The Professional Regulation program licenses and regulates professions doing business in Florida.

Primary program activities include licensing; testing; inspecting licensed establishments; enforcing laws, rules, and standards; responding to complaints against licensees and unlicensed activity; conducting mediations; and taking action against licensees and businesses and individuals engaging in unlicensed activity if probable cause is determined. The program also examines and licenses farm labor contractors; conducts routine checks, inspections, and investigations of farm labor contractors; and conducts walk-in visits at establishments that employ minors to verify compliance with child labor laws.

Professional Regulation is divided into five divisions and two commissions.

• Division of Professions
• Division of Regulation
• Division of Certified Public Accounting
• Division of Drugs, Devices and Cosmetics
• Division of Real Estate
• Florida Building Commission
• Florida Athletic Commission

These divisions are supported by the Bureau of Education and Testing, which develops and administers licensure examinations.

The Division of Professions is responsible for licensing over 506,000 professionals and administers 12 professional boards, 5 department-regulated professions, and 1 council. Each profession listed below is administered either directly by the department or through separately appointed boards or councils.

• Architecture and Interior Design
• Asbestos
• Athlete Agents
• Auctioneers
• Barbers
• Building Code Administrators and Inspectors
• Community Association Managers
• Construction Industry
• Cosmetology
• Electrical Contractors
• Employee Leasing Companies
• Home Inspectors
• Landscape Architecture
• Mold-Related Services
• Pilot Commissioners
• Professional Geologists
• Talent Agencies
• Veterinary Medicine

The division also houses the Florida Building Commission, a 17-member technical body responsible for the development, maintenance, and interpretation of the Florida Building Code.

The Division of Regulation is the enforcement authority for the professional boards and programs, including the Farm and Child Labor programs. The division monitors these professions and related businesses to ensure compliance with the laws, rules, and standards set by the Legislature and the professional boards. The division monitors compliance by investigating complaints and performing inspections. 

The exceptions to this are the engineering profession, which receives administrative, investigative, and prosecutorial services through the Florida Engineers Management Corporation, the architecture and interior design profession, which contracts with a law firm to provide investigative and prosecutorial services; and the Divisions of Certified Public Accounting, Drugs, Devices and Cosmetics, and Real Estate, which perform their own investigative services.

The division has six program areas.

• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• Child Labor
• Complaints
• Farm Labor
• Inspections
• Unlicensed Activity

Regional offices are located in Ft. Myers, Gainesville, Jacksonville, Margate, Miami, Orlando, Pensacola, Tallahassee, Tampa, and West Palm Beach.

The Division of Certified Public Accounting regulates Certified Public Accountants (CPAs) and accounting firms. Division duties include processing applications to sit for the CPA license, reactivating delinquent or inactive CPA licenses, licensing accountancy firms, tracking continuing education forms, and providing administrative support to the Board of Accountancy.

The Division of Drugs, Devices and Cosmetics regulates and enforces laws and rules related to manufacturing and distributing drugs, devices, and cosmetics. The division also safeguards Florida citizens from injury by product use and merchandising deceit involving such products.

The Division of Real Estate regulates, through education and compliance, real estate and appraisal licensees that include individuals, corporations, real estate schools, and instructors. The division provides administrative support to the Florida Real Estate Commission and the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board.

The Florida Building Commission is responsible for developing, maintaining, and interpreting the Florida Building Code through a consensus-building process. The commission also approves products for statewide acceptance and administers the Building Code Training Program.

The Florida Athletic Commission regulates professional boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts in Florida. In addition, the commission approves and monitors amateur boxing, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts sanctioning organizations that host events in Florida.

The department has an online system to serve both licensees and the public. The system allows licensees to access their application status and report continuing education. The online system also allows the public to verify licenses, request public records, or file a complaint.

In Fiscal Year 2021-22, the program was responsible for 1,047,574 licensees. During this period, 94% of licensees were in compliance with inspection laws and regulations. Thirty-seven percent of the licensees corrected violations through alternative means, including notices of non-compliance, citations, or alternative dispute resolution. The department reports these alternative procedures have resulted in significant cost savings to the department, faster case resolution for the consumers, and have proven to be especially beneficial after hurricanes and/or major storms.

Program funding comes from fees collected for licensing regulations, with the exception of the Florida Athletic Commission and the Division of Drugs, Devices, and Cosmetics, which were appropriated $443,675 and $640,000 in General Revenue, respectively, for Fiscal Year 2023-24.

Professional Licensing and Business Regulation Changes. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-211, Laws of Florida, which made several changes to professional licensing and business regulation. 

• Professional Licensing Regulations. The law provides a pathway for individuals who hold a mold-related and asbestos professional license in another state to obtain a Florida license. The law also allows certain local electrical and alarm contractors to be licensed statewide.
• Pugilistic Exhibitions. The law removes the maximum participant weight differential requirement for all exhibition matches, to allow any exhibition to include participants who are not in the same weight category.
• Energy Code Compliance Software. The law allows the Florida Building Commission to delay the effective date of the energy provision for up to three months if energy code compliance software is not approved at least three months before the effective date of the update Building Code.  

Building Code Safety Program. The 2023 Legislature enacted Ch. 2023-203, Laws of Florida, which requires the Florida Building Commission to establish a safety program to implement milestone inspection requirements within the Florida Building Code by December 31, 2024. The minimum requirements for the commission's building safety program must include inspection criteria, testing protocols, standardized inspection and reporting forms that are adaptable to an electronic format, and record maintenance requirements for the local authority that has jurisdiction.

Review of Professional Employer Organizations and Workers' Compensation, Report 21-04, March 2021

Other Reports
Annual Reports and Publications, Department of Business and Professional Regulation

Websites of Interest
Department of Business and Professional Regulation
Occupation Profile Search Tool
Council on Licensure, Enforcement and Regulation

Performance Information

Performance measures and standards for the department may be found in its Long Range Program Plan.

Chapters 120, 310, 447 Part I, 450 Parts I and III, 455, 465, 468 Parts VI, VIII, IX, XI, XII, XV, and XVI, 469, 471, 473, 474, 475, 476, 477, 481, 489, 492, 499, 548, and 553, Florida Statutes

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