Florida SB 710: Prescription Drug Donation Repository Program

Bill Text

710 
Underground Utility and Excavation Contractors 
2025-12-03T04:43:12Z 
Revising the definition of the term “underground utility and excavation contractor”; authorizing an underground utility and excavation contractor to take certain actions relating to underground piping for fire protection systems; defining the term “underground utility and excavation contractor”, etc. 
Original Filed Version 
2026 
S 
2026-07-01T00:00:00Z 
GB 
General Bill 
__ 

 Florida Senate - 2026 SB 710 

 By Senator Yarborough 

 4-00778A-26 2026710__ 
 1 A bill to be entitled 
 2 An act relating to underground utility and excavation 
 3 contractors; amending s. 489.105, F.S.; revising the 
 4 definition of the term “underground utility and 
 5 excavation contractor”; amending s. 633.102, F.S.; 
 6 authorizing an underground utility and excavation 
 7 contractor to take certain actions relating to 
 8 underground piping for fire protection systems; 
 9 defining the term “underground utility and excavation 
 10 contractor”; reenacting ss. 489.107(4)(b), 489.113(2), 
 11 489.117(1)(a), (2)(a) and (b), and (4)(a), (d), and 
 12 (e), 489.118(1), 489.126(1), 489.131(10) and (11), and 
 13 489.1402(1)(d), relating to the construction licensing 
 14 board, qualifications and restrictions for practice, 
 15 registration and specialty contractors, certification 
 16 of registered contractors, moneys received by 
 17 contractors, applicability, and homeowners’ 
 18 construction recovery fund and definitions, 
 19 respectively, to incorporate the amendment made to s. 
 20 489.105, F.S., in references thereto; reenacting ss. 
 21 633.224(1) and 633.318(2)(a), F.S., relating to 
 22 automatic fire sprinkler systems and fire protection 
 23 system contractor certificate application and 
 24 examination, respectively, to incorporate the 
 25 amendment made to s. 633.102, F.S., in references 
 26 thereto; providing an effective date. 
 27 
 28 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
 29 
 30 Section 1. Paragraph (n) of subsection (3) of section 
 31 489.105, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 
 32 489.105 Definitions.—As used in this part: 
 33 (3) “Contractor” means the person who is qualified for, and 
 34 is only responsible for, the project contracted for and means, 
 35 except as exempted in this part, the person who, for 
 36 compensation, undertakes to, submits a bid to, or does himself 
 37 or herself or by others construct, repair, alter, remodel, add 
 38 to, demolish, subtract from, or improve any building or 
 39 structure, including related improvements to real estate, for 
 40 others or for resale to others; and whose job scope is 
 41 substantially similar to the job scope described in one of the 
 42 paragraphs of this subsection. For the purposes of regulation 
 43 under this part, the term “demolish” applies only to demolition 
 44 of steel tanks more than 50 feet in height; towers more than 50 
 45 feet in height; other structures more than 50 feet in height; 
 46 and all buildings or residences. Contractors are subdivided into 
 47 two divisions, Division I, consisting of those contractors 
 48 defined in paragraphs (a)-(c), and Division II, consisting of 
 49 those contractors defined in paragraphs (d)-(q): 
 50 (n) “Underground utility and excavation contractor” means a 
 51 contractor whose services are limited to the construction, 
 52 installation, and repair, on public or private property, whether 
 53 accomplished through open excavations or through other means, 
 54 including, but not limited to, directional drilling, auger 
 55 boring, jacking and boring, trenchless technologies, wet and dry 
 56 taps, grouting, and slip lining, of main sanitary sewer 
 57 collection systems, main water distribution systems, storm sewer 
 58 collection systems, and the continuation of utility lines from 
 59 the main systems to a point of termination up to and including 
 60 the meter location for the individual occupancy, sewer 
 61 collection systems at property line on residential or single 
 62 occupancy commercial properties, or on multioccupancy properties 
 63 at manhole or wye lateral extended to an invert elevation as 
 64 engineered to accommodate future building sewers, water 
 65 distribution systems, or storm sewer collection systems at storm 
 66 sewer structures. However, an underground utility and excavation 
 67 contractor may install empty underground conduits in rights-of 
 68 way, easements, platted rights-of-way in new site development, 
 69 and sleeves for parking lot crossings no smaller than 2 inches 
 70 in diameter if each conduit system installed is designed by a 
 71 licensed professional engineer or an authorized employee of a 
 72 municipality, county, or public utility and the installation of 
 73 such conduit does not include installation of any conductor 
 74 wiring or connection to an energized electrical system. An 
 75 underground utility and excavation contractor may not ins