ON THE HOME PAGE of our website at TuckerPaving.com, we list our scope of services and include the following:

“Underground utilities — water, sewer, storm, fire line, infiltration/ex-filtration systems.”

We go on to note this about licensing:

“We currently hold a State Certified Class “A” General Contractor’s License along with a State Certified Underground Utilities License and a Class V State Fire Line License.”

The Class V State Fire Line License, also known as the Florida Fire Protection V Contractor License, is interesting in what it allows us to do for a construction client and what is doesn’t allow us to do.

In technical terms, by Florida statute, “A Fire Protection V contractor is a fire protection contractor whose business is limited to the execution of contracts requiring the ability to fabricate, install, inspect, alter, repair, and service the underground piping for a fire protection system using water as the extinguishing agent beginning at the point of service as defined in this act and ending no more than 1 foot above the finished floor.”

In basic terms, we have the know-how, the skills, and authority by the state of Florida to install underground water piping for a new structure’s fire protection system and run the piping to a certain point just inside the structure. After that, to further install the structure’s fire protection system, another contractor with a different kind of Fire Protection license has to take over.

A Florida Fire Protection V Contractor License also permits us to repair underground piping for an existing structure’s water-based fire protection system.

We put our Fire Protection V license to good use for fire line work (among many other tasks) we performed in 2016 and 2017 for three big Walt Disney World Resort projects — Pandora-The World of Avatar at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Soarin’ at Epcot, and improvements at Disney Springs. (Note: Each of these projects was a major construction award winner for Tucker Paving last year.)

Courtesy of the website ContractorCampus.com, here are the licensing requirements, using state terminology, for a Florida Fire Protection V Contractor License:

  • Must be 18 years of age.
  • Must provide evidence of licensing as a Certified Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor licensed pursuant to Chapter 489, Florida Statutes, or provide 4 years of verifiable experience in the full time employment of a Certified Underground Utility and Excavation Contractor.
  • Note: Applicants may combine equivalent education and experience as Prescribed in Section 633.318, Florida Statutes, and Florida Administrative Code 69A-46.010.
  • Application must be accompanied by evidence as a Florida Corporation or evidence of compliance with the Fictitious Name Act.
  • Applicant must provide evidence of insurance coverage meeting the requirements of Section 633.318, Florida Statutes. Proof of coverage may be submitted on an Acord form.
  • Examination requirements of Section 633.318, Florida Statutes, must be met by the applicant. Scheduling information may be obtained from the Regulatory Licensing Section atFirePrevention@MyFloridaCFO.com or 200 East Gaines Street, Tallahassee, FL 32399-0342 or (850) 413-3644.
  • Applicant must be an employee of and legally qualified to act for the business organization in all matters connected with its contracting business and she or he must have the authority to supervise and will supervise any construction undertaken by such business organization.

Does your company or organization have a fire line included in an upcoming construction project? We hope you’ll consider Tucker Paving, Inc., to be your installation contractor. If you have questions, give us a call at 863-299-2262.