The top design and architectural related companiesin Florida.
Short answer: Exchange lists 10 architecture firms in Florida. Architects are licensed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation through the Board of Architecture and Interior Design under chapter 481, and since July 1, 2020 firms need a qualifying registered architect, not a separate certificate of authorization. Licenses renew by February 28 of odd-numbered years with 24 continuing education hours. One-family and two-family homes are exempt from the architect requirement, and unpaid design fees can be liened under section 713.03 within 90 days of final services.
Licensing authority
The Board of Architecture and Interior Design, an 11-member board within the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, certifies architects for licensure under chapter 481, Florida Statutes.
Firm qualification
A separate certificate of authorization has not been required since July 1, 2020; a firm practices through a registered architect acting as qualifying agent, with 60 days to replace a departing sole qualifier.
Renewal deadline
Architect licenses expire on February 28 of every odd-numbered year, with 24 continuing education hours per cycle including 2 hours of advanced Florida Building Code coursework.
Lien for design fees
Under section 713.03 an architect with a direct contract can lien a parcel even if it is never improved, by recording a claim of lien within 90 days after final services.
Code regime
Local building departments enforce the Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023), until the 9th Edition (2026) takes effect on December 31, 2026.
Homes without an architect
One-family and two-family residences, townhouses, farm buildings and non-public buildings costing less than 25,000 dollars can be designed by a person who is not a licensed architect.
Do architects need a license in Florida?
Yes, anyone practicing architecture or using the title architect in Florida needs a license issued by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation on certification by the Board of Architecture and Interior Design, under Part I of chapter 481, Florida Statutes.
The board sits within the department and has 11 members: five registered architects, three registered interior designers and three laypersons. The route to a first license has three parts. The statute requires graduation from a school or college of architecture with a program accredited by the National Architectural Accrediting Board, an internship of diversified experience approved by the board, and a pass in the licensure examination the board prescribes. In practice the board points applicants to the Architectural Experience Program run by NCARB for the internship and to the Architect Registration Examination for the test. Practicing without a license, or holding out as an architect without one, is a first degree misdemeanor under section 481.223.
Architects already licensed elsewhere in the United States can apply by endorsement. The statute recognizes three situations: a passed examination and completed internship equivalent to Florida's, a valid license from a jurisdiction whose criteria were substantially equivalent when it was issued, or a valid NCARB certificate together with a current license from another state. In every case an out-of-state architect also has to complete a 2-hour board-approved class on wind mitigation techniques, a requirement that reflects how much of Florida design work is driven by hurricane loading. Licenses expire on February 28 of every odd-numbered year, and the board requires 24 continuing education hours per cycle, including 2 hours of advanced Florida Building Code coursework. A license can be checked on the department's public search before an agreement is signed.
Does an architecture firm need a separate certificate of authorization in Florida?
No, since July 1, 2020 Florida has not issued or required a separate certificate of authorization for architecture firms; instead a business organization may practice only if it is qualified by a registered architect who acts as its qualifying agent.
Section 481.219 sets out how this works. A licensee or applicant who wants to practice through a partnership, limited liability company, corporation or fictitious name qualifies that business organization with the board. The qualifying agent is responsible for ensuring responsible supervising control of the firm's projects, and the firm has to show the qualifying architect's license number in its advertising. If the only qualifying agent leaves, the firm has 60 days to be qualified by another registered architect, and the board's executive director or chair can authorize another employed architect to stand in for no more than 60 days. Changes to the information in the qualification application are reportable to the department within 30 days.
For an owner, the practical point is that there is no firm license number to look up. The check is on the individual: whether the person named as qualifying agent holds a current Florida architect license, and whether the architect who will sign and seal the documents does too. Qualifying a business does not shift responsibility away from the individual. The statute says the architect who signs and seals the construction documents is liable for the professional services performed, except where the contractual limitation in section 558.0035 applies. A firm may also offer engineering, interior design, surveying and landscape architecture alongside architecture if it meets the separate requirements of each of those laws.
Which licenses, permits and registrations apply in Florida?
Requirement
Who issues it
When it applies
What it involves
Architect license
Department of Business and Professional Regulation, on certification by the Board of Architecture and Interior Design
Before practicing architecture or using the title architect in Florida
Accredited architecture degree, board-approved internship and licensure examination, or endorsement with a 2-hour wind mitigation class; renewal by February 28 of odd-numbered years
Business organization qualification
Board of Architecture and Interior Design
When architecture is offered through a company, partnership or fictitious name
A registered architect applies as qualifying agent; no separate certificate of authorization since July 1, 2020; 60 days to replace a sole qualifier who leaves
Signed and sealed construction documents
The registered architect, for filing with the local building department
Final construction documents filed for public record on work outside the section 481.229 exemptions
Signature, seal and date of the architect who prepared or approved them; electronic signing and sealing is permitted
Threshold building special inspector
Selected and paid by the owner from architects or engineers certified as special inspectors
Buildings greater than three stories or 50 feet, or assembly occupancies over 5,000 square feet with more than 500 occupants
Structural inspections under a structural inspection plan approved by the enforcing agency before the permit is issued
Milestone inspection
Florida-licensed architect or engineer engaged by the association
Condominium and cooperative buildings of three habitable stories or more at 30 years, or 25 years if set locally, then every 10 years
Phase one visual examination within 180 days of notice; phase two testing only if substantial structural deterioration is found
Coastal construction control line permit
Department of Environmental Protection, or a delegated local government
Construction seaward of the control line on sandy Atlantic, Gulf and Straits of Florida beaches
Special siting and design criteria for the beach and dune system, in addition to the local building permit
When can a building be designed without an architect in Florida?
