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How does House Bill 735 Affect me in Hernando County?

Hernando county contractors are wondering how they will be impacted by the passage of House Bill 735 in Florida. This article has been created to monitor and update Hernando county’s response to this new law. If you have any questions or information to contribute, we encourage you to post a comment below. All questions will be promptly answered to the best of our ability.

The Hernando county building division pronounced itself regarding Florida House Bill 735. They issued the following statement:

Recently Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law HB 735 – Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing effective July 1, 2021

This new law prevents local government from licensing Specialty Contractors by July 2023. This new law expressly preempts the licensing of occupations to the state and supersedes any local government licensing of occupations to include Hernando County’s Specialty Licenses. The new law does authorize local government to issue journeyman licenses in the plumbing, pipe fitting, mechanical and HVAC trades, as well as the electrical and alarm system trades.

This means that Specialty Licenses that do not correspond with a state license category will no longer be valid as of July 1, 2023 unless Hernando County Government takes action to eliminate the need for Local Specialty Licenses prior to this date.

On September 14, 2021, The Board of County Commissioners will be reviewing an agenda item to modify Hernando County Ordinance Chapter 8 - Building and Building Regulations to eliminate Hernando County Specialty Contractors categories which do not substantially correspond to the job scopes specifically defined in Section 489.105(3)(a) –(o) or State Specialty Contractors.

Local Specialty Contractors affected include: 1) Steel Erection 2) Excavation 3) Insulation Contractor 4) Structural Concrete 5) Structural Carpentry 6) Masonry 7) Accessory Structures 8) Aluminum Fabricating 9) Fence 10) Tree Removal 11) Tile & 12) Plastering & Stucco.

For any questions on how your County contractor license will be impacted by HB 735, contact the Hernando Licensing Department by giving them a call at 352-754-4050 or sending an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

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Written by Gil M.

Comments   

# Randy Rivera 2023-01-11 22:03
I have worked in Hernando County under specialty license for Structural Carpentry for 37 years under Rivera Construction Inc. Structural carpentry is really hard work. This HB 735 passed last year makes my license void after July and will required me to get a General Contracting License. The fees to do this course and tests are $3035.00, and weeks of online work. There is other requirements as background, credit rating etc. I am 63 years old and employer of 6 people. Why has this happened? Is there any advise? Randy Rivera 352-584-5315
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# Sharilyn Baez 2023-01-12 12:49
Hello Randy,

Due to Florida House Bill 735, local governments are prohibited from requiring a license for a person whose job scope does not substantially correspond to that of a Contractor licensed by the Construction Industry Licensing Board, within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation. Florida State needs you to be licensed and insured for structural or remodeling work. Having a State license will demonstrate your credibility to your customers and grow your business. You have the experience and knowledge to do the GC application, but we recommend you prepare for the Trade and Business exam needed to obtain the General Contractor License. Another option is to get a qualifying agent to qualify your business until you are able to obtain the license yourself. I have attached a link with the information for the GC and our Qualifying Agent Blog.

https://www.contractorcampus.com/florida-general-contractor-license.html
https://www.contractorcampus.com/qualifying-agents-in-florida.html
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