General Contractor Working Capital in Florida

Florida Contractors Who Rely on Working Capital

If you run a general contracting operation in Florida — whether that's coastal luxury builds in Naples, hurricane-damage rebuilds from Ft. Myers to Daytona, commercial tenant improvements in Orlando, or HOA common-area renovations in South Florida — you already know the core problem: Florida owners are often slow to release draws, inspectors are backed up, and your subcontractors and material suppliers will not wait on the county. Working capital is how we bridge that gap without burning supplier relationships or missing payroll.

The typical Florida GC reaching out to us is doing $800,000 to $4 million a year in revenue, holds a state-issued Certified or Registered General Contractor license, and is carrying anywhere from two to eight open projects simultaneously. Project sizes tend to cluster in the $150,000–$750,000 range — residential additions and full gut-renovations, storm-hardening retrofits, light commercial build-outs, and condominium association capital-improvement jobs. The cash-flow squeeze usually hits hardest in Q3 and Q4, when storm-season delays stack up and insurance-funded rebuilds release money on their own unpredictable schedule.

What Running a GC Business in Florida Actually Costs

Florida is not a generic construction market. The Florida Building Code — one of the strictest wind-load and flood-resilience codes in the country — requires impact-resistant glazing, specific roof-deck fastening patterns, and in many coastal counties, flood-elevation certifications before a CO issues. Every one of those requirements adds line items, adds inspection rounds, and adds days between the work being done and the draw being released.

Permitting in Florida's larger counties (Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Orange, Hillsborough) runs 30 to 90 days for anything beyond a simple re-roof, and inspections can add another two to four weeks to close out. Meanwhile, material costs — concrete block, impact windows, pressure-treated lumber — carry a Florida premium because so much moves through ports susceptible to the same storms your clients are building against. Insurance is its own line: many Florida GCs now pay $18,000–$40,000 a year in combined general liability and builders risk, and that premium is due regardless of whether draws are flowing.

Then there's the workforce reality. A large share of Florida's skilled trade workforce is 1099, meaning subs expect payment within days of completion of their scope — not 60 days after the county signs off on your CO. Working capital lets us pay subs on their schedule while we wait on ours.

How Working Capital Is Structured for Florida GCs

The two structures that work best for Florida general contractors are unsecured term loans and revolving lines of credit. Term loans — typically $50,000 to $500,000, with 12-to-36-month repayment — work well when you need a defined capital injection at the start of a large project or storm-damage sprint. Lines of credit are better for contractors carrying multiple projects simultaneously, because you draw only what you need and pay interest only on the outstanding balance.

SBA 7(a) working capital loans, which go up to $5,000,000, carry the most competitive rates we've seen — currently in the 8.5–11% APR range — but they require 30–45 days to close, which rules them out for urgent mobilization needs. If you need capital in 24–72 hours because a crew is ready Monday and your draw doesn't release until Thursday, alternative online lenders can move that fast, though their rates are meaningfully higher. Merchant cash advances are available and fast, but at 80–150% APR equivalent, they're a last resort, not a strategy.

On any structure, a lender's primary concern is your DSCR — they want to see at least 1.25x coverage, meaning your monthly cash flow covers the new debt service with room to spare — and they'll want to confirm your monthly obligations aren't already consuming more than 45–50% of gross monthly revenue.

We typically use working capital for: payroll and sub draws during inspection holds, material pre-purchases when lumber or window lead times require deposits, bonding and insurance premium financing, and pulling permits on multiple projects concurrently without waiting for prior-project closeouts.

What Florida GCs Need to Apply

Most lenders working with Florida contractors want to see at least 24 months in business under your current license and entity structure, and annual revenue above $150,000–$250,000 to qualify for unsecured lines. Your FICO matters: 640+ gets you in the door for SBA programs, but 700+ is where the 8.5–11% APR band becomes accessible. Borrowers in the 620–679 fair-credit range should expect to pay 2–4 percentage points more, and it's worth reviewing all three bureaus before applying — roughly 1 in 5 reports contains a scoreable error.

For documentation, pull together: your Florida CGC or RGC license and license history, 12 months of business bank statements, your two most recent business tax returns (1120S or Schedule C), a current profit-and-loss statement, and your articles of incorporation or LLC operating agreement. If you're licensed through a qualifier, lenders will want to see the qualifier's personal credit and may ask for their personal tax returns. Insurance certificates — GL and builders risk — are standard supporting docs. If you've got active contracts or signed proposals, include them; they help underwriters understand your pipeline and confirm that the revenue on your statements is repeatable.