Who needs a license: classes, definitions and exemptions 19
A client asks a Florida Class "C" private investigator to work as a bodyguard. What does the chapter say?Section 493.6201(8), Florida Statutes
A company is retained by a restaurant to rate its food and service. The restaurant then asks it to look into suspected theft by employees. How does chapter 493 treat the company?Section 493.6102(11), Florida Statutes
A court adjudicates a person guilty and suspends the sentence. Is that a "conviction" under chapter 493?Section 493.6101(8), Florida Statutes
A firm traces family lineage for clients, mainly from public records and historical databases, and does nothing else. What does chapter 493 require of it?Section 493.6102(14), Florida Statutes
A Florida private investigative agency opens a second office in another city. What does its Class "A" license cover?Section 493.6201(1), Florida Statutes
A law firm's client pays an outside Florida firm to check the credibility of a witness. Under section 493.6101(17), what is that work?Section 493.6101(17)(c), Florida Statutes
A retail chain employs a full-time unarmed investigator who looks only into the chain's own losses. Does chapter 493 apply to that employee?Section 493.6102(3), Florida Statutes
Show all 80 questions (73 more)
Who needs a license: classes, definitions and exemptions, continued
An individual does private investigative work as an intern under a sponsoring licensee. Which Florida license is required?Section 493.6201(6), Florida Statutes
An informant with special access helps on one case under the direction and control of a Class "C" licensee. Is the informant a "private investigator" under Florida law?Section 493.6101(16), Florida Statutes
For whom must a Florida Class "C" or Class "CC" licensee work?Section 493.6201(4), Florida Statutes
How many offices may the manager of a Florida private investigative agency manage?Section 493.6101(13), Florida Statutes
Under chapter 493, which act counts as "advertising"?Section 493.6101(6), Florida Statutes
Under section 493.6301(5), which license does an individual need to perform the services of a security officer in Florida?Section 493.6301(5), Florida Statutes
When is a licensed insurance adjuster outside chapter 493?Section 493.6102(2), Florida Statutes
When is investigating a crime against a state "private investigation" under Florida's definition?Section 493.6101(17)(a), Florida Statutes
Which Florida license must an individual hold to perform the services of a private investigator?Section 493.6201(5), Florida Statutes
Which license does a branch office of a Class "A" private investigative agency need?Section 493.6201(2), Florida Statutes
Which person is outside chapter 493 while doing their own work?Section 493.6102(6), Florida Statutes
Who may be designated manager of a Florida Class "A" agency without holding a Class "MA" license?Section 493.6201(3)(a), Florida Statutes
Applying, the examination, experience and renewal 24
A city ordinance requires investigators to buy a local permit. What does chapter 493 say about an individual licensee?Section 493.6107(5), Florida Statutes
A Class "A" agency license follows a different cycle from a Class "C" license. How often does section 493.6113(1) have it renewed?Section 493.6113(1), Florida Statutes
A Class "A" agency moves its office. How soon must the department be told?Section 493.6106(2)(a), Florida Statutes
A Class "C" applicant has filed a complete application that is still being processed. May the applicant start work for a licensed agency?Section 493.6105(8), Florida Statutes
A Class "C" licensee moves to a new home address. What does the chapter require?Section 493.6106(3), Florida Statutes
A Florida license expired four months ago. How does the holder get licensed again?Section 493.6113(5), Florida Statutes
A former Class "C" licensee applies again after the license has been invalid for 18 months. What about the examination?Section 493.6203(5)(b), Florida Statutes
A license expired last week and the renewal has been mailed. May the investigator keep working cases in the meantime?Section 493.6113(6), Florida Statutes
A veteran applies for a Class "C" license. When is the initial license fee waived under section 493.6202(4)?Section 493.6202(4), Florida Statutes
An applicant for a Florida Class "C" license spent two years as a bodyguard. How does that count toward the experience requirement?Section 493.6203(4), Florida Statutes
Florida may adopt reciprocity rules for investigators licensed elsewhere. How long must the applicant have worked under the other state's license?Section 493.6109(2)(b), Florida Statutes
How long may a license stay in inactive status before it is automatically canceled?Section 493.6114(2), Florida Statutes
How many members of the Private Investigation, Recovery, and Security Advisory Council make a quorum?Section 493.6104(6), Florida Statutes
How much experience or training must a Florida Class "C" applicant show?Section 493.6203(4), Florida Statutes
How much of the Class "C" experience requirement may come from criminal justice coursework or law enforcement training?Section 493.6203(4)(b), Florida Statutes
How recent must the photograph on a chapter 493 application be?Section 493.6105(3)(g), Florida Statutes
In what order do the examination and the Class "C" application come under section 493.6203(5)?Section 493.6203(5), Florida Statutes
Section 493.6106(1)(a) sets an age floor for every individual the department licenses. What is it?Section 493.6106(1)(a), Florida Statutes
