10
MARATHON WEEKLY / JULY 29, 2021
CAN YOU PAINT WITHOUT A LICENSE? State says yes; local tradesmen worry it will put them out of business SARA MATTHIS
sara@keysweekly.com
hen Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill preempting the requirement of local occupational licensing in Florida, he set off a firestorm among Keys contractors and tradesmen. The bill deals with specialty licenses for people who paint buildings, or put down pavers and even landscapers — not general contractors or plumbers or electricians or any other tradesmen doing work with life safety implications, who are already licensed by the state. Currently, there are about 400 specialty licensed tradesmen registered in Monroe County. And, as of July 1, the county is no longer issuing any new licenses, as prescribed by the new state law. Existing specialty licenses will continue to be honored in Monroe County for two years, at which time they will expire. Many of those same 400 tradesmen who have a specialty license with Monroe County also pay a licensing fee in Key West, Marathon and Islamorada to do work in those jurisdictions. Florida Rep. Jim Mooney said the bill’s aim was to correct just that — redundant fees. “It enhances a businessman’s ability to do his job without jumping through a thousand hoops. Why do I need a license to be a painter? I can’t think of a reason. It doesn’t do anything for my career,” Mooney said. “Put it this way, in Hillsborough County there are 28 licensed painters. I’m pretty sure there are more than 28 painters doing work. In Broward County, you need a special license to hang a cabinet. Why? Anybody can screw a cabinet to a wall with a level and a screw gun.” Who can pull a permit? What the new law doesn’t address, though, is permitting. And that is causing much angst and confusion. It’s common practice in the Keys for specialty licensed tradesmen to pull permits for local homeowners for things like stucco work, flooring, interior decorating or cabinetry. When the specialty license expires, who can pull the permit? Unless a local general contractor (remember, they are still licensed by the state of Florida) agrees to pull the below-theirpay-grade permit, it must be the homeowner who does so. When the homeowner pulls the permit they must sign an owner/ builder affidavit. Among the promises they make is that they provide the labor and the materials, and that they will “not hire an unlicensed person to act as my contractor or to supervise the persons working on my building or residence.” The homeowner also must comply with laws requiring the withholding of federal income tax and social security contributions, and provide workers compensation for the employee; proof may be required. So, as it currently stands in Monroe County: non-licensed tradesmen can’t pull permits. And, if homeowners pull the permits, they have to supervise, pay and insure the tradesmen. Monroe County Building Official Rick Griffin said he allows owners of vacation homes, or properties that are not homesteaded,
to pull owner-builder permits in only very special circumstances, with heavy assurances that they will meet the criteria. “For the people who say, ‘Just get rid of that type of permit,’ well, it’s easier said than done,” said Monroe County Attorney Bob Shillinger. “Other parts of the state may scoff at us for requiring a permit to put up a fence. But in parts of the Keys where there are Key deer, there’s a good justification for that permit because it is required to comply with the federal Endangered Species Act. We’ve got higher law. If you issue permits that endanger these species … Monroe County could incur civil or criminal penalties from the federal government. We are caught between the medium-sized elephant (the state) and the giant-sized elephant (the federal government),” Shillinger said. The workaround The only way to circumvent the snarl of Monroe County and state of Florida licensing requirements is to level up. In other words, a painter could sit for the state’s contractor exam and get a license. Then, as a state-licensed general contractor, he or she could pull a permit for house painting. “Statewide, there are about 500,000 business people on a twoyear clock to get their state-issued contractor’s license. The licensing system is hopelessly logjammed. You can’t even get a seat at the test table,” said John Coffin, of Coffin Marine Services in Key West. Armand Messina, of AM Electric in Marathon, also installs aluminum shutters under his specialty license. “That puts me out of that business, along with my employees,” Messina said. “That, or getting a state (contractors) license and that will take a year of my life. It’s six months of school, two thousand dollars in books and the test is an eight-hour exam. It’s a big deal. This is not a simple, little task.” One contractor, speaking at a Monroe County Commission meeting said, “No painter is ever going to sit for their state general contractor license. It’s just not going to happen.”
