined as a person who receives compensation from, and is under the supervision and control of, an employer who regularly deducts the F.I.C.A. and withholding tax and provides workers’ compensation, all as prescribed by law. (2) An authorized employee of the United States, this state, or any municipality, county, irrigation district, reclamation district, or any other municipal or political subdivision of this state, except school boards, state university boards of trustees, and community college boards of trustees, unless for the purpose of performing routine maintenance or repair or construction not exceeding $200,000 to existing installations, as long as the employee does not hold himself or herself out for hire or otherwise engage in contracting except in accordance with his or her employment. If the construction, remodeling, or improvement exceeds $200,000, school boards, state university boards of trustees, and community college boards of trustees shall not divide the project into separate components for the purpose of evading this section. (3) An officer appointed by a court when he or she is acting within the scope of his or her office as defined by law or court order. (4) Public utilities, on construction, maintenance, and development work performed by their forces and incidental to their business. (5) The sale or installation of any finished products, materials, or articles of merchandise which are not actually fabricated into, and do not become a permanent fixed part of, the structure. This subsection shall not be construed to limit the exemptions provided in subsection (6). (6)(a) An owner of property making application for permit, supervising, and doing the work in connection with the construction, maintenance, repair, and alteration of and addition to a single-family or duplex residence for his or her own use and occupancy and not intended for sale or an owner of property when acting as his or her own electrical contractor and providing all material supervision himself or herself, when building or improving a farm outbuilding or a single-family or duplex residence on such property for the occupancy or use of such owner and not offered for sale or lease, or building or improving a commercial building with aggregate construction costs of under $75,000 on such property for the occupancy or use of such owner and not offered for sale or lease. In an action brought under this subsection, proof of the sale or lease, or offering for sale or lease, of more than one such structure by the owner-builder within 1 year after completion of same is prima facie evidence that the construction was undertaken for purposes of sale or lease. (b) An owner of property completing the requirements of a building permit, where the contractor listed on the permit substantially completed the project as determined by the local permitting agency, for a one-family or two family residence, townhome, accessory structure of a one-family or two-family residence or townhome or individual residential condominium unit or cooperative unit. Prior to the owner qualifying for the exemption, the owner must receive approval from the local permitting agency, and the local permitting agency must determine that the contractor substantially completed the project. An owner who qualifies for the exemption under this paragraph is not required to occupy the dwelling or unit for at least 1 year after the completion of the project. (c) This subsection does not exempt any person who is employed by such owner and who acts in the capacity of a contractor. For the purpose of this subsection, the term “owner of property” includes the owner of a mobile home situated on a leased lot. To qualify for exemption under this subsection, an owner shall personally appear and sign the building permit application and must satisfy local permitting agency requirements, if any, proving that the owner has a complete understanding of the owner’s obligations under the law as specified in the disclosure statement in this section. If any person violates the requirements of this subsection, the local permitting agency shall withhold final approval, revoke the permit, or pursue any action or remedy for unlicensed activity against the owner and any person performing work that requires licensure under the permit issued. The local permitting agency shall provide the owner with a disclosure statement in substantially the following form: Disclosure Statement State law requires electrical contracting to be done by licensed electrical contractors. You have applied for a permit under an exemption to that law. The exemption allows you, as the owner of your property, to act as your own electrical contractor even though you do not have a license. You may install electrical wiring for a farm outbuilding or a single-family or duplex residence. You may install electrical wiring in a commercial building the aggregate construction costs of which are under $75,000. The home or building must be for your own use and occupancy. It may not be built for sale or lease, unless you are completing the requirements of a building permit where the contractor listed on the permit substantially completed the project. If you sell or lease more than one building you have wired yourself within 1 year after the construction is complete, the law will presume that you built it for sale or lease, which is a violation of this exemption. You may not hire an unlicensed person as your electrical contractor. Your construction shall be done according to building codes and zoning regulations. It is your responsibility to make sure that people employed by you have licenses required by state law and by county or municipal licensing ordinances. (7) Any construction, alteration, improvement, or repair carried on within the limits of any site the title to which is in the United States or any construction, alteration, improvement, or repair on any project when federal law supersedes this part. (8) Any construction or operation incidental to the construction or repair of irrigation and drainage ditches; regularly constituted irrigation districts; reclamation districts; or clearing or other work on the land in rural districts for fire prevention purposes or otherwise, except when performed by a certificateholder under this part. (9) A registered architect or engineer acting within the scope of his or her practice, or any person exempted by the law regulating architects or engineers, including persons doing design work as specified in s. 481.229 (1)(b). (10) Any person who only furnishes materials or supplies without fabricating them into, or consuming them in the performance of, the work of the contractor. (11) The installation of alarm systems on motor vehicles and boats. (12) Any person as defined and licensed under chapter 527 while engaged in work regulated under that chapter. (13) Any person defined and licensed as a fire protection system contractor under chapter 633, while engaged in work as a