Contractor licensing — Brevard County, Florida

Brevard County Contractor Licensing states there is no such thing as a Handyman License in Brevard County, so a handyman may only perform unregulated specialty trades and needs a licensed contractor for anything else (Brevard County).

The county's handyman page, published by the Contractor Licensing office on Judge Fran Jamieson Way in Viera, draws the line by trade. Brevard County ordinance and state law require construction work, including electrical, mechanical, plumbing and roofing, and remodeling, renovations and repairs of that work, to be done by a licensed contractor. The unregulated list that a handyman can take on includes cabinetry and countertops, concrete, landscape curbing, drywall patching, fascia, soffit and siding, wood and chain-link fences, trim carpentry, flooring and tile, framing, landscaping with no irrigation, insulation, interior doors, masonry, painting, pavers, pressure washing, screen repair without hardware, stucco and wallpaper.

Unregulated does not mean untaxed. The same Brevard County page sends handymen to the Tax Collector at (321) 264-6969 for a Brevard County Business Tax Receipt covering unregulated specialty trades. The Tax Collector adds that a profession regulated by a state agency must show its professional license before that receipt is issued (Brevard County Tax Collector).

State law has a small-job exemption with firm limits. Section 489.103(9), Florida Statutes exempts work of a casual, minor or inconsequential nature when the total price for labor, materials and everything else is less than $2,500. The exemption does not apply when the job is part of a larger operation, when a project is split into contracts under $2,500 to evade the law, or to anyone who advertises as a contractor. Painting is on the unregulated list kept by Brevard County Contractor Licensing in Viera, while the $2,500 exemption does not cover construction, repair, remodeling or improvement that is part of a larger or major operation, whether undertaken by the same or a different contractor.

Brevard County issues certificates of competency in 29 trade classes under Chapter 22, Article VI of its code, from electrical, plumbing and roofing to fences, storm shutters, pools and marine work (Brevard County Contractor Licensing).

The county's certificate list on its Contractor Licensing page runs from Alarm Contractor and Alarm II Contractor through Aluminum Specialty Structure, Building, Demolition, Drywall, Electrical, Electrical Sign, Excavating and Land Clearing, Fence (all materials), Garage Door, General, HARV, Irrigation, Limited Energy System, Marine I and Marine II, Mechanical, Plumbing, Residential, Roofing, Sheet Metal, Solar, Storm Shutter, the three swimming pool classes, Underground Utilities and Window and Door. Air conditioning, LP gas and mobile home installation appear only on the state list, handled by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation at (850) 487-1395 or the Division of Fire Marshal.

State-certified contractors fall outside the county article, while a county certificate is local. The Brevard County Code exempts anyone certified by the state construction industry licensing board or the state electrical contractors' licensing board from the county licensing article (Brevard County Code, sec. 22-478). A Brevard certificate holder, by contrast, registers with the state, and under section 489.117, Florida Statutes that registration allows contracting only in the counties and municipalities where the registrant has met all local licensing requirements, and only for the type of work it covers.

A Brevard County certificate of competency requires a passing exam grade of 75 percent, proof of financial responsibility and insurance, and an annual renewal for the license year that runs September 1 to August 31 (Brevard County Code).

Section 22-521 of the Brevard County Code makes anyone in business as a contractor, or working as a master or journeyman, in the unincorporated areas of the county the holder of a certificate of competency issued by the Brevard County Contractor Licensing Board or by the state construction industry licensing board. A firm holds its certificate through a qualifying agent; if that agent leaves, the firm has 60 calendar days to employ another, and the county issues no new construction permits to the firm in the meantime. No person may qualify more than one firm.

