At the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, our primary focus is helping people get to work. This includes military on active duty who hold professional licenses, military spouses and veterans of our armed services. DBPR has several programs in place to assist these individuals with the licensing process, whether a spouse needs help applying for a state license after being transferred to a Florida duty station, an active duty member wants to keep his or her license current during a deployment, or a veteran is trying to obtain a license with experience earned during his or her service to our country.
Experience for Military Service
Beginning July 1, 2016 new provisions went into effect to assist U.S. Military Veterans applying for licensure. The new provisions specifically allow for experience gained in the military to be used toward the requirements for licensure. Up to three years of military experience can be applied toward the experience requirements for a certified contractor’s license. New forms were posted on July 1, 2016 for veterans to use when applying for licensure.
Additional information and application forms for veterans can be found at the Construction Industry Board page and at the Electrical Contractors’ Board page.
Section 250.483, Florida Statutes, allows members of the Florida National Guard or the United States Armed Forces Reserves who are seeking licensure or qualification for a trade, occupation or profession and have had their required training interrupted or delayed due to being called into active duty to have their practical experience or training received while in military service to be credited toward their professional licensure qualifying experience or educational requirements. The military experience or training must be substantially similar to that required for licensure. The state board will review the information that you submit and determine if the experience or training is substantially similar to the requirements for the professional license you are applying.
To have your military experience or training evaluated you must submit a written request describing the experience or training received and the number of hours gained along with your licensure or examination application within six months after release from active duty.
All licensure and examination applications can be found at http://www.myfloridalicense.com. Once on the page select “Apply or Manage My License” then select the profession that you are seeking licensure and follow the prompts to access the needed application.
