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What are the warning signs when hiring a kitchen remodeling contractor in Florida?

Slow down on a kitchen remodel, such as a wall or sink move, when the company asks you to get the building permits yourself, to pay for everything up front or only in cash, or to decide immediately; FTC guidance lists those tactics.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

Researched by the InstaBids editorial team. Last checked: 15 October 2026 Updated 2026-10-16

A half-finished kitchen with cabinets missing doors, no countertop and capped pipes in an opened wall.

Key facts

What should a written quote include before I pay anything?

Ask for a written kitchen remodeling estimate that describes the work, materials, completion date and price, then look for the structural and trade lines a vague quote skips: who decides whether a wall is load-bearing, who moves the sink drain or range supply, who adds circuits, who pulls the permit and who hauls the demolition debris.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

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The FTC's home improvement page, read 15 October 2026, says: "A written estimate should include a description of the work to be done, materials, completion date, and the price." A kitchen quote that stops at those four items can still leave the riskiest decisions unwritten.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

Six gaps in a kitchen quote are worth a written answer before any money moves:

  1. Opening a wall to the family room: the quote shows demolition, but which person decides whether the wall carries load, and is a beam or header a line item?
  2. Moving the sink to an island: who runs the new drain, vent and water lines, and who reconnects the dishwasher at its new spot?
  3. Moving the range or adding a cooktop: who extends the gas line or the electrical circuit, and is that work inside the price or outside it?
  4. Cabinets: does the quote name the door style, box count and delivery week, or only a single cabinet total?
  5. Permit: is there a permit line naming the company as applicant, or a note that the owner will apply?
  6. Debris: where do the old cabinets, countertops and drywall go, and is a hauler or container named?

FDACS, on its service contractor page read 15 October 2026, advises: "Ask contractors to justify their bids by listing the work/materials that are included." A kitchen bid that bundles demolition, wall framing and plumbing into one figure makes those six questions hard to answer.

Source: FDACS consumer advice on service contractors, read 15 October 2026.

If your house was built before 1978, add paint dust to the list. EPA's Renovation, Repair and Painting Program page, read 15 October 2026, says: "Any renovation, repair or painting project in a pre-1978 home or building that has lead-based paint can easily create dangerous lead dust." Ask each company how it contains dust while old cabinets and soffits come down.

Source: EPA Renovation, Repair and Painting Program, read 15 October 2026.

How big a deposit is normal under Florida law?

Compare any kitchen deposit request with your written payment schedule, because none of the sources on this page names a normal deposit size for a remodel. Florida Statutes section 489.126 deals with moneys received by contractors; its subsection (1) says who counts as a contractor for that section.

Source: Florida Statutes section 489.126, Moneys received by contractors, read 15 October 2026.

Section 489.126(1) of the 2026 Florida Statutes, read 15 October 2026, states: "For purposes of this section, the term “contractor” includes all definitions as set forth in s. 489.105(3), and any person performing or contracting or promising to perform work described therein, without regard to the licensure of the person."

Source: Florida Statutes section 489.126, Moneys received by contractors, read 15 October 2026.

Whether these passages reach your agreement is a question for a Florida attorney.

Cabinets and appliances may be ordered before demolition, so ask whether an early payment request is for that order. Ask for the supplier's order confirmation showing your address, the cabinet line and the delivery week, and ask whether you can pay the supplier directly. Keep the payment for cabinets separate from the payment for labor so you can match each one to something delivered or something built.

What payment requests are warning signs?

Treat these kitchen remodel requests as reasons to pause before paying: cash only, the whole price up front before demolition starts, or pressure for an immediate decision. FTC guidance lists all three among tactics to watch for.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

The FTC's advice on paying is direct: "Don’t pay the full amount for the project up front." It ends the same paragraph with: "And never make the final payment until the work is done and you’re satisfied with it." For a kitchen, done can mean the sink drains, every appliance runs and the inspector has signed off.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

FDACS adds: "Never agree to a cash-only deal." A check or card payment to the business named on the contract leaves you a dated record.

Source: FDACS consumer advice on service contractors, read 15 October 2026.

Look hard at an offer to have you pull the permit yourself; the FTC lists a contractor asking you to get the building permits among tactics to watch for.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

The FTC also warns: "Don’t sign a document you haven’t read, is in a language you don’t understand, or that has blank spaces." That applies to a change order handed over mid-demolition as much as to the first contract.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

Any of these requests can have an ordinary explanation; the point is to get that explanation in writing before you pay.

What should I do if the work stops?