Florida law lets a person who is not an architect prepare plans for one-family and two-family residences, townhouses, farm buildings and other buildings costing less than 25,000 dollars, provided the building is not a school, auditorium or other public-use building.
These exemptions are in section 481.229. The residential exemption applies regardless of cost and extends to domestic outbuildings attached to a one-family or two-family home. The statute defines a townhouse as a single-family unit of no more than three stories built in a group of attached units with property lines between them. The farm exemption covers any building on a farm for the use of a farmer, also regardless of cost. This is why much of Florida's single-family housing is drawn by building designers and drafters and not by licensed architects. The exemption is from the architecture license only. The drawings still have to satisfy the Florida Building Code and pass local plan review, and an exempt designer cannot use the title architect.
Two other carve-outs matter on commercial work. A certified or registered general contractor can offer design-build services without holding an architect license, as long as the architectural services under the contract are actually provided by a Florida-licensed architect. Engineers whose main practice is civil or structural may perform architectural services that are purely incidental to their engineering work, and architects may do the reverse, but neither may use the other's title. Apartment buildings, condominiums, offices, shops, restaurants and public buildings above the cost limit fall outside the exemptions, so their documents are prepared and sealed by licensed design professionals.
What codes and permit rules apply to an architect's drawings in Florida?
Architectural drawings in Florida are permitted by local building departments under the statewide Florida Building Code, currently the 8th Edition (2023), with the 9th Edition (2026) scheduled to take effect on December 31, 2026.
The Florida Building Commission updates the code every 3 years, and the edition in force on the date of the permit application generally governs the work, so projects in design through late 2026 need a clear decision on which edition they will be submitted under. Final construction documents filed for public record carry the signature, seal and date of the registered architect who prepared or approved them. Section 481.221 allows final plans to be transmitted electronically and to be signed, dated and sealed electronically, using the electronic signature provisions of chapter 668. An architect may not seal documents that were not prepared under his or her responsible supervising control, unless they were prepared by another registered architect and then reviewed and adopted under the board's rules.
Larger buildings trigger the threshold building rules, a Florida-specific layer of structural oversight. A threshold building is one greater than three stories or 50 feet in height, or one with an assembly occupancy exceeding 5,000 square feet in area and an occupant content of more than 500 persons. For these, the enforcing agency requires a special inspector, who is a Florida architect or engineer certified for that role, to carry out structural inspections under a structural inspection plan prepared by the architect or engineer of record and approved before the permit is issued. The fee owner selects and pays the special inspector, who is responsible to the enforcement agency, and the sealed plans carry a statement that, to the best of the designer's knowledge, they comply with the applicable building and firesafety codes.
How do hurricanes, flooding and the coastline change building design in Florida?
Hurricane wind, wind-borne debris, storm surge and flooding shape almost every exterior design decision in Florida, with the strictest envelope rules applying in the High Velocity Hurricane Zone, which covers Miami-Dade and Broward counties.
The Florida Building Code contains separate High Velocity Hurricane Zone provisions for those two counties, covering matters such as roofing, glazing protection and cladding attachment. Across the whole state, section 553.842 requires product approval for defined categories of envelope components: panel walls, exterior doors, roofing, skylights, windows, shutters, impact protective systems and structural components. A product with statewide approval can be used without further local testing so long as it is installed within the limits of its approval. For architects this means specifications are written around approved assemblies, and substitutions during construction have to be checked against approval documents and design pressures, not just appearance. Miami-Dade County also runs its own product control section, which reviews and approves building envelope products.
Water is the other constraint. On sandy beaches fronting the Atlantic, the Gulf and the Straits of Florida, the Department of Environmental Protection sets a coastal construction control line county by county, defining the part of the beach and dune system subject to severe fluctuation in a 100-year storm surge. Construction seaward of that line needs a state permit and has to meet special siting and design criteria on top of the building permit. Inland and coastal flood zones are handled through the flood provisions of the Florida Building Code and each community's floodplain management ordinance, so required floor elevations vary by municipality and are confirmed with the local floodplain administrator early in design.
Who can perform milestone inspections and structural integrity reserve studies in Florida?
In Florida, milestone inspections of aging condominium and cooperative buildings must be performed by a licensed architect or engineer, while structural integrity reserve studies can also be performed or verified by certified reserve specialists and professional reserve analysts.
