Qualifications to practice; restrictions; prerequisites.

(1) Any person who desires to engage in electrical or alarm system contracting on a statewide basis shall, as a prerequisite thereto, establish his or her competency and qualifications to be certified pursuant to this part. To establish competency, a person shall pass the appropriate examination administered by the department. Any person who desires to engage in contracting on other than a statewide basis shall, as a prerequisite thereto, be registered pursuant to this part, unless exempted by this part.

(2) No person who is not certified or registered shall engage in the business of contracting in this state. To enforce this subsection:

(a) The department shall issue a cease and desist order to prohibit any person from engaging in the business of contracting who does not hold the required certification or registration for the work being performed under this part. For the purpose of enforcing a cease and desist order, the department may file a proceeding in the name of the state seeking issuance of an injunction or a writ of mandamus against any person who violates any provision of such order.

(b) A county or municipality may issue a cease and desist order to prohibit any person from engaging in the business of contracting who does not hold the required certification or registration for the work being performed under this part.

(3) When a certificateholder desires to engage in contracting in any area of the state, as a prerequisite therefor, he or she shall only be required to exhibit to the local building official, tax collector, or other authorized person in charge of the issuance of licenses and building or electrical permits in the area evidence of holding a current certificate and a current business tax receipt issued by the jurisdiction in which the certificateholder’s principal place of business is located and having paid the fee for the permit required of other persons. However, a local construction regulation board may deny the issuance of an electrical permit to a certified contractor, or issue a permit with specific conditions, if the local construction regulation board has found such contractor, through the public hearing process, to be guilty of fraud or a willful building code violation within the county or municipality that the local construction regulation board represents, or if the local construction regulation board has proof that such contractor, through the public hearing process, has been found guilty, in another county or municipality within the past 12 months, of fraud or a willful building code violation and finds, after providing notice to the contractor, that such fraud or violation would have been fraud or a violation if committed in the county or municipality that the local construction board represents. Notification of and information concerning such permit denial shall be submitted to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation within 15 days after the local construction regulation board decides to deny the permit.

(4) A county or municipality may suspend or deny a locally issued permit when the local building official, tax collector, or other authorized person determines that the contractor has failed to obtain both workers’ compensation insurance or an acceptable exemption certificate issued by the department and public liability and property damage insurance in the amounts determined by rule of the board.

(5) This part does not prevent any certified electrical or alarm system contractor from acting as a prime contractor when the majority of the work to be performed under the contract is within the scope of his or her license or from subcontracting to other licensed contractors any remaining work that is part of the project contracted.

(6) Notwithstanding any other provision to the contrary, a certified electrical contractor, registered alarm system contractor I, registered alarm system contractor II, or alarm system contractor I or alarm system contractor II that is a certified alarm system contractor is exempt from any local law, local ordinance, or local code that requires a contractor to be listed or placarded by a nationally recognized testing laboratory or to be certified by any regionally or nationally recognized certification organization. However, a county, municipality, or special district may require any such electrical contractor or alarm system contractor to provide, at the final inspection of a fire alarm system, the documentation required by NFPA No. 72, “National Fire Alarm Code,” for installation and monitoring. This subsection does not prohibit a county, municipality, or special district from requiring compliance with the Florida Fire Prevention Code or with NFPA No. 72.