2012 Grandfathering Does Not Apply to Electrical Contractors

There appears to be some confusion over which registered licenses can now submit applications to become certified through the new Grandfathering statute. There were no changes to the Florida Statutes to allow for grandfathering of registered electrical contractors’ licenses. Only registered licensees under the purview of the Construction Industry Licensing Board can grandfather.

The DBPR has stated that some licensees have received letters from county building departments that they can grandfather their registered electrical contractor’s license. These letters are incorrect and there is no grandfathering for registered electrical contractors at this time.

If you are interested in becoming certified, we can help you file an application for the initial issuance of your Certified Electrical license. Or, if you do have a registered license governed by the CILB, you can find more information here:  http://licensesetc.blogspot.com/2012/09/registered-contractors-grandfathering.html

IMPORTANT NEWS... ID Theft Scam

The DBPR has issued a warning that identity thieves are posing as the Department of Business and Professional Regulation to gain personal information from license holders. They claim your license is being disciplined and want you to call an 800 number. Then they ask for your personal information. Please be aware that this is in no way connected with the Department or its regulatory authority.

DO NOT respond to the email or call the listed number. Instead, contact the Department directly at 850-487-1395. You can also log into your online account to view any public disciplinary actions.

The Department will investigate the matter and will work with law enforcement to determine whether any criminal action has occurred. If you have any specific questions, as always you can give us a call. The Licenses, Etc. Team is always available to help!

Avoid Administrative Dissolution or Revocation

Yes we have called and emailed and shouted about this for months, but there are still a few business owners who have not filed your annual report. The original deadline of May 1st has obviously passed and the very final deadline is quickly approaching.  If you do not file by this final deadline of Friday, September 28th, your business will be dissolved or revoked. To reinstate a business is expensive and time consuming.

Avoid having your business administratively dissolved or revoked by filing your annual report by 5pm this Friday, September 28th, if you have not yet done so. Filings can be submitted directly on the Sunbiz website. Access to this website will not be available from 5 pm Friday, September 28th, until 8 am Monday, October 1st, for any electronic activity.

If you file between now and Friday, there will be a $400 penalty fee. It gets worse after Friday at 5pm. Any businesses that fail to submit annual reports by this deadline must file for reinstatement in order to continue doing any business.  The fee to file for reinstatement can be up to $750 or more. The longer you are inactive, the more it will cost.

If you took care of this by May 1st this post does not apply to you. We never want our clients to pay unnecessary fees or be caught working without being properly setup with the state. Feel free to contact us if we can assist you in any way with annual report filing or reinstatement. 

Registered Contractors Grandfathering Starts October 1st

We have some amazing news for anyone who holds a Registered Contractor’s license that is under the purview of the CILB. If you have held an active state-registered license for a minimum of 5 years, you can submit an application to receive an equivalent Certified License as of October 1, 2012. This means that you can then be licensed to do work in any county throughout Florida without having to get multiple county licenses! All you would need to do is register your one license in the county you wish to do business!

House Bill 897, which passed during the 2012 legislative session, was approved by Governor Rick Scott on May 4, 2012. This bill will re-open and extend the time period for contractors to request that their registered contractor’s license be grandfathered to a state wide certified contractor’s license. This grandfathering time period will take effect on October 1, 2012 and applications will be accepted until November 1, 2015.

The basics:

• Currently hold a valid state-registered construction license. (Specialty Licenses are not included in this grandfathering provision.)
• Have, for that category, passed a written examination that the board finds to be substantially similar to the examination required to be licensed as a certified contractor under this part.
• Have held an active state-registered license for a minimum of 5 years.
• Have not had your contractor's license revoked at any time, nor have had your license suspended or been assessed a fine in excess of $500 within the last 5 years.
• Hold the correct minimum insurances.
• Meet the minimum 660 credit score, or obtain a bond if you do not.
• Supply the application fee of $309.00.

This could be the perfect opportunity to expand your territory. Start getting those jobs that have always been just outside your reach…  Call the Team at Licenses, Etc. today to find out more. 

