ABC of Florida's 2025 bills

House Bill 681 - Apprenticeship and Pre-Apprenticeship Funding

This bill was ABC of Florida's top legislative priority this year and passed unanimously in the house and the senate. This bill levels the playing field between the public sector local education agency (LEA) and the private sector registered apprenticeship program partner (RA). The bill requires DOE to develop uniform minimum standards and policies governing apprenticeship and pre-apprenticeship programs to address open negotiations between LEAs and their apprenticeship partners. Under the new standards and policies, the LEA must ensure that all parties understand the total amount of apprenticeship funding and allocations available. The terms of a partnership between the RA program and the LEA must be documented in an agreement and the LEA may not impose additional fees or withhold additional funds beyond the agreed upon amount in such agreement. The bill clarifies that when the LEA does not provide classroom space, related technical instruction, or on-the-job training services, the LEAs role shall be deemed to be administrative only, and its funding share shall be capped at 10%.

House Bill 683 - Construction Regulations

This bill does the following:

• Prevents Public Owners from punishing or rewarding a bidder on a public project based on volume of work previously awarded
• Requires a public owner, on a public project, who issues a change order, to approve cost estimates for the change order within 35 days of issuing the order
• Further specifies and clarifies the types of private and proprietary documents, between a private owner, the contractor and their team, that a building department may not request as a means of determining permit fees on a private project.
• It allows the use of private providers on residential projects for the installation of rooftop solar panels
• It requests DEP to establish rules and regulations surrounding the installation of synthetic turf on residential properties of an acre or less in size.
• It waives certain building code requirements for construction for launch pads for Space Florida.

Other Industries Bills that Passed in 2025 Session

House Bill 715 - Roofing Services

This bill expands the scope of work for licensed roofing contractors to include the valuation and enhancement of roof-to-wall connections for certain structures with wood. The bill narrows the time period for the applicability of the 10-day cancellation period that allows a residential property owner to cancel a roofing contract iwthout penalty. Such cancellation period is only available if the roofing contract is entered into within 180 days of events that are subject of a declaration of a state of emergency.

Senate Bill 180 - Emergencies

Check out the Building Central Florida article on page 11: Building Resilience: Gearing up for Hurricane Season 2025. This article highlights what is included in the bill that takes a step forward to support Florida's storm readiness.

While these are were priority efforts, please know that ABC of Florida and your Lobby Team monitored all bills filed and engaged in many of them on your behalf. Whether in defense or in support your voice will be heard in Tallahassee.