Explanation of Local Licensing Ordinance

Prior to the establishment of the Contractors Licensing Ordinance, the City of Sanibel accepted licenses from other jurisdictions in Southwest Florida. The City of Sanibel Legal Department was made aware of the fact that a license from other jurisdictions was only valid in the jurisdiction in which it was issued. For instance, this meant that a Lee County Competency Card was only valid in unincorporated Lee County. This created a situation for all citizens on Sanibel that contracted with a Lee County Contractor inasmuch as the contractor was not licensed specifically on Sanibel. This situation afforded no protection from problems that may arise during construction to citizens of Sanibel.

For these reasons, the City of Sanibel established a Contractors License Ordinance 04-005; modeled on other communities including Lee County, effective May 1, 2005. Any license from another municipality that a contractor was using prior to the activation date is no longer valid in Sanibel. Therefore; any contractor, not State Certified by the Department of Business and Professional Regulations, will be required to obtain City of Sanibel Competency Card to work on Sanibel. The new Ordinance establishes three different tiers of contractors to accommodate the different technical knowledge required by the trade desired.

The first tier of contractors, Class I, are those that can be licensed by the State DBPR, but wish only to work on Sanibel. This class requires a technical test and “Business and Law” class or test.

The second tier is local contractors, Class II, whose main responsibility in construction is structural in nature. This tier of contractors is required to be tested in the discipline in which they work along with a class or test in “Business and Law”, depending on the range of customers they would like to market to. This Sanibel requirement is the same as for all other local jurisdictions that issue licenses.

The third tier of contractors, Class III, perform work that is non-structural in nature. This group of contractors is not required to take a trade test but need only letters of recommendation from people they have worked for previously. The second part of Class III is optional depending on whom they work for. To work for a contractor a Business and Law class or test is not necessary. However, to contract directly with the public, the contractor needs to take a class or test in “Business and Law”.

The Building Department has found that the third groups of contractors are generally competent in their respective trade from a technical standpoint, but maintaining the business end poses a different challenge. The Building Department does not want to issue a new license only to see the business close in a short time due to lack of working knowledge of the paper end of a business. We would like to see all contractors have a long and fruitful career here on Sanibel.

The City of Sanibel is confident that the requirements within the Ordinance are fair and establishes a stable work environment for contractors to be successful.

This is a brief explanation of the license Ordinance. For a complete copy of Ordinance 04-005 or for any questions you may have, please feel free to contact the Sanibel Building Department at 472-4555 or click HYPERLINK "codes.html" here to go to Sanibel Municipal Codes and type the keywords: contractor licensing.

The Sanibel Building Department is committed to maintaining a fair & equitable licensing process while providing the necessary protections for Sanibel residents and property owners.