Veterans Licensing Fees Can Be Waived

The DBPR has taken a step forward to help veterans that are coming home from active duty. As of July 1st, the state has the ability to waive licensing fees for military veterans who apply for a state license within 24 months of an honorable discharge. The fees that can be waived include the initial license fee, initial application fee and initial unlicensed activity fee. 


What is the fine print? 

• Veterans must apply for licensure within 24 months of being honorably discharged from a branch of the United States Armed Forces, including National Guard units. 

• The veteran must provide a DD-214 or NGB-22 form as proof of honorable discharge and the Military Veteran Fee Waiver Request must be submitted with the application.

• This waiver does not include examination fees or other incidental fees, but the VA will reimburse eligible applicants for the cost of licensing and certification examinations. This reimbursement cannot exceed $2,000 per test. The exams they are reimbursing must be deemed necessary to pursue a trade or profession.

Call us if you have any questions regarding this new waiver. We can help you to find out how you or your loved one can get their feet back under them upon returning home. Starting a new business or becoming a part of an existing team starts with a call to the gals at Licenses, Etc.

Out with the Old, In with New Apps and Enforced Rules

As anyone who has been connected with us for any length of time will know, we are always saying that things could change at any time. Well they did, but thankfully the state has given us time to adjust by allowing us to continue the old way for a while as we (and they!) learn their new system. What are we talking about? New applications. The state has updated their forms and we have scoured them to be able to let you know how they are easier than the old ones and more importantly how they are more difficult.

Let’s start with the easy. For Initial Issuance applications, the state no longer requires someone else to verify (sign off) on experience. Also, none of the new applications require bank letters or financial statements. The form that was streamlined the most, though, is the Qualifying an Additional Business Entity application. They no longer require CPA prepared financials or letter of capitalization, 3-months bank statements, bank verification letter, a list of projects completed by each company, information about who can pull permits or vendors, or a signature from a “responsible party” of each company.

This is sounding pretty good, maybe too good, right? Well, now let’s discuss why they are harder. Old applications only looked at credit reports for open bankruptcies/liens/judgments, but the new applications also look at credit SCORES.  Any applicant with a credit score below 660 is required to get a financial stability bond.  For Division-1 licenses (CRC, CBC and CGC), the bond is $20,000. For Division-2 licenses (everything else), the bond is $10,000.  Bond amounts can be cut in half ($10,000 D-1, $5,000 D-2) by taking a 14-hour financial responsibility course, but we are finding that surety companies are only offering these bonds on a very limited basis. From what we’re hearing right now the bond cost is around 3-5% of the bond amount PLUS collateral equal to the bond amount!

Although experience requirements have not changed, the way that experience is provided on the application has become much more detailed.  Now (for D-1 apps) every month of experience required needs to be accounted for on the paperwork with specific projects.  Also, the main ‘buzz words’ of each license type are listed as check-box items.  Each project must list the specific time period when the work was performed, and the check-boxes that apply to the project must be selected.  The combination of check boxes & months must be calculated to come up with the appropriate amount of experience.  D-2 is a bit more lenient than D-1, but the details are still much more elaborate than on the old forms. In addition to all of that, the name, license number, email address and phone number of the contractor that supervised the experience must be listed for each project.  This is to make sure that only experience gained while under the employ of a licensed contractor is used on the application.

We know this is a lot to take in… trust us… WE KNOW. We have until July 13^th to submit the old forms, which gives us some time to learn the new ins and outs, so to speak. No one likes change, but as always, if you have any questions just give us a call. The one thing that can be counted on, we are here to help you.

Social Media Seminar Presented for the Interior Design Society

The Interior Design Society recently offered a seminar on social media at the Miromar Design Center in Estero, FL.  Lisa presented a beginner class in the morning and an advanced class in the afternoon.  In these presentations she touched on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.  Accompanying her was Bronson Taylor of DumbPunk who spoke about websites and search engine optimization. 

About 60 individuals came to learn, making this a highly successful event.  The crowd had very insightful questions and everyone learned something.  Beth Ann Tuyls, President IDS Naples Chapter, said, “I feel a huge THANK YOU is in order!!! What a wonderful, successful event today! We have received so much positive feedback from this event.” 