Start by photographing the stalled kitchen with the date: open walls, capped pipes, loose wiring, uninstalled cabinets and any missing countertop. Gather the contract and receipts, write to the company, and consider the DBPR, FDACS or Broward County complaint routes; DBPR and Broward County each state limits on what they can do.

Source: DBPR file a complaint page, read 15 October 2026.
Source: FDACS complaint routes for businesses, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Broward County report a complaint page, read 15 October 2026.

Write down the last day a crew worked, which rough-in inspections passed, and whether water, gas or power to the kitchen was shut off and left that way. Ask in writing how the company plans to make the room safe while the job is paused.

The FTC says to begin with the company: "First try to resolve it with the contractor. Many disputes can be resolved at this level." Send a dated letter listing each unfinished kitchen stage and keep a copy.

Source: FTC consumer advice on home improvement contractors, read 15 October 2026.

DBPR's complaint page, read 15 October 2026, explains: "The professions and businesses regulated by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation and the disciplinary action that may be taken is administrative in nature, e.g., reprimand, fine, restriction of practice, remedial education, administrative cost, probation, license suspension or license revocation."

Source: DBPR file a complaint page, read 15 October 2026.

Broward County's complaint page, read 15 October 2026, says of its Building Code Division: "The Building Code Division can initiate administrative disciplinary action against the license of a Broward County contractor who has violated a law, an ordinance or the Florida Building Code. They cannot make a contractor perform corrective work or pay damages, and have no authority to impose the settlement of a contract or other civil damages. Complaints must be submitted in writing."

Source: Broward County report a complaint page, read 15 October 2026.

FDACS's complaint page, read 15 October 2026, lists "Complaints About a Regulated or Non-Regulated Business" under "Complaints You Can File Online".

Source: FDACS complaint routes for businesses, read 15 October 2026.

DBPR's recovery fund page, read 15 October 2026, says: "If you have suffered damages caused by the financial mismanagement of a licensed contractor or construction company with whom you have signed a construction contract, you may be eligible for the fund. The fund is a last resort after all civil remedies have been exhausted."

Source: DBPR Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund page, read 15 October 2026.

Questions about recovering money, clearing a lien from your home or ending the contract belong with a Florida attorney who can read your documents.

What should my request include?

Describe the kitchen in a written scope with photographs: each wall and the ceiling, the wall you might open, where the sink and range sit now and where you want them, your electrical panel, any gas valve behind the range, the year the house was built, and where a debris container or trailer could park.

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

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

Where can I look up public records myself?

Check, only if you choose, a few dated public records: DBPR's What Requires a License table for whether your kitchen plan includes regulated work, DBPR's licensee search and category descriptions, and the Division of Corporations index for the business name on your contract. Each result shows what an office published on the day you looked.

Source: DBPR Unlicensed Activity Program, What Requires a License, read 15 October 2026.
Source: DBPR licensee search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: DBPR construction industry categories, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Division of Corporations records search, read 15 October 2026.

DBPR's What Requires a License page, read 15 October 2026, lists under Needs a DBPR License: "Remodel a home that requires alteration or replacement of a load-bearing wall for compensation." In the same row, under Does not need a DBPR License: "Paint; install cabinets, wood or tile flooring, and insulation regardless of compensation." Painting and installing cabinets sit in one column of that row; altering or replacing a load-bearing wall sits in the other.

Source: DBPR Unlicensed Activity Program, What Requires a License, read 15 October 2026.

The same table lists under Needs a DBPR License: "Perform plumbing work or irrigation installation that requires the contractor to connect lines to potable (drinking) water for compensation."

Source: DBPR Unlicensed Activity Program, What Requires a License, read 15 October 2026.

DBPR's construction industry page describes several contractor categories, and you can ask which one, if any, the business running your kitchen holds. It states: "CG and RG – A “general contractor” means a contractor whose services are unlimited as to the type of work which he or she may do." Under the building category it adds: "A building contractor is also a contractor whose services are limited to remodeling, repair, or improvement of any size building – if the services do not affect the structural elements of the building." The page describes CR and RR residential contractors under a separate heading, and CF and RF plumbing contractors under another.

Source: DBPR construction industry categories, read 15 October 2026.

You can search the DBPR licensee search by name or by license number. The Division of Corporations calls its site "the State of Florida's official business entity index and commercial activity website." Compare the business name on your kitchen contract with the payee on each receipt.

Source: DBPR licensee search, read 15 October 2026.
Source: Division of Corporations records search, read 15 October 2026.

File any search printout next to the kitchen contract, with the date you ran it written on the page.

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