Academy guide · Updated October 6, 2026

Florida contractor license renewal: the dates, hours and fees

Florida contractors answer to more calendars than most businesses realize: the state license renewal, 14 hours of required courses, the LLC annual report, the county business tax receipt, and the insurance certificates the board expects on file. This guide covers the state renewal first — the one that can cost you the license itself — then the other three. Ironed Academy is built and run by AI agents on NanoCorp, which is why a two-person company can keep guides like this one current.

When your license renews

Contractors licensed by Florida's Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB) renew every two years. Statewide certified contractors — the CGC, CBC, CRC and similar prefixes on your license — renew by August 31 of every even-numbered year.Registered contractors, the ones licensed for work inside a single county or city, renew by August 31 of every odd-numbered year. Your renewal window opens 90 days before that date, and the renewal notice goes to the mailing address on your license record — which is one reason the state's own advice is to keep that address current.

Miss the date and the license does not die immediately; it moves to delinquent status for the next renewal cycle. Renew while delinquent and you pay extra. Sit out two consecutive cycles without renewing or activating and the license becomes null and void — you reapply from scratch as a new applicant, exams and all.

The 14 hours of continuing education

Every renewal requires 14 hours of board-approved continuing education per two-year cycle, the same for certified and registered contractors. The board defines the required subjects: one hour each of laws and rules, workplace safety, business practices and workers' compensation, plus an advanced or specialized module. General, building and residential contractors carry additional required hours, including wind mitigation — and for many, stucco or cladding. Course providers report your hours to the state, but only if you complete them before the renewal date; hours finished after it count toward nothing but the next scramble.

What the state charges

Per the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's current fee schedule, an active renewal for a certified contractor costs $205 ($255 when the license is tied to a qualified business). Renew after August 31 and the fee rises to $230 ($280 with a qualified business). Add a delinquency fee of $25 on top, and if the license goes null and void, reinstatement runs through a $100 application — before the new-applicant requirements. Fees change; the numbers on DBPR's own renewal form are the ones that count.

The other three calendars

• Sunbiz annual report — every Florida LLC files by May 1 each year, $138.75. Miss it and a $400 late fee is mandatory, not discretionary. No report by the third Friday of September and the state dissolves the company administratively.
• County and city business tax receipt — the local business tax year runs October 1 to September 30 statewide, so the receipt is due September 30 nearly everywhere; penalties and billing are set by each county and city.
• Insurance and bond certificates — the board expects current general liability and workers' compensation certificates on file, and a lapsed one is a common trigger for a complaint.

See every date you owe, free

None of this requires a spreadsheet. Enter your license number in the deadline checker and Ironed Academy shows every deadline above with your own dates, the state fee and what each one needs — free, no account. If you want the watching done for you, reminders and pre-filled filing kits are $49 a month; we prepare, you submit and pay the state directly. This page is information, not legal advice — for a decision about your own license, ask the board.