To see the presentations in their entirety, click on the links below:

·  Beginners - http://www.slideshare.net/lisaadamslicenses/ids-social-media-for-beginners-seminar

·  Advanced - http://www.slideshare.net/lisaadamslicenses/ids-social-media-for-beginners-seminar

There are active links within this presentation, so click away!

If you have any questions after watching this (or would like to hire us to do the work for you), please don’t hesitate to call Lisa at 239-963-5369!

Electrical Rule Changes

Changes have just occurred in the electrical licensing world.  The following rule changes went into effect on Sunday July 17, 2011.  In a nutshell:

·  The Statement of Bonding Limits or Irrevocable Letter of Credit is no longer required.

·  Personal Financial Statements no longer need to be notarized.

·  Forms on the DBPR website have been updated.

Here are the actual statutes now in place at the ECLB.  The crossed-through portions have been removed from the requirements.

61G6-5.003 Requirements for Certification.

 (2) Every applicant must submit:

(a) A comprehensive financial statement reflecting the financial condition of the individual applicant during the previous fiscal year; provided, however, that the statement must have been prepared within 12 months of the date of filing of the application. The financial statement shall include a balance sheet. Unless prepared by a certified public accountant, the financial statement shall be signed in the presence of a notary by the individual applicant.

61G6-5.004 Requirement for Business Organizations.

In order that the Board may carry out its statutory duty to investigate the financial responsibility, credit, and business reputation of an applicant proposing to engage in contracting as a partnership, corporation, business trust, or other legal entity other than a sole proprietorship, an applicant shall be required to forward the following to the Department for review by the Board:

(1) A statement signed and sealed by an officer of a surety company licensed to do business in Florida, certifying that the company would issue a performance or payment bond in an amount of at least $10,000.00 to an applicant for a specialty certification and in an amount of at least $25,000.00 to an applicant for unlimited electrical or alarm certification at the time of application. However, an applicant may substitute an Unexpired Irrevocable Letter of Credit from a responsible financial institution in an amount of at least $10,000.00 or $25,000.00 respectively, in lieu of this requirement.

As always, look to the gals at Licenses, Etc. to help you get through the licensing process quickly and easily.  We are always looking out for what affects you. 

Facebook for Advanced Business User

There are more than 750 million active users on Facebook.  50% are active users that log on to Facebook in any given day.  The average user has 130 friends and people spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.  Last night we discussed how to leverage this information to benefit businesses.

A few of the topics discussed were:

·         Facebook Advertising

·         Check - In Deals

·         Custom Applications including Fan Only Applets

·         Posting as Your Business

·         And much more...

To see the slide presentation in its entirety, go to http://www.slideshare.net/lisaadamslicenses/score-facebook-for-the-advanced-business-user-workshop.  There are active links within this presentation, so be sure to click on the pictures!   

A big thank you to Whole Foods Market Naples for donating the snacks for this event.  What an amazing spread they made available last night.  Yummy!

If you have any questions after watching this (or would like to hire us to do the work for you), please don’t hesitate to call Lisa at 239-963-5369!

Revised Applications and New License Rules Effective July 1st

Some big things just happened at the state level regarding licensing and there are a couple of changes we need to report to you.  Home Inspection licensing was made more attainable during this year’s legislative session.  As of July 1st, Division 1 license holders can apply for a Home Inspector License via Grandfathering.  There are no additional CEU or experience requirements during Grandfathering, so take advantage of this one-time-only opportunity.  Grandfathering will be allowed until July 1, 2012.   There are also provisions for certain other inspectors to be Grandfathered under this new rule.  If you would like additional information, please let us know.  The fee to the DBPR is $330 and fingerprinting is still required.  As always, the gals at Licenses, Etc. can help you with the application.  Give us a call today to find out more.

A big revelation was that the Glass & Glazing license has lost its status as a specialty license and is now a Division 2 license.  This means that Division 1 licensees will need to hold a separate Glass & Glazing license in order to do work such as install windows, or will need to subcontract this work to a licensed Glass & Glazing Contractor.  We have been told that they will continue to use the same exam for this new license that they have been using for the specialty license.  All existing specialty glass and glazing contractors will be reclassified as Division II licensees.  The next available date to test for a Glass & Glazing license will be in August 16th and 17th.  The deadline to sign up is July 20th. 