Under section 22-524, the Brevard County Contractor Licensing Board issues a certificate only after the applicant has made a passing grade of 75 percent or above on the required exam and shown the experience for the class, a credit report and financial statement showing financial responsibility, workers' compensation insurance as required by law, public liability and property damage insurance at the limits in Chapters 61G4 and 61G6 of the Florida Administrative Code, and the required business tax receipt and state registration. Contractors licensed in another Florida county can skip the Brevard exam under section 22-525 only if that county set a minimum passing score of 75 percent and adopted comparable codes; journeymen in five trades can register for a fee not exceeding $25.00.

Renewal is annual. Section 22-528 makes every Brevard certificate valid for one calendar year commencing September 1 and ending August 31, renewable without penalty if filed at least 30 days before expiration; after that the certificate is inoperative until a delinquent fee is paid. The Board of County Commissioners sets the application, certificate, renewal, delinquent, inactive, transfer, reciprocity and retesting fees by resolution under section 22-531, so the dollar amounts are not in the code itself.

Licensed contractors also carry obligations on the job site. Section 22-479 limits any certified master or journeyman in roofing, waterproofing, electrical, plumbing or HARV work to supervising no more than four uncertified persons, with direct supervision meaning actual presence at the job site, and section 22-532 requires the contractor's name and certificate number in three-inch letters on every work vehicle and the certificate number, state registration number and business name in all advertising (Brevard County Code, Chapter 22).

The Brevard County Contractor Licensing Board, the local construction regulation board under section 489.105(12), Florida Statutes, examines, licenses and disciplines contractors who work in the unincorporated areas of the county (Brevard County).

The Contractor Licensing Board page lists the board's powers: it determines the qualifications of applicants for each class of certificate, issues certificates of competency, holds hearings on whether a certificate should be suspended or revoked, sets the terms of any suspension, investigates complaints against anyone required to be licensed, and starts corrective action including administrative hearings or complaints for injunctive relief. It also hears appeals of decisions by county administrative officers on the building code, fire code and other construction rules, serving as Brevard County's board of adjustment and appeals for technical codes. The board page lists its members by the five Brevard County Commission districts.

The board's jurisdiction is written for the unincorporated county. Its jurisdiction covers anyone desiring to engage in business in the unincorporated areas of the county, and the City of Palm Bay Building Department, which has permitting jurisdiction inside Palm Bay, runs its own contractor registration and tells contractors pulling permits in another Brevard County municipality to contact that municipality for its requirements (City of Palm Bay). Section 22-566 of the Brevard County Code lets the Board of County Commissioners sign interlocal agreements with any municipality so that city staff can enforce the county's contractor article as well.

A Brevard County homeowner can check a state license on the Department of Business and Professional Regulation's online Licensee Search and confirm a county certificate with Brevard County Contractor Licensing in Viera at (321) 633-2187 (Brevard County).

The state's DBPR Licensee Search looks up licensees by name, license number, city or county, or license type, and its Customer Contact Center answers at 850.487.1395. For a county certificate, the Contractor Licensing office lists its location at 2725 Judge Fran Jamieson Way, A114, in Viera, and takes email at Building.Licensing@BrevardFL.gov (Brevard County Contractor Licensing). The county also warns about phishing: county staff never solicit payment by wire transfer, and application payments go through a BASS account or the Central Cashier at (321) 633-2068.

A truck and an ad offer a quick first check. Because section 22-532 of the Brevard County Code requires a certified contractor's name and certificate number on every work vehicle and the certificate and state registration numbers in every advertisement, a county-certified contractor whose truck or listing shows no certificate number is missing information section 22-532 requires.

Inside Palm Bay the city adds its own step. The City of Palm Bay Building Department at 110 Malabar Road SE requires state-licensed contractors who pull permits in the city to register online with a copy of their Florida Contractor License or County Competency Card, certificates of general liability insurance with minimums of $300,000 for bodily injury and $50,000 for property damage, workers' compensation proof or an exemption, and a business tax receipt; contractors working in another Brevard County municipality are told to contact that municipality (City of Palm Bay).

Last verified: October 12, 2026, on the Brevard County Contractor Licensing website.