Why a Florida General Contractor May Both Assess and Remove Mold

Because both of Florida's 12-month bars in section 468.8419 exempt a Division I contractor, which section 489.105(3) defines as a general, building or residential contractor, and the exemption is written for a certificate holder, which on DBPR's coding appears to mean a statewide C code rather than a local R registration. If one firm offers to do both on your home, check that its license code starts with C and get at least one competing remediation bid in writing.

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Who counts as Division I under Florida section 489.105(3)

Florida sorts construction contractors into two divisions. Division I is paragraphs (a) to (c) of section 489.105(3): general contractors, building contractors and residential contractors. Division II is everyone in paragraphs (d) to (q), including sheet metal, roofing, the Class A, B and C air-conditioning contractors, mechanical, pool and spa, plumbing, solar and specialty contractors. Only the first group sits inside the mold statute's exception. So if the firm that found mold in your AC closet is an air-conditioning contractor, or the plumber who opened the wall under your kitchen sink, the Division I exception does not reach it. Section 468.841 does exempt it from the mold statute while it works within its own license, but once it offers itself for hire as a mold assessor or remediator it needs the mold license, and the 12-month bar applies.

A Florida license code that starts with C, not R

The Department of Business and Professional Regulation says contractors holding a statewide certificate of competency, who may contract anywhere in Florida, carry an occupation code beginning with C. Registered contractors, who may contract only in the local jurisdictions where they registered, carry a code beginning with R. For the three Division I trades that means CG or RG, CB or RB, and CR or RR. The mold statute's exception is written for the holder of the state certificate, so a firm with only a local R registration does not appear to qualify. That is our reading of the statute rather than a department ruling, which is one more reason to look the license up yourself instead of relying on anyone's description of it.

The competitive-bids disclosure the law lets the Florida department require

The statute does not leave the exception bare. It says the department may adopt rules requiring that, when a Division I contractor performs the assessment and offers to remediate, or the reverse, the contract discloses the homeowner's right to request competitive bids. The word is may. Chapter 61-31 of the Florida Administrative Code, the rule chapter for mold-related services, lists twelve rules covering license requirements, examination, renewal, continuing education, discipline, citations and mediation, and none is titled as a competitive-bids disclosure. We did not find one, and we hold that finding with medium confidence rather than certainty. Either way the practical step is the same: do not wait for a contract to tell you that you may shop around.

Four things to ask a Florida contractor who offers to do both

Ask for the license number, and check on myfloridalicense.com that it is a general, building or residential license with a code beginning with C. Ask for at least one other remediation price, in writing, from a company that did not do the assessment. Ask for the contract as a signed document or electronic record, which section 468.8422 requires for any mold assessment or remediation contract. And if a buyer, a condo board or an insurer will read the outcome, ask who will check the finished work, because a clearance from the firm that did the removal tells a third party less than one from somebody who did not.

The Division I exception is lawful, and a second bid still pays

Nothing here suggests a general contractor who both scopes and removes mold is doing anything wrong. The legislature wrote the exception, and a contractor who can open a wall, take out the damaged material and rebuild it may be a sensible choice for a job that is mostly construction. The reason the rest of Part XVI keeps the halves apart is that the person who defines the scope is also the person paid to carry it out. The exception lifts the bar. It does not remove that incentive. A second written bid against the same scope is the inexpensive way to learn whether the job in front of you is the job, or more than the job.

How we treat the Division I exception on a Miami-Dade job

We do not rely on it. When a request needs both an assessment and a removal, the two go to different licensed companies, whatever the size of the job and whatever the contractor's license would allow. If you already hold a combined offer and want a second price to set against it, say so in the form.