And finally a note of caution to remind all that enforcement of unlicensed activity for Mold Assessors and Mold Remediators has now begun.  Please make sure that you are working within the laws.  Any contractor going into a location to assess for mold or to address a mold problem will need to be licensed to do so.  These are individual licenses and a license holder must be on site supervising or performing all work that is performed. 

We know that these are big changes in the licensing world.   If you have any questions as to how you may be affected, turn to the gals at Licenses, Etc. to answer all your licensing questions.  We are here to help you.

Florida UC Assessment

It appears the Florida Department of Revenue is hitting mailboxes this week with tax assessment notices [bills].

These taxes ARE NOT due to an incorrect filing or underpaid deposit.

In a nutshell, the Florida unemployment ‘piggybank’ has been empty for years.  Because that fund is basically insolvent, Florida continues to borrow from Uncle Sam to meet its unemployment obligations.

All of us as Florida employers must bear the burden of paying the interest on that debt, and that is what these notices pertain to.  It appears the state is examining a look-back period of 7/1/09 through 6/30/10 for the purposes of computing each firm’s obligation.

The formula for calculating the payment is specified by law.  The calculation is based on your taxable wages reported from 7/1/09 through 6/30/10 which is listed as line 1 on your bill.  There will be a flat charge of $25 for any delinquent quarter which is line 2 on your bill.

Call us with any questions.

-    Thanks to Greg Borden at Olde Florida Payroll for this information.

Congratulations, January licensees!

Congratulations to the following Licenses, Etc. clients who were approved in January:

· Khamir Patel at KHP Developers, Inc. of Tampa, FL

· Michael Armstrong at Armstrong Woodworking, Inc. of Indiatlantic, FL

· Isabelo Rodriguez at Accutilities, LLC of Miramar, FL

· Bryan Meklir at BBMK Contracting and Blue Team Restoration, LLC of Fort Lauderdale, FL

· Mino Campobasso at Bell'Aqua Pool Service, Inc. of Naples, FL

· Joy Iurato at Kemo Jama Enterprises, Inc dba Tampa Bay Construction Group of Tampa, FL

· Roger Frakes at Ecoswitch, LLC of Valrico, FL

· Scott Kish at Kish Enterprises, Inc. of Naples, FL

· Matthew Lyons at Expedited Development Services, LLC of Pompano Beach, FL

· Travis Carter at Granite Construction Limited of Naples, FL

· Joe Miceli at Construction Brokers, Inc. of Kansas City, MO

· Kevin Barry at Orion Home Inspections, Inc. of Bonita Springs, FL

· Braddon Cornish at Technology West Group, Inc. of Las Vegas, NV

· Dan Sheffield at J and L Electric Group, LLC of Seville, FL

We're also pleased to share the newly created or revamped Social Media Networking pages for these fine businesses we get to call clients:

· The Lykos Group

o    Facebook:  www.Facebook.com/LykosGroup

o    Twitter:  www.Twitter.com/TheLykosGroup

Be sure to connect with them on Facebook and Twitter.

Would you like to be set up on Social Media Networking sites, too? Call Lisa at 239.963.5369 for more information.

Get Motivated

You might have received our out of office reply on Tuesday that let you know we were “away from our desks”.  We were actually lucky enough to receive tickets to the Get Motivated seminar, which claims to be “an action-packed, fun-filled, explosive, exciting, inspiring, skill-building business event that is world famous for its mega-watt superstar speakers and spectacular stage production.”   We have to say that between the fireworks, confetti drops, and speakers like former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, former Secretary of State General Colin Powell, and former First Lady Barbara Bush, it was definitely explosive and action packed! 

Our personal favorites ranged from General Powell, who is obviously known to be a great speaker, to unknown James Smith, whose shock-and- awe style had us in tears with laughter.  But we also sat through a sales pitch that went a little far before the lunch break.  After a few minutes, they lost our attention and we started making infomercial jokes, laughing to ourselves.

Motivational was not an adjective that would have described them all.  Laura Bush discussed 9-11, Rudy Giuliani spoke about the reading initiative program, but the unknowns really got your blood pumping and gave motivation in the bucketfuls. 

