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How do I check a generator installation contractor in Florida myself?

Start with three optional, dated public-record lookups for a permanently connected generator: the state electrical record, certified EC or registered ER, for whoever will wire it, the Broward or Palm Beach county contractor search, and the DFS workers' compensation records, keeping a separate question for whoever connects the fuel supply.

Source: Florida DBPR, understanding DBPR codes, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida DBPR, electrical contractors questions, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida DBPR, licence search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Broward County, contractor licence search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Palm Beach County, contractor regulations, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida Division of Workers' Compensation, Proof of Coverage search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida Division of Workers' Compensation, officer and member exemptions, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, LP gas licences, read 15 October 2026.

Researched by the InstaBids editorial team. Last checked: 15 October 2026

A new standby generator with a gray conduit and a separate gas line running into the house wall.

Key facts

Which public records can I look up for a generator installation contractor?

Check the DBPR licence search for an EC or ER electrical record, your county's contractor search for a local card, and the DFS workers' compensation records for the employer named on your written scope. Each lookup is optional, and a standby generator job can involve more than one business, so date every result.

Source: Florida DBPR, licence search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida DBPR, understanding DBPR codes, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Broward County, contractor licence search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Palm Beach County, contractor regulations, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida Division of Workers' Compensation, Proof of Coverage search, read 15 October 2026.

DBPR's table of licence codes, read 15 October 2026, lists EC as “Electrical Contractor” and ER as “Registered Electrical Contractor”. Neither label names generators, so look up the business doing the wiring separately from whichever company sells you the unit.

Source: Florida DBPR, understanding DBPR codes, read 15 October 2026.

Ask for the licence number and the legal name of the business that will sign your agreement before you search. The dealer that supplies the generator and the electrical business that connects it may be different companies, and each one you plan to hire is a separate search.

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How do I read the state licence record?

Read the licence type on the generator installer's DBPR record first, looking for Electrical Contractor or Registered Electrical Contractor. Then check the status, the expiry date, the name of record and the associated business, and compare each one with the company on your written scope.

Source: Florida DBPR, understanding DBPR codes, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida DBPR, licence search, read 15 October 2026.

DBPR's unlicensed activity page, read 15 October 2026, describes the electrical category in its own words: “An Electrical Contractor installs, repairs, alters, adds to, or designs electrical wiring, fixtures, or appliances, which generate, transmit, transform, or utilize electrical energy for compensation.”

Source: Florida DBPR, what requires a licence (unlicensed activity), read 15 October 2026.

Section 489.505(12) of the 2026 Florida Statutes, read 15 October 2026, states: "“Electrical contractor” or “unlimited electrical contractor” means a person who conducts business in the electrical trade field and who has the experience, knowledge, and skill to install, repair, alter, add to, or design, in compliance with law, electrical wiring, fixtures, appliances, apparatus, raceways, conduit, or any part thereof, which generates, transmits, transforms, or utilizes electrical energy in any form, including the electrical installations and systems within plants and substations, all in compliance with applicable plans, specifications, codes, laws, and regulations. The term means any person, firm, or corporation that engages in the business of electrical contracting under an express or implied contract; or that undertakes, offers to undertake, purports to have the capacity to undertake, or submits a bid to engage in the business of electrical contracting; or that does itself or by or through others engage in the business of electrical contracting."

Source: The 2026 Florida Statutes, section 489.505, read 15 October 2026.

For an ER record, DBPR's electrical contractors page adds: “A registered electrical contractor may contract for electrical systems, including all specialty categories, only in the cities and/or counties for which his or her registration is issued.” Ask which county or city issued the registration and whether your generator address falls inside it.

Source: Florida DBPR, electrical contractors licence types, read 15 October 2026.

Compare the business on the record with the company on your agreement. Asked what it means to qualify a business, the Electrical Contractors' Licensing Board FAQ, read 15 October 2026, answers: “It means the contractor has agreed to accept full responsibility of the business including financial transactions, signing permits, and supervising all jobs the business participates in.” Ask which licence holder stands behind the business that would apply for any electrical permit on your job.

Source: Florida DBPR, electrical contractors questions, read 15 October 2026.

Does the county also keep a record?

Possibly. Check the Broward or Palm Beach county contractor search for the electrical business on your written scope, because a registered ER record starts from a local certificate of competency. Treat a county card and any permit for your generator as two separate items in your notes.

Source: Broward County, contractor licence search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Palm Beach County, contractor regulations, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida DBPR, electrical contractors questions, read 15 October 2026.

Use Palm Beach County's contractor regulations page if the job is in that county: it links to a county search and a state search side by side, so you can look for an ER bidder's county card and its state registration in one visit.

