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CILB [click to view their web site]
The purpose of the Construction Industry Licensing Board is to regulate the various groups within the construction industry. The CILB requires that every member of the industry complete 14 hours of continuing education courses every two years in order to stay licensed.
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Florida Statute Chapter 489 [click here for statutes]
View CE Credits [click here for site]
previous CILB Interpretations [click here for interpretations]
Important decisions about your license are made each month at the Florida Construction Industry Licensing Board. The Board meets for three days each month from January through November. While much of the meeting deals with disciplinary action, other issues such as the deliberation leading to opinion letters about the proper scope of work within each license category and other important policy issues are discussed. The requirements and interpretations about Continuing Education and the implementation of the public awareness program to warn the public about unlicensed activities are other important issues frequently considered by this Board and its committees.
Licensed contractors can receive up to 4 hours of CILB-approved CE credit for attending the disciplinary proceedings with advance approval from the Board. The Regulation (61G4-18.001 Continuing Education Requirements for Certificate holders and Registrants) states: Of the required 14 hours of continuing education, up to four hours of credit may be earned by attending a meeting of the Board wherein disciplinary cases are considered. At least seven days advance notice of the intent to attend the disciplinary case session must be given to the Board, and the licensee must check in with Board staff prior to the beginning of the disciplinary proceedings. A maximum of four hours will be allowed during a renewal cycle. Credit hours shall be awarded on an hour for hour basis up to a maximum of four hours. Credit hours may not be earned when the licensee attends a disciplinary case session as a party to a disciplinary action. The calendar of committee meetings and agenda material is posted prior to each meeting at the CILB Web site.
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Florida Statutes
Chapter 489 - Contracting
Click here to visit the Statutes Web site
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CILB Interpretations
> Pool contractors permitted to install solar pool heaters
> General Contractors permitted to build pool shells, but prohibited from calling themselves Pool Contractors
CILB Letter of Interpretation
Pool contractors permitted to install solar pool heaters
November 14, 2001
Ronald A. Sugg
Vice President
Superior Pools, Spas & Waterfalls, Inc.
4450 W. Sunrise Blvd., Suite C-111
Plantation, Florida 33313
RE: Your letter faxed March 20, 2001, to Cathleen O'Dowd, Executive Director, Construction Licensing Industry Board, regarding scope of licensure necessary to install solar pool heaters
Dear Mr. Sugg:
Your request for an opinion from the Construction Licensing Industry Board was discussed by the Board at its June meeting in Daytona Beach at a meeting of the Board's Executive Committee on June 14, 2001. Unfortunately, as Board counsel, I did not receive direction to send a letter indicating the Board's position until the August meeting and I then had to arrange to get a second copy of your letter. I apologize for the length of time it has taken to get this response to you.
In your letter, you requested the Board look at the installation of solar pool heaters on swimming pools and determine the licensure necessary to perform such installations. Upon review and discussion by the Board, it has determined that both licensed pool/spa contractors and pool/spa service contractors can install packaged pool heaters, including solar pool heaters, in swimming pools in Florida, as this type of service is included in the scopes of work for both categories of licensure as stated in §§489.105(3)(j) and (k), Fla. Stat., respectively. Do not hesitate to call me, should you have any remaining questions regarding the installation of packaged pool heaters.
Sincerely yours,
Paul J. Martin
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Counsel to the Construction Licensing Industry Board
cc: Susan Stokes, Chair, CILB
Suzanne Lee, Executive Director, CILB
CILB Letter of Interpretation
General Contractors permitted to build pool shells, but prohibited from calling themselves pool contractors
October 26, 2001
Fawn Powers, Esquire
Assistant City Attorney
Office of the City Attorney
City of Pompano Beach, Florida
P.O. Box 2083
Pompano Beach, Florida 33061
RE: Your letter dated October 8, 2001, requesting a written opinion from the Construction Licensing Industry Board regarding the owner-builder exemption contained in §489.103(7), Fla. Stat.
Dear Ms. Powers:
You have requested a written opinion from the Construction Licensing Industry Board regarding the following question:
Does the owner/builder exemption of §489.103(6) & (7), F.S., provide a municipality authority to issue building, electrical, plumbing and/or mechanical permits to property owners who act as their own contractor and provide direct, onsite supervision of swimming pool construction at their residence?
The Board discussed your issue at the monthly meeting of the Executive Committee meeting held on October 11, 2001, in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. As a result of that discussion, they directed me as their Board counsel to provide you with a written opinion. It is the position of the Construction Licensing Industry Board that the owner-builder exemption contained in §489.103(7), Fla. Stat., that an owner builder of a single-family residence may act as his own contractor without licensure under Chapter 489, Part I, Florida Statutes, regarding any construction on the property that constitutes his residence. This would include swimming pools, storage buildings, etc. It would be illogical to read the exemption as clearly allowing an owner of real property to act as his own contractor in constructing a residence of unlimited size and number of stories, yet find that he cannot act as his own contractor to build a swimming pool or storage building on his property. Since the Board has regulatory jurisdiction over the practice of contracting in this state, it is assumed that your question more fairly intends to ask if the exemption from licensure as a contractor in §489.103(7), Fla. Stat., applies to the homeowner who wants to act as his own contractor in building his own swimming pool. It is the opinion of the Construction Licensing Industry Board that the statutory exemption would apply and such an owner-builder would be exempt from any requirement to be licensed as a contractor.
The Board did emphasize that all the conditions of the exemption would have to be met for the exemption to apply. In other words, the owner-builder would have to provide direct, onsite supervision of the construction himself. He cannot delegate that supervisory function to anyone other than for work being performed by a licensed contractor within the scope of his/her license. All other persons performing the construction who are not under the direct supervision of a contractor performing work within the scope of his/her license must be employees of the owner-builder. Provided that the owner-builder complies with the terms of the exemption, he can improve his residence in any way he sees fit and be exempt from licensure as a contractor. The terms and conditions of any permitting necessary for the construction would be subject to the local permitting authority, of course. Licensure as a contractor could not be one of those conditions as long as the terms of the exemption are carried out by the owner-builder.
I trust that this answers your inquiry. Please be advised that the statements contained in this letter do not constitute an official opinion from the Office of the Attorney General but instead constitute the undersigned's opinion, in my capacity as counsel to the Construction Licensing Industry Board.
Sincerely yours,
Paul J. Martin
Senior Assistant Attorney General
Counsel to the Construction Licensing Industry Board
cc: Susan Stokes, Chair, CILB
Suzanne Lee, Executive Director, CILB
Ronald M. Karpf, Vice Chair, CILB
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