We have heard both sides from others who attended.  Some say it was unbelievable and they are so glad they went, while others didn’t quite get why the event even exists.  All we can say is the gals at Licenses, Etc. have always been motivated and always will be motivated to find ways to help our clients achieve their goals!  As always, call us and we will help you get motivated to start a business, obtain your license, and market your business. 

Time Is Almost Up to Grandfather for Home Inspection and Mold Licenses

Our phones have been ringing with questions about Mold and Home Inspection licenses.  These new licenses came into existence in July of 2010.  The DBPR has provided a short window of time to get licensed via Grandfathering—a process with dramatically fewer requirements than the normal licensing procedure.  The deadline to Grandfather for these licenses is March 1, 2011.  It is important to note that having a State Certified Contractor license has NOTHING at all to do with getting any of these licenses; however having these new licenses may be a nice compliment to the licenses that you may already hold.  Grandfathering is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity with the DBPR.  Future requirements will be as stringent as the requirements to become a Certified Contractor!!

Mold Remediation and Mold Assessment are two separate licenses.  Each can be grandfathered in one of two different ways.  By far the easiest is by belonging to a state or national mold-related association, completing 30 hours of CEUs for Mold Remediation and 60 hours of CEUs for Mold Assessment on mold related services, and applying with the DBPR.   The other option is to Grandfather via Experience.  To do this you must establish at least 3 years of experience by submitting at least 40 invoices for mold assessment or mold remediation (as applicable to the license desired). The DBPR may investigate the validity of a mold invoice and, if the applicant submits a false invoice, may take disciplinary action.  
There are also two ways to grandfather into a home inspector license.  The easiest way is to belong to a state or national home inspection association, complete 14 hours of home inspection CEUs, and then apply with the DBPR.  The other option is to Grandfather via Experience.  To do this you must establish at least 3 years of experience as a home inspector and complete at least 14 hours of verifiable education on home inspection services. To establish the 3 years of experience, you must submit a list of at least 120 home inspection reports. The DBRP may investigate the validity of a home inspection report submitted and, if the applicant submits a false report, may take disciplinary action. 

Please note that these licenses are individual licenses—they do not qualify a business.  This means that there must be a licensee on site at each project that is being worked on.  So there will need to be a licensed mold remediator on each project while work is being performed.  You cannot have staff working on a project without having a licensee present.  Assessment work can only be performed by a licensed assessor.  Reconstruction can only be performed by an appropriately licensed contractor.

How can Licenses Etc. help you get licensed quickly and easily? 

As always, we make preparing the application forms as easy as possible for our clients.  We have created a special discounted fee structure for people who are trying to beat the grandfathering deadline.  Because we know that many of you will be applying for two or maybe even three of these licenses, we’ve developed a package deal. 

Initial Licensing:  Grandfathering (via certification and education only)

Mold Remediator, Mold Assessor or Home Inspector:

1^st application per applicant:  $300—additional concurrent applications $150 each

This charge includes the following:

§   Typed, easy-to-read forms (with the exact information required to get your application approved the first time!)

§   In-depth, 2-time review of the entire application package to ensure everything is exactly right and all necessary supporting documents are included

§   Overnight shipping to the DBPR

§   Monitoring of DBPR’s approval process and immediate response to any issues that arise

§   Unlimited time from us to provide assistance and answer any questions you have related to the license and application process

§   A copy of your entire license package sent to you once we send it to DBPR

You will need to provide proof of certification by a state or national association for the requested license type(s) through proof of a proctored examination and also proof of completing the required number of hours of education per license type(s).  We can provide information on different courses that are available…just let us know if you need details.

The other costs for you are the class/membership fees, the DBPR application fee, and the fingerprinting fee. The application fees must be separate checks made out directly to the DBPR for $330 for each license that you’re going to acquire. The fingerprinting costs are $57.25.

This pricing is valid for deposits received no later than February 15^th 2011.  Applications must be RECEIVED at the DBPR no later than February 28^th, 2011. 

Call us now and you can have the paperwork in hand when you complete the class.  What could be easier than walking out of class with everything together and ready to mail?  Contact us NOW…we’ll make things easy for you!

