Start your own company
Start your own plumbing company in Florida
If you've put in your years on the tools, Florida gives you a clear — if demanding — path to your own licensed plumbing company: the state Certified Plumbing Contractor license. This guide walks the whole road, from experience requirements to your first booked job. It's a real climb, and the payoff is a business with your name on the truck.
What it takes
What it takes in Florida
Log four years of trade experience
The Florida DBPR's Construction Industry Licensing Board requires four years of experience in the trade for a Certified Plumbing Contractor (CFC) license, including time in a supervisory role. Education can substitute for part of it — accredited college credit and military service can count toward the total. Gather your proof now: W-2s, employer affidavits, and license numbers of the contractors you worked under.
Pass the state exams
Two hurdles: the plumbing trade knowledge exam and the business & finance exam. Both are open-book against approved reference lists, and both punish walking in cold. Serious candidates budget weeks of study and many take a prep course — pass rates reward the prepared.
Clear the financial responsibility and background check
The board checks your credit as evidence of financial responsibility — if your score falls below the board's threshold, you can post a licensing bond instead of being turned away. You'll also submit fingerprints for a background check. Neither is a reason to quit before you start; both are worth knowing about early.
Register your company with Sunbiz and get an EIN
File your LLC with the Florida Division of Corporations at sunbiz.org (a bit over a hundred dollars, usually approved within days) and get your free EIN from the IRS. Do this before or alongside the license application — the company needs to exist for the next step.
Line up insurance and workers' comp
Florida requires general liability coverage at board-set minimums before the license is issued, and workers' compensation — or a valid exemption — from day one. In construction trades, the workers' comp rules bite even for tiny crews, so talk to an agent who knows contractors before you hire anyone.
Qualify the business
In Florida, the license belongs to a person and that person must "qualify" the company — you become the qualifying agent for your own LLC through a DBPR filing. Once approved, your company can pull permits, contract plumbing work statewide, and put CFC-licensed on everything it prints.
Pick up local business tax receipts
Counties and many cities require a business tax receipt to operate there. In Tampa Bay that can mean the county and the city both — a short application and a modest annual fee each. Check with each tax collector where you plan to work.
A BTA specialist walks you through every one of these steps, on the phone, in order — you never file anything alone.
Our specialists walk you through the steps and point you to the right agencies — they don't give legal, tax, or insurance advice. For decisions about your specific situation, talk to your own attorney or CPA.
Information reviewed July 2026
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