Who may repair a Florida foundation, and does the job need a permit?

What Florida contractor law says about paid foundation work

Section 489.105(3) of the Florida Statutes defines a contractor as anyone who, for pay, repairs, alters or improves a building or structure for others. Section 489.105(15) names a foundation as a structural component of a building, alongside load-bearing walls, columns, floors and the roof structure.

DBPR's Unlicensed Activity page puts it in plain terms: if you pay someone to make structural alterations to load-bearing walls, that person must hold a state contractor's license. Foundations aren't named on that page. Get the license number in writing before you sign.

Foundation repair cost in Florida: our estimate and the wage data

Our estimate for a repair project is $1,925 to $6,975 per project, built from national published ranges (2 counted) and scaled by Florida's cement mason wage ratio (0.87). It leaves out permit fees. One Florida company's published price was counted, too few to shape the range.

Estimated range. Built from national published ranges (2 sources), adjusted by Florida's cement mason wage ratio to the US (0.87, BLS May 2025). Not a quote. One Florida foundation company publishes a price we could count on their own websites; where five or more price the same job, the range is the middle half of their prices, and where two to four do, the estimate is widened to take them in. Coupons, specials and figures a page gives as an average are not counted. Only one Florida company publishes a price we could count for this job, so the range is our national estimate alone. Full method. Prices as of Oct 24, 2026.

The license classes DBPR prints, and the limit on the building class

DBPR's Construction Industry page prints these classes: General (CG, RG), Building (CB, RB), Residential (CR, RR), Sheet Metal, Roofing, three Air-Conditioning classes, Mechanical, two Pool classes, Plumbing, Underground Utility and Excavation, Solar, Pollutant Storage Systems and Specialty (SCC, RX). None is called foundation repair. Neither DBPR nor chapter 489 says which of them a foundation repair contractor needs, so ask the company which class it holds and why that one covers your job.

The classes differ by scope. The building class covers remodeling, repair or improvement of a building of any size only when the services don't affect the structural members, a limit both the statute and DBPR print. A code starting with C means a certified contractor who may work anywhere in Florida; one starting with R means a registered contractor limited to the place it registered. Search the company at myfloridalicense.com and read both letters.

Engineer's seals, and Tampa's sealed-plan permit

Section 471.025 says the final drawings, plans and reports an engineer gives the owner must be signed, dated and sealed. A contractor carrying out work a professional engineer designed doesn't need an engineering license for it, under section 471.003(2)(f). If a company says an engineer designed your repair, ask for the sealed copy.

Tampa has a permit page of its own. Its Residential Foundation Stabilization page, updated 05/08/2025, says those permits are required 'when the foundation of a property is compromised' and lists a signed and sealed stabilization plan and engineering reports among the plan-review items. Port St. Lucie's structural damage checklist and Hialeah's repair-permit rules also ask for an architect's or engineer's plans or report; the piering page has both.

The permit statute and its $7,500 exemption

Section 553.79(1)(a) makes it unlawful to construct, alter, modify, repair or demolish any building in Florida without first getting a permit from the enforcing agency. Under 553.79(1)(g), an owner of a single-family dwelling can skip the permit for work valued under $7,500, unless the property sits partly or entirely in a flood hazard area.

That exemption also doesn't apply to 'electrical, plumbing, structural, mechanical, or gas work'. Foundation repair isn't named in the statute's list. Chapter 489, a separate law, counts a foundation as a structural component, so ask the building office whether it treats your repair as structural work before you rely on the exemption. Florida's code in force is the Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), effective December 31, 2023.

Tampa's application guide files foundation stabilization under the permit type Miscellaneous Project. The city's Miscellaneous Projects fee schedule (effective Oct. 1, 2018, updated 5/31/2020) lists $177.00 for one- and two-family dwellings for work no other fee table covers; it doesn't mention foundations, so the match is by permit type only.

If a repair fails: the chapter 558 notice that comes before a lawsuit

Chapter 558 treats a deficiency in the construction, repair, alteration or remodeling of real property as a construction defect. For a single home, you serve written notice of claim on the contractor at least 60 days before filing an action. The person served may inspect within 30 days and must serve a written response within 45 days, offering to repair, to pay, or both, or stating that the claim is disputed or that the insurer will decide within 30 days.

A suit filed without the notice can be stayed on timely motion. You are asked to try to serve the notice within 15 days of discovery, and late notice does not bar the action. The notice also does not pause a statute of repose under chapter 95.

Foundation signs that shouldn't wait for a second quote

Before you call anyone

1. Photograph each crack with a ruler beside it and write the date on the photo.
2. Look up each company at myfloridalicense.com and read the license class beside the number.
3. Call the building office with your address and ask whether a foundation repair there needs a permit and sealed plans.

Permits for a foundation repair in Florida

Your city or county building office issues the permit under s. 553.79, and the statute has each office post its permit applications on its website. Tampa names a Foundation Stabilization permit and asks for sealed engineering paperwork. Anywhere else, ask the office for your address which permit type it files a foundation repair under.

DBPR has no foundation repair license category, so ask which state contractor license the company holds, look the number up on myfloridalicense.com and get its certificate of insurance before you sign anything.

Questions people ask

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Related services

• Foundation cracks
• Piering and underpinning
• Bowing walls
• Foundation inspection

Florida licensing, code and permit facts · Report a wrong price or rule