New Online System at the DBPR

The DBPR has implemented a new online system.  EVERYONE who has a license will need to Re-Register on the DBPR site to have access to their personal account.  If you’d like assistance, we can take care of this for you for $50 for the first license and $10 for each additional license in the state of Florida.  If you’d like to complete the process yourself, here are the steps you’ll need to follow:

Start here:  https://www.myfloridalicense.com/ActivateAccountInstruct.asp

Pick your profession (construction industry), and then click the registration button. 

A new window will open.

·         Enter your name (as it appears on your license)

·         Enter your email address (this will be your username) it will also be where your temporary password will be sent.

·         Answer one of three ‘secret’ questions:

1.       Mother’s maiden name

2.       Where you were born

3.       Street where you grew up

4.       Or you can create your own question.

·         Enter the randomly generated letters at the bottom (security thing)

At that time, an email will be sent to you with a temporary password that IS case sensitive.

You can then hit the ‘return’ button and go back to the login page.

·         Enter your username (email address) and password.

·         You will be taken to a page where you can then create your own password.

Now you’re logged in.

But here’s the crazy part.  Now you have to tell them which licenses are YOURS!!

·         Click on: Link an Existing License to My Account

·         Choose your profession (construction)

·         Choose your specialty (CGC, CPC, CFC, etc.)

·         Enter only the NUMERIC portion of your license

·         Click on Next

You’ll then be prompted to enter your SSN and another of those random security things.

It will then allow you to add the license number to your account.

*  You will need to repeat this process for all licenses.  *

Once these steps are complete, you can now click on your license to do maintenance options:

·         Address change

·         Change of status from Active to Inactive

·         View CEU credits

Feeling overwhelmed?  We are more than happy to help you with this process.  Contact us and we will get this off your to-do list immediately.

Our Very Own Running Man

We are suckers for a good charity, especially one for children.  So we were delighted to find out one of our LE friends, Gerhard, ran 163 miles for one such charity.  That was 52 hours of non-stop running from Cocoa Beach to Clearwater Beach, starting Friday night and ending at midnight on Sunday.

Volunteers were set up the whole way to run or bike with him for several miles at a time and also a support vehicle to carry all the provisions that he may need, including rain gear for when it started raining on Sunday afternoon. 

When he finished at midnight on Sunday it was really windy, cold & wet conditions on Clearwater Beach.  The weather was so bad, cruise ships were not allowed back into the Port of Tampa on Sunday as they were worried they wouldn’t safely make it under the bridge they pass through to get back to port. 

He was doing this to raise money for the Sunshine Foundation whose sole purpose is to answer the dreams of chronically ill, seriously ill, physically challenged and abused children, ages three to eighteen, whose families cannot fulfill their requests due to the financial strain that child's illness may cause.

If anyone would like to donate to this great cause, you can do so by either

Making checks payable to Sunshine Foundation

Mail to

Gerhard Treviranus

1731 Vintage St

Kissimmee, FL 34746

Or going online to www.sunshinefoundation.org/donations click on Donate Now and reference ‘Gerhard’s Run’ in the Notes/comments section of the donation page.

Run Gerhard, Run!

’Tis the season for Scammers!

Do you ever feel like everyone is out to get you?  Well, don’t dismiss that feeling all the time.

There’s a new scam out that is aimed at business owners.  The email you receive will start out with this:

Do not disregard this message. Your email address was provided by the
Florida Division of Corporations regarding YOUR COMPANY’S NAME.

NOTICE

ANNUAL REPORT ORDER NOW DUE:

Then the email will go on to list your federal tax ID number and lots of other personal information.

It even goes so far as to say that, “Your email address was supplied to us by the Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations.”  This is not true!

When one of our clients called this morning to ask what this was, we immediately took action and called the Department of State.  They have NOTHING to do with this company.  Another clue was the fact that it’s too early to even file annual reports.

This is a SCAM and should be disregarded.

The real truth?  You DO need to file annual reports after the 1st of the year, but not through Arvitas.  Annual reports can only be filed through SUNBIZ.ORG.

Ever have a question about something like this, call us.  We are here for you.