Every year, countless Florida residents and business owners suffer the consequences of hiring unlicensed contracting professionals. Ultimately, it is the responsibility of the client to ensure the individuals they are hiring, as well as the company they are representing, are properly licensed and insured. You can visit the Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation (DBPR) in order to verify the status of an individual and/or a business entity. Ensure your contractors are willing to offer their license number; there is nothing prohibiting someone from claiming to be licensed and insured when in fact they are not. Ours is ES12001224 and is listed on every one of our web pages; please look us up! Until someone reports an individual or business to the DBPR for making a false claim, they can continue to operate with impunity. When it comes to electrical work, such as landscape lighting, this responsibility is exceedingly important. If a homeowner were to contract electrical work on their property which leads to damage of any sort, insurance companies may refuse to honor your claims when they come to find out that your contractor was not properly licensed.
Avoid such a tragedy and insist on professional, licensed experts from the beginning. At Lampscape Designs, we understand the importance of this responsibility and what it means to our employees and our clients. We encourage you to visit Florida Department of Business & Professional Regulation today and insure you are working with South Florida’s premier – licensed – landscape lighting experts.
Quick facts about licensing in the state of Florida:
- According to Florida Statute 455.228 if you hire an unlicensed person, the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) may issue a cease and desist order and take you to Circuit Court which has the authority to impose a civil penalty up to $5,000 for aiding and abetting unlicensed activity.
- If you hire an unlicensed person, you may actually pay more for the job than if you had hired a licensed contractor. Especially if the work is done incorrectly or never finished. You may have to pay much more to correct or finish the job.
- If you pull a permit for an unlicensed contractor, you are held responsible for the work, not the unlicensed person.
- If the unlicensed person fails to pay the sub-contractor or suppliers, you will be required to pay them, even though you have already paid the unlicensed person.
- Plumbing, electrical, heating and air conditioning work must be done only by licensed contractors in each specific trade.
- Home improvement contractors must be Certified by the State of Florida or have County Certification.
- There is no such thing as a “jack-of-all trades” or “handyman” that does not require licensure.
- A Local Business Tax Receipt (formerly Occupational License) is not a Contractor’s License. It is a tax for the privilege of engaging in the managing of a business or profession. FS 205.032
- You can be held liable for injury of individuals working on your property if the unlicensed person has no insurance including the unlicensed person’s injuries.
