Florida/Georgia Personal Injury & Workers Compensation

...McGee, 475 So.2d 720 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985); Hunt v. Department of Professional Regulation, 444 So.2d 997 (Fla. 1st DCA 1983); Alles v. Department of Professional Regulation, 423 So.2d 624, 626 (Fla. 5th DCA 1982). [6] See §§ 489.119, .127, .129, Fla. Stat. (1991). [7] Section 489.101 describes the purpose of chapter 489 as follows: The Legislature recognizes that the construction and home improvement industries may pose a danger of significant harm to the public when incompetent or dishonest contractors provide unsafe, unstable, or short-lived products or services....

...oner, reduces his duty would also permit circumvention of this result. The purpose of the act is to prevent the risk to the public from allowing "incompetent or dishonest contractors to provide unsafe, unstable, or short-lived products or services." § 489.101, Fla....

...The 2000 Version of Section 489.128 Application of the first inquiry to the 2000 version of section 489.128 leads to the inescapable conclusion that there is no clear evidence that the Legislature intended the statute to be applied retroactively. Promontory's reliance on the preamble statement found in section 489.101, Florida Statutes (2000), is misplaced....

...Promontory contends that the legislative declaration that it was "necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate the construction industry" is evidence of legislative intent that the 2000 amendment to section 489.128 be applied *484 retroactively. § 489.101, Fla....

...This legislative compilation was enacted based on the Legislature's recognition "that the construction and home improvement industries may pose a danger of significant harm to the public" and the perceived need "in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate the construction industry." § 489.101, Fla....

...property damage insurance for the safety and welfare of the public . . . ." Fla. Stat. § 489.115(5)(a). As the Florida legislature explained, "The Legislature deems it necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate the construction injury." Fla. Stat. § 489.101....

...Florida's comprehensive regulation of the licensing of building contractors [1] and building construction standards [2] reflect a clear public policy to protect purchasers of residential homes from personal injuries caused by improper construction practices. Section 489.101 provides that the Legislature *761 "deems it necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate the construction industry." The Legislature has further found that a contractor's accountability for work performed is essential to the protection of the public....

...law or in equity. However, in the event the contractor obtains or reinstates his license, the provisions of this section shall no longer apply. [3] Section 489.128 was enacted to protect the public from the activities of incompetent contractors. See § 489.101 ("The Legislature deems it necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate the construction industry"); Castro v....

...*517 The stated purpose of chapter 489 of the Florida Statutes is that "[i]t is necessary in the interest of the public health, safety and welfare to regulate the construction industry." See Murthy v. N. Sinha Corp., 644 So.2d 983 (Fla.1994) (citing Fla. Stat. § 489.101)....

...To hold otherwise would allow the specialty contractor exception to swallow the rule and permit unlicensed individuals to undertake significant construction projects in Florida simply by classifying themselves as "specialty contractors". Florida law does not permit this. See Fla. Stat. §§ 455.201 & 489.101....

...Thus, this Court must proceed under Kluger and determine whether: (1) the Legislature has shown an overpowering public necessity for the abolishment of this claim, and (2) there is any alternative method of meeting such public necessity. Sections 455.201 and 489.101, Florida Statutes, set forth the legislative intent for the regulation of the construction industry (and other professions in the state of Florida)....

...esult from regulation. (b) The public is not effectively protected by other means, including, but not limited to, other state statutes, local or dinances, or federal legislation. (c) Less restrictive means of regulation are not available. Fla. Stat. § 489.101 provides, "[t]he Legislature deems it necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate the construction industry." [13] There is no Florida case discussing whether the language in sections 455.201 and 489.101 are sufficient to satisfy the Kluger requirement that the Legislature must show an overpowering public necessity for the abolishment of a cause of action (here, equitable claims by an unlicensed contractor)....

...While the Legislature made no additional contemporaneous legislative findings with the passage of the 1993 and 2003 amendments to § 489.128(1) proscribing equitable claims by unlicensed contractors, this Court finds persuasive the argument that §§ 455.201 and 489.101, when read together, satisfy the "overpowering public necessity" prong of Kluger. Sections 455.201 and 489.101 codify the Legislature's purpose in regulating professions in the State of Florida (of which the construction industry is one) and iterate that the Legislature finds it necessary in the interests of public health, safety and welfare to regulate the construction industry....

...ntracting could have on the citizens of Florida. Though this Court *1354 knows of no "magic words" that meet the "overpowering public necessity" test in Kluger, the undersigned finds that the legislative pronouncements in Fla. Stat. §§ 455.201 and 489.101 are sufficient....

...actor (and not the owner) who seeks to enforce the contract (in law or in equity) is barred from doing so. See Laws 2003, c.2003-257, § 1. [10] Such a reading of § 489.128(1) furthers the prescribed legislative intent set forth in §§ 455.201 and 489.101, that regulation of the construction industry is necessary to protect the health, safety and welfare of Florida's citizens....

...1978) (amendments to statute of limitations and statutes of repose that merely restrict the time in which, a litigant may file a claim do not abolish any right of access to courts, but merely create conditions under which that right may be exercised). [13] Prior to the 1979 amendments, § 468.101 (the predecessor statute to § 489.101 — the Legislature renumbered Chapter 468 to Chapter 489 in 1979) read: It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the state that, in order to safeguard the life, health, property, and public welfare of its citizens, the business of...

...icy of this state on the subject of contracting in general and unlicensed contracting in particular. Chapter 489, Florida Statutes, regulates the “construction industry” in Florida “in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare.” § 489.101, Fla....

welfare to regulate the construction industry.” § 489.101, Fla. Stat. In doing so, the Legislature defined

...State, 847 So.2d 498, 501 (Fla. 4th DCA 2003). Absent an ambiguity in the language, the rule of lenity is inapplicable. Bautista, 863 So.2d at 1183 . Chapter 489, part I, regulates construction contracting in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare. § 489.101, Fla....

...building codes that govern most construction in Florida. [3] Qualifying agents, on the other hand, are a product of chapter 489, Florida Statutes (2002), which regulates the construction industry as a matter of "public health, safety, and welfare." § 489.101....

out incompetent or dishonest contractors. Section 489.101, Florida Statutes (1983). The Board adopted

...at 643. III. The Florida Legislature “deem[ed] it necessary in the interest of the public health, safety, and welfare to regulate the construction industry.” Incident365 Florida, LLC v. Ocean Pointe V Condo. Ass'n, Inc., 49 Fla. L. Weekly D2004 (Fla. 3d DCA, 2024); see § 489.101, Fla....