Cape Coral keeps permit-based enforcement after presentation on unlicensed contractors

Deputy Development Services Director Matthew Grambo told the council the city’s approach changed after the state’s 2023 action on licensing: "with the state approval of House Bill 735, which expressly preempted specialty contracting licenses, the City of Cape Coral investigated complaints of unlicensed contracting through Chapter 6," and the city now validates DBPR licenses through its permitting software before accepting permit applications. Grambo said many cases of unlicensed contracting are identified through unpermitted work and are referred to the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) for investigation.

Council members pressed staff for more quantitative reporting from DBPR about compliance sweeps and sting operations, with Council member Steinke asking whether the city receives a record when state investigators operate in Cape Coral. Grambo said the city has not been receiving routine reports but said staff will request regional DBPR data and follow up. Building official Shane Kintner and code managers described how the city’s permitting system flags mismatches between the work requested and the contractor’s DBPR license and how code cases for unpermitted work trigger referrals to state investigators.

Members of the construction industry and local contractors spoke during citizens’ input, saying unlicensed work remains common and that DBPR resources in Southwest Florida are limited. City staff emphasized that many enforcement steps now start with detecting unpermitted work on a property; that work can lead to a code case and state referral.

Outcome and next steps: Council did not direct a policy change; members generally supported keeping the city’s current permit-validation approach while asking staff to: request DBPR regional enforcement reports, explore data-sharing, and identify options to improve public education on how to spot and report suspected unlicensed contractors. The city manager and staff also committed to preparing permitting-performance metrics so the council and public can review review/approval timelines and rejection reasons.