TO: Board of County Commissioners
THROUGH: John Titkanich, Jr., County Administrator
Anthony Warren, Director of Building and Facilities Services
FROM: Scott P. McAdam, Building Official
DATE: September 8, 2025
SUBJECT: Ordinance Amending Chapter 400 of the Indian River County Code entitled: Chapter 400. Regulation of Contractors.
__________________________________________________________________
BACKGROUND
Indian River County Ordinance Chapter 400 amendments are required due to recent State legislation mandating preemption of local occupational licensing changes.
2021 House Bill 735 Preemption of Local Occupational Licensing, preempted most local licensing categories unless the local government imposed licensing before January 1, 2021, which Indian River County has imposed local licensing before then, but local licensing would expire July 1, 2023. HB 735 also indicated a number of job scopes which the local government may not continue to require a local license for such as painting, flooring cabinetry, etc. 2023 House Bill 1383 Specialty Contractors, provided a one year extension for local licensing to expire July 1, 2024 and required Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) Board to create a number of new Specialty License categories to address concerns from the industry. 2024 Senate Bill SB 1142 Occupational Licensing, provided for an additional one year extension for local licensing to expire July 1, 2025, and added a process for local licensed contractors to voluntarily become registered with the state, which was also a concern of the industry. The state preemption changes also allow for jurisdictions to continue to license local license categories that “substantially correspond” to a state contractor category.
ANALYSIS
It is the desire of the Building Division to license local contractors in order to regulate the construction activity, verify businesses and to protect the citizens of Indian River County. The Building Division staff has met several times with other Treasure Coast jurisdictions and the Treasure Coast Builders Association (TCBA) in order to work on consistent regulations for local contractor licensing. The Building Division staff has determined the best approach is to take advantage of the existing and newly created state specialty and the current state certified and registered license categories and apply the “substantially correspond” allowance to create local license categories that mirror the state categories and assign current locally licensed contractors to a corresponding category. These corresponding categories will have the identical license name and scope of work as the state categories. This allows for most current local licensed contractors to remain in business without being required to obtain a state license or having to find a new qualifier. Building Division staff have heard from multiple contractors that have been in business for 30-40 years and have no desire to obtain a state license. The preemption language indicates that local governments may not require a state or local license for some specific specialty contractor categories, but the scope of work still requires issuance of a permit. Jurisdictions in order to issue permits to this newly designated group of unlicensed contractors, need to create a process similar to the owner/builder classification. This classification will be known as “Exempt Trades” and will allow them to apply for and obtain permits.
A list of the updated Indian River County Contractor license categories is attached.
The cost to publish the required public notice for the public hearing(s) is $149.
BUDGETARY IMPACT
Funds, in the amount of $149, are budgeted and available in the Building Department/Legal Ads account, number 44123324-034910.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Recommended Action
The Building Division recommends that after the public hearing the Board vote to approve the proposed amended ordinance.