fire protection system contractor. (14) The sale of, installation of, repair of, alteration of, addition to, or design of electrical wiring, fixtures, appliances, thermostats, apparatus, raceways, computers, customer premises equipment, customer premises wiring, and conduit, or any part thereof, by an employee, contractor, subcontractor, or affiliate of a company operating under a certificate issued under chapter 364 or chapter 610, or under a local franchise or right-of-way agreement, if those items are for the purpose of transmitting data, voice, video, or other communications, or commands as part of a cable television, community antenna television, radio distribution, communications, or telecommunications system. An employee, subcontractor, contractor, or affiliate of a company that operates under a certificate issued under chapter 364 or chapter 610, or under a local franchise or right-of-way agreement, is not subject to any local ordinance that requires a permit for work related to low-voltage electrical work, including related technical codes, regulations, and licensure. The scope of this exemption is limited to electrical circuits and equipment governed by the applicable provisions of Articles 725 (Classes 2 and 3 circuits only), 770, 800, 810, and 820 of the National Electrical Code, current edition, or 47 C.F.R. part 68, and employees, contractors, and subcontractors of companies, and affiliates thereof, operating under a certificate issued under chapter 364 or chapter 610 or under a local franchise or right-of-way agreement. This subsection does not relieve any person from licensure as an alarm system contractor. (15) The provision, installation, testing, routine maintenance, factory-servicing, or monitoring of a personal emergency response system, as defined in s. 489.505 , by an authorized person who: (a) Is an employee of, or a volunteer supervised by an employee of, a health care facility licensed by the Agency for Health Care Administration; (b) Performs services for the Department of Elderly Affairs; (c) Performs services for the Department of Children and Families under chapter 410; or (d) Is an employee of or an authorized representative or distributor for the producer of the personal emergency response system being monitored. (16) The monitoring of a personal emergency response system, as defined in s. 489.505 , by a charitable, not-for-profit corporation acting in accordance with a contractual agreement with the Agency for Health Care Administration or one of its licensed health care facilities, the Department of Elderly Affairs, or the Department of Children and Families, providing that the organization does not perform any other service requiring certification or registration under this part. Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to provide any of the agencies mentioned in this subsection the authority to develop rules, criteria, or policy pursuant to this subsection. (17) The monitoring of an alarm system without fee by a direct employee of a law enforcement agency or of a county, municipal, or special district fire department or by a law enforcement officer or fire official acting in an official capacity. (18) The monitoring of an alarm system by a direct employee of any state or federally chartered financial institution, as defined in s. 655.005 , or any parent, affiliate, or subsidiary thereof, so long as: (a) The institution is subject to, and in compliance with, s. 3 of the Federal Bank Protection Act of 1968, 12 U.S.C. s. 1882; (b) The alarm system is in compliance with all applicable firesafety standards as set forth in chapter 633; and (c) The monitoring is limited to an alarm system associated with: 1. The commercial property where banking operations are housed or other operations are conducted by a state or federally chartered financial institution or any parent, affiliate, or subsidiary thereof; or 2. The private property occupied by the institution’s executive officers, as defined in s. 655.005 , and does not otherwise extend to the monitoring of residential systems. (19) The monitoring of an alarm system of a business by the direct employees of that business, so long as: (a) The alarm system is the exclusive property of, or is leased by, the business; (b) The alarm system complies with all applicable firesafety standards as set forth in chapter 633; and (c) The alarm system is designed to protect only the commercial premises leased by the business endeavor or commercial premises owned by the business endeavor and not leased to another. This exemption is intended to allow businesses to monitor their own alarm systems and is not limited to monitoring a single location of that business. However, it is not intended to enable the owner of any apartment complex, aggregate housing, or commercial property to monitor alarm systems on property leased or rented to the residents, clients, or customers thereof. (20) Contracting for repair, maintenance, remodeling, or improvement by any person licensed under part I of chapter 475 while acting as the owner’s agent pursuant to that license, where all work requiring a contractor is performed by a contractor who has a current, valid certificate or registration issued under this part to perform such work, and where the aggregate contract for labor, materials, and all other items is less than $5,000; however, this exemption does not apply: (a) If the maintenance, repair, remodeling, or improvement is a part of a larger or major operation, whether undertaken by the same or a different contractor, or in which a division of the operation is made in contracts of amounts less than $5,000 for the purpose of evading this part or otherwise. (b) To a person who advertises that he or she is qualified to engage in contracting. (21) Alarm system inspections, audits, or quality assurance services performed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration has recognized as meeting the requirements of 29 C.F.R. s. 1910.7. (22) Any person who installs or repairs lightning rods or related systems. (23) An employee or sales representative of an alarm system contractor if he or she: (a) Does not alter, install, maintain, move, or repair alarm systems on end-user premises; and (b) Is not granted access to passwords or codes that can be used to arm or disarm alarm systems installed on specific end-user premises, or, if working at an out-of-state location, has received a satisfactory fingerprint and background check from a state or federal agency. This subsection shall not be construed to limit the exemptions provided in subsection (6) or relieve a person of his or her obligation to comply with the applicable background check provisions of ss. 489.518 and 489.5185 for any onsite alarm sales. (24) A person who installs low-voltage landscape lighting that contains a factory-installed electrical cord with plug that does not require installation, wiring, or other modification to the electrical wiring of a structure.