Both regimes were created after the 2021 collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside. Under section 553.899, a condominium or cooperative building of three habitable stories or more has a milestone inspection by December 31 of the year it reaches 30 years of age, measured from the certificate of occupancy, and every 10 years after that. The local enforcement agency may set the first inspection at 25 years where local conditions such as proximity to salt water justify it. Phase one is a visual examination and is due within 180 days after the owners receive written notice from the local agency. Phase two, which can involve destructive or nondestructive testing, is required only if phase one finds substantial structural deterioration. Repairs identified in a phase two report have to commence within 365 days.
Reports are signed and sealed and go to the association and the local building official. The structural integrity reserve study in section 718.112 is a separate document: residential condominium associations have one completed at least every 10 years for each building of three habitable stories or higher, covering the roof, structure, fireproofing and fire protection, plumbing, electrical systems, waterproofing and exterior painting, and windows and exterior doors. An architect or engineer who bids on either service has to disclose in writing any intent to bid on the repair or design work the report may recommend. This has created a steady line of existing-building work for Florida architecture firms that is unrelated to new construction.
Can an architect lien a property for unpaid fees in Florida, and how is design liability limited?
Yes, section 713.03 of the Florida Statutes gives architects a lien on real property for unpaid professional fees, and an architect with a direct contract with the owner can lien a specific parcel even if nothing is ever built.
That second point sets design liens apart from the rest of Florida's construction lien law, which is built around improvements to land: a design professional who performs services in connection with a specific parcel under a direct contract has lien rights regardless of whether the property is improved. Lienors under this section are also not required to serve the notice to owner that section 713.06 demands of those not in privity with the owner. The lien does not exist until a claim of lien is recorded, and the general deadline in section 713.08 applies, so the claim is recorded no later than 90 days after the final furnishing of services. A recorded lien lasts 1 year unless an action to enforce it is filed, and an owner can shorten that to 60 days by recording a notice of contest of lien.
On liability, section 558.0035 allows an individual design professional employed by a firm to be shielded from personal negligence claims if the contract is with the firm, does not name the individual as a party, includes a prominent statement in uppercase font at least 5 point sizes larger than the rest of the text, and the firm maintains any professional liability insurance the contract requires. The shield covers economic damages only, not personal injury or damage to property outside the contract. Owners alleging a construction defect, which includes design deficiencies, serve a written notice of claim at least 60 days before filing an action, or 120 days for an association representing more than 20 parcels. Actions founded on the design of an improvement to real property have a 4-year limitation period and an outer limit of 7 years, both generally running from the earliest of the temporary certificate of occupancy, certificate of occupancy, certificate of completion or abandonment of construction. These are summaries, and the statutes and a Florida attorney are the place to confirm how they apply to a particular contract.
Where can I verify a license and check the source in Florida?
Every figure and rule on this page can be checked against the primary source. These are the offices that publish them. Confirm current requirements directly before you rely on any of them:
How can someone check that a Florida architect is licensed?
The Department of Business and Professional Regulation runs a public license search covering architects. Because Florida stopped issuing firm certificates of authorization on July 1, 2020, the check is on the individual architect who qualifies the business and on the architect who will sign and seal the documents.
How many continuing education hours do Florida architects need?
The Board of Architecture and Interior Design requires 24 continuing education hours in each two-year cycle, of which at least 22 are in health, safety and welfare subjects and 2 are advanced Florida Building Code coursework. Licenses expire on February 28 of every odd-numbered year.
Can an architect licensed in another state work on a Florida project?
Only after obtaining a Florida license. Section 481.213 allows licensure by endorsement for architects holding a valid NCARB certificate and a current license from another state, or a substantially equivalent out-of-state license, and every endorsement applicant completes a 2-hour board-approved class on wind mitigation techniques.
What is a threshold building in Florida?
Section 553.71 defines a threshold building as one greater than three stories or 50 feet in height, or one with an assembly occupancy exceeding 5,000 square feet and an occupant content greater than 500 persons. These buildings need a certified special inspector and an approved structural inspection plan.
How are architects selected for public projects in Florida?
Public agencies follow the Consultants' Competitive Negotiation Act, section 287.055. Where estimated construction cost exceeds 325,000 dollars, or a study fee exceeds 35,000 dollars, the agency publicly advertises, ranks no fewer than three firms on qualifications, and then negotiates the fee with the top-ranked firm first.
Can a Florida general contractor offer design-build without an architect license?
Yes, within limits. Section 481.229 says a certified or registered general contractor does not need an architect license to negotiate or perform a design-build contract, provided the architectural services under that contract are offered and rendered by an architect licensed in Florida.
How long does an owner have to sue over a design defect in Florida?
Section 95.11 sets a 4-year limitation period for actions founded on the design, planning or construction of an improvement to real property, with an absolute cutoff of 7 years. Both generally run from the earliest certificate of occupancy, certificate of completion or abandonment of construction.