Source: Palm Beach County, contractor regulations, read 15 October 2026.

Palm Beach's certification FAQ describes a Certificate of Competency as “the term used for a Palm Beach County issued contractor's license.” An ER bidder in that county may be able to tell you which local certificate its state registration rests on.

Source: Palm Beach County, contractors certification questions, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Florida DBPR, electrical contractors questions, read 15 October 2026.

In Broward, the county form offers three ways to search, by person, by company or by a number typed into a box labelled “CC Number:”. Ask the bidder which county issued any card it shows you.

Source: Broward County, contractor licence search, read 15 October 2026.

Keep the county result beside the state electrical record and the date of each search, so a card for one business is never read as an answer about the company that wires your transfer switch.

How can I check workers' compensation coverage?

Check the employer that will send electricians and any pad or trenching crew to your generator job in the DFS Proof of Coverage search, if you want this optional lookup. Write the date of any search beside that employer's name on your written scope.

Source: Florida Division of Workers' Compensation, Proof of Coverage search, read 15 October 2026.

Name the trades on site: the electricians at the panel and transfer switch, anyone forming a concrete pad, and anyone running a gas line to the unit. Ask which company pays each of them, and search each company name the answers give you.

An owner who shows you a DFS exemption is showing something personal. The DFS exemptions page, read 15 October 2026, states: “Upon issuance of an exemption, the officer or member is not considered an employee of the business and may not recover workers' compensation benefits. Exemptions are issued to officers of a corporation and members of limited liability companies - not to the business.” File it under that owner's name, apart from any coverage result for the electricians.

Source: Florida Division of Workers' Compensation, officer and member exemptions, read 15 October 2026.

What should I ask for in writing about insurance?

Ask the generator installer, only if you want one, for an insurance certificate that lists your name as certificate holder and the job address from your written scope. Nothing obliges you to collect it, and questions about the policy behind it belong with the agent who issued it.

Pair every certificate with the part of the generator job it covers. The electrical connection, the fuel line and the concrete pad can belong to three businesses, so ask which company each document names and which line of your scope that company handles.

If the unit size, the location beside the house or the fuel type changes after the first proposal, ask for an updated written scope before collecting more documents, and keep the earlier version for comparison.

How do I describe the generator installation job before checking anyone?

Describe where the generator would sit, the fuel you have or want, the transfer switch you expect and whether it should run the whole house or chosen circuits. Add photographs of the electrical panel, the meter, the proposed pad spot and any gas meter or tank, so every bidder answers the same written scope.

Treat the fuel connection as its own line item. FDACS, read 15 October 2026, describes its role: “The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (FDACS) is responsible for licensing individuals and businesses that sell, transport, dispense or store liquefied petroleum (LP) gas and that manufacture, install, service or repair LP gas containers, systems or appliances.”

Source: Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, LP gas licences, read 15 October 2026.

DBPR's code table also lists a separate construction code, CZC, labelled “Gas Line Specialty”. Ask which business would connect a propane tank or natural gas line to your unit, which record it holds, and whether that part sits in the electrician's proposal or a separate one.

Source: Florida DBPR, understanding DBPR codes, read 15 October 2026.

Settle three generator choices early, because each one changes who bids on what:

  1. A whole-house transfer switch, or a smaller set of circuits you pick.
  2. A connection to an existing gas meter or tank, or a new tank set by a separate LP gas business.
  3. A concrete pad formed by the installer, or a prepared base you arrange.

Ask who removes packaging and hauls away any old unit, and who runs the first start-up with you present during a final walk-through.

What should my request include?

Describe the generator task in a written scope with photographs of the panel, meter, fuel source and proposed pad spot. List the transfer switch, wiring run, fuel connection, pad and disposal as separate items, and ask each bidder to name which items another business would handle.

Contact details stay hidden until the homeowner picks a contractor and they confirm the connection.

Source: InstaBids process and privacy, read 15 October 2026.

What should I do before I sign?

Compare your generator agreement with the written scope line by line: the unit model, transfer switch, fuel connection and pad, plus the dates work begins and ends and when each payment falls due. Ask whose name would go on any electrical or fuel-gas permit, and match each business to any lookups you ran.

The FTC's home improvement guidance, read 15 October 2026, advises: “Don’t sign a document you haven’t read, is in a language you don’t understand, or that has blank spaces.”

Source: Federal Trade Commission, home improvement guidance, read 15 October 2026.

If the unit moves, the circuit list grows or the gas route changes once the crew arrives, ask for a written change order and settle it before the work goes on. File the signed copy with your photographs, each scope draft and any dated record searches.

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