489.147 Prohibited property insurance practices; contract requirements. — (1) As used in this section, the term: (a) “Prohibited advertisement” means any written or electronic communication by a contractor which encourages, instructs, or induces a consumer to contact a contractor or public adjuster for the purpose of making an insurance claim for roof damage, if such communication does not state in a font size of at least 12 points and at least half as large as the largest font size used in the communication that: 1. The consumer is responsible for payment of any insurance deductible; 2. It is insurance fraud punishable as a felony of the third degree for a contractor to knowingly or willfully, and with intent to injure, defraud, or deceive, pay, waive, or rebate all or part of an insurance deductible applicable to payment to the contractor for repairs to a property covered by a property insurance policy; and 3. It is insurance fraud punishable as a felony of the third degree to intentionally file an insurance claim containing any false, incomplete, or misleading information. The term includes, but is not limited to, door hangers, business cards, magnets, flyers, pamphlets, and e-mails. (b) “Residential property owner” means the person who holds the legal title to the residential real property that is the subject of and directly impacted by the action of a governmental entity. The term does not include a governmental entity. (c) “Soliciting” means contacting: 1. In person; 2. By electronic means, including, but not limited to, e-mail, telephone, and any other real-time communication directed to a specific person; or 3. By delivery to a specific person. (2) A contractor may not directly or indirectly engage in any of the following practices: (a) Soliciting a residential property owner by means of a prohibited advertisement. (b) Offering to a residential property owner a rebate, gift, gift card, cash, coupon, waiver of any insurance deductible, or any other thing of value in exchange for: 1. Allowing the contractor to conduct an inspection of the residential property owner’s roof; or 2. Making an insurance claim for damage to the residential property owner’s roof. (c) Offering, delivering, receiving, or accepting any compensation, inducement, or reward, for the referral of any services for which property insurance proceeds are payable. Payment by the residential property owner or insurance company to a contractor for roofing services rendered does not constitute compensation for a referral. (d) Interpreting policy provisions or advising an insured regarding coverages or duties under the insured’s property insurance policy or adjusting a property insurance claim on behalf of the insured, unless the contractor holds a license as a public adjuster pursuant to part VI of chapter 626. (e) Providing an insured with an agreement authorizing repairs without providing a good faith estimate of the itemized and detailed cost of services and materials for repairs undertaken pursuant to a property insurance claim. A contractor does not violate this paragraph if, as a result of the process of the insurer adjusting a claim, the actual cost of repairs differs from the initial estimate. (3) A contractor who violates this section is subject to disciplinary proceedings as set forth in s. 489.129 . A contractor may receive up to a $10,000 fine for each violation of this section. (4) For the purposes of this section: (a) The acts of any person on behalf of a contractor, including, but not limited to, the acts of a compensated employee or a nonemployee who is compensated for soliciting, shall be considered the actions of the contractor. (b) An unlicensed person who engages in an act prohibited by this section is guilty of unlicensed contracting and is subject to the penalties set forth in s. 489.13 . Notwithstanding s. 489.13 (3), an unlicensed person who violates this section may be fined up to $10,000 for each violation. (5) A contractor may not execute a contract with a residential property owner to repair or replace a roof without including a notice that the contractor may not engage in the practices set forth in paragraph (2)(b). If the contractor fails to include such notice, the residential property owner may void the contract within 10 days after executing it. (6)(a) A residential property owner may cancel a contract to replace or repair a roof without penalty or obligation within 10 days after the execution of the contract or by the official start date, whichever comes first, if the contract was entered into based on events that are subject of a declaration of a state of emergency by the Governor. For the purposes of this subsection, the official start date is the date on which work that includes the installation of materials that will be included in the final work on the roof commences, a final permit has been issued, or a temporary repair to the roof covering or roof has been made in compliance with the Florida Building Code. (b) A contractor executing a contract during a declaration of a state of emergency to replace or repair a roof of a residential property must include or add as an attachment to the contract the following language, in bold type of not less than 18 points, immediately before the space reserved for the signature of the residential property owner: “You, the residential property owner, may cancel this contract without penalty or obligation within 10 days after the execution of the contract or by the official start date, whichever comes first, because this contract was entered into during a state of emergency by the Governor. The official start date is the date on which work that includes the installation of materials that will be included in the final work on the roof commences, a final permit has been issued, or a temporary repair to the roof covering or roof system has been made in compliance with the Florida Building Code.” (c) The residential property owner must send the notice of cancellation by certified mail, return receipt requested, or other form of mailing that provides proof thereof, at the address specified in the contract.