Florida contractor license renewal: dates, CE and fees

Florida contractor licenses from the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) renew every two years, always on August 31. Which August 31 depends on the license. This post covers the licenses we track for HVAC, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, general, building, residential and electrical contractors, plus pest control, which runs on its own calendar. Everything comes from our Florida records, last checked on October 10, 2026, with the sources listed at the end. Check with the board before you rely on any of it.

Certified and registered licenses renew in different years

Certified licenses from the Construction Industry Licensing Board (CILB): Certified Air Conditioning, Mechanical, Plumbing, Roofing, General, Building and Residential Contractor. They expire on August 31 of even-numbered years. The 2026 deadline has passed, so the next one is August 31, 2028.
Registered CILB licenses: Registered Air Conditioning, Plumbing, Roofing and General Contractor (also Registered Building and Residential). They expire on August 31 of odd-numbered years. The next one is August 31, 2027.
Electrical and alarm licenses from the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board (ECLB): certified and registered alike, they expire on August 31 of even-numbered years. Next: August 31, 2028.

When August 31 falls on a weekend or a holiday, DBPR has moved the deadline to the next business day (in 2024 it moved to September 3). DBPR emails the renewal notice 90 to 120 days before expiration, so keep the email address on your DBPR account current.

A company that holds a certified license and a registered one renews in both years. That second date is the one people forget.

CE hours for each license

CILB licenses (HVAC, mechanical, plumbing, roofing, general, building, residential): 14 hours per two-year cycle. One hour each of the advanced Florida Building Code module, workplace safety, business practices, workers' compensation, and laws and rules. The rest can be any board-approved construction topic. Roofing licenses must include 1 hour of wind mitigation. General, building and residential contractors also need 1 hour of wind mitigation and 1 hour on cementitious cladding, stucco, plastering and lath.
Certified and registered electrical contractors: 11 hours per cycle. One hour each of workers' compensation, workplace safety, business practices, Florida laws and rules, and the building code advanced module, plus 6 hours of technical topics. Contractors who do alarm work add 2 hours of false alarm prevention.
Alarm system and specialty electrical contractors: 7 hours per cycle.

Courses have to come from board-approved providers. For CILB licenses the provider reports your completions to DBPR, and you cannot renew until the hours are posted. First renewal: no CE if you were licensed less than 12 months before the deadline. For CILB licenses it is 7 hours if you were licensed 12 to 24 months before.

The full rules for each trade: HVAC, plumbing, roofing, general contractor, electrical, pest control.

What the renewal costs

From our records, an individual active CILB renewal is about $205. A certified electrical contractor renewal is about $296, and a registered one about $121. DBPR has run reduced-fee cycles before, so the amount on your renewal can differ. Fees change. Check the official site for the exact amount.

If you miss August 31

There is no grace period. The day after August 31 the license is delinquent, and you may not contract with it until it is renewed.
A delinquent renewal costs about $25 more than an on-time one.
A delinquent license can still be renewed until the end of the next two-year cycle. After that it becomes null and void and you reapply as a new applicant. For a certified CILB license that means the exam again. For an electrical license you also lose the license number.

Pest control runs on a different calendar

Pest control licenses come from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS), not DBPR.

The pest control business license renews every year, on the anniversary date FDACS set for each business location.
A Certified Pest Control Operator certificate expires one year after it was issued.
Operators need approved CE every year: 2 hours of core topics plus 2 hours in each category held, so 4 hours with one category.
There is a late charge of about $50 after a 30-day grace period, and an unrenewed business license expires automatically 60 days after its anniversary date.

Where to renew

CILB and ECLB licenses renew through the DBPR online services at myfloridalicense.com. Pest control renews through the FDACS licensing portal at aeslicensing.fdacs.gov. The Florida state page has every license we track, with the official links.

If you hold licenses on both August cycles, put both dates somewhere you will see them. ClearLicensed emails you 90, 60, 30, 14, 7 and 1 day before each one, and it can hold your CE certificates next to the license.

Sources

Informational, not legal advice. Rules and fees change; verify with the issuing board.

Informational: verify with the issuing board. Licensing rules, deadlines and CE requirements change, and fee amounts are approximate. This is not legal advice.

Florida contractor license renewal: dates, CE hours and fees