Section 493.6111(2) gives most licenses one term and agency licenses another. Which term does a Class "C" license have?Section 493.6111(2), Florida Statutes
Section 493.6113(2) has the department mail a written notice to the licensee's last known mailing address. By when?Section 493.6113(2), Florida Statutes
What cap does the statute put on the Class "C" examination fee?Section 493.6203(5)(c), Florida Statutes
What does the Florida examination for Class "C", "M" and "MA" applicants cover, by statute?Section 493.6203(5), Florida Statutes
What is the most the department may charge as an application fee under section 493.6105(1)?Section 493.6105(1), Florida Statutes
What must an applicant for a Class "CC" intern license complete before applying?Section 493.6203(6)(b), Florida Statutes
On the job: identification, files, records and interns 18
A licensed investigator is arrested for an offense. Whom must the investigator tell, and how soon?Section 493.6108(5), Florida Statutes
A partner withdraws from a licensed agency. How soon must the agency notify the department?Section 493.6112(1), Florida Statutes
An agency hires a licensed investigator. How soon must it report the employment to the department?Section 493.6112(2), Florida Statutes
An agency holds a valid Florida corporate registration and wants to operate under a fictitious name. What else does it need?Section 493.6111(4), Florida Statutes
An investigator leaves a licensed agency. What happens to the agency identification card?Section 493.6111(5)(c), Florida Statutes
An investigator relies on client confidentiality to deny a department representative access to an investigative file. What must the investigator do?Section 493.6119(3), Florida Statutes
For how long, and where, must a licensee keep the records the department may ask for?Section 493.6121(2), Florida Statutes
How many interns may one sponsor have at the same time?Section 493.6116(4), Florida Statutes
How often does a sponsor certify a progress report on each intern?Section 493.6116(5), Florida Statutes
Section 493.6111(1) says where Class "C" and other individual licenses must be while their holders are on duty. Where?Section 493.6111(1), Florida Statutes
To whom may a Florida investigator release the contents of an investigative file without the client's written consent?Section 493.6119(1), Florida Statutes
What does section 493.6119(4) forbid?Section 493.6119(4), Florida Statutes
What may not appear on a badge or identification card used in activities regulated by chapter 493?Section 493.6124, Florida Statutes
What must a licensed agency include in an advertisement in a print medium or directory?Section 493.6111(6), Florida Statutes
When does the ban on divulging an investigative file stop applying?Section 493.6119(1), Florida Statutes
When may a Class "CC" internship begin?Section 493.6116(2), Florida Statutes
Where must a Class "CC" intern perform regulated duties during the internship?Section 493.6116(3), Florida Statutes
Who must sign the identification card an agency furnishes to a licensed employee?Section 493.6111(5), Florida Statutes
Weapons and firearms 7
A Class "C" investigator wants to carry a firearm on duty. Which additional license is required?Section 493.6115(2), Florida Statutes
A Class "G" licensee discharges a firearm in the course of duty. What must the licensee and the employing agency do?Section 493.6115(9), Florida Statutes
An investigator holds a concealed weapon license under section 790.06. Does it replace the Class "G" license for carrying a firearm on duty?Section 493.6115(17), Florida Statutes
How many firearms may a licensee carry on the person while performing duties?Section 493.6115(6), Florida Statutes
How many hours of range and classroom training does a first-time Class "G" applicant need?Section 493.6105(5), Florida Statutes
How much firearms requalification training must a Class "G" licensee receive?Section 493.6113(3)(b), Florida Statutes
Which Class "C" licensee may carry a concealed firearm in the performance of duties?Section 493.6115(4), Florida Statutes
Discipline and penalties 12
A final order fines an individual licensee, who does not pay. What happens to the license?Section 493.6118(6), Florida Statutes
A licensee keeps working 60 days after the license expired. Does the unlicensed-activity crime in section 493.6120(1)(a) apply?Section 493.6120(1)(b), Florida Statutes
A licensee knows another person is violating chapter 493 and says nothing to the department. Is that a ground for discipline?Section 493.6118(1)(s), Florida Statutes
A person works as a private investigator in Florida with no license, for the first time. What is the offense?Section 493.6120(1)(a), Florida Statutes
After final agency action revoking a license, for how long does section 493.6118(7) bar a new application for the same class?Section 493.6118(7), Florida Statutes
An agency license is revoked for activity its manager knew about. What happens to the manager's personal licenses?Section 493.6120(6), Florida Statutes
An applicant was convicted of a felony. When may the department stop denying the license?Section 493.6118(4)(a), Florida Statutes
An investigator steers accident victims to a lawyer, who pays the investigator for each one. How does section 493.6118(1) treat that?Section 493.6118(1)(l), Florida Statutes
For how long is a person convicted of a violation of chapter 493 ineligible for licensure?Section 493.6120(4), Florida Statutes
What is a second violation of doing licensed work in Florida without the required license?Section 493.6120(1)(a), Florida Statutes
What standard of proof must support a denial for lack of good moral character?Section 493.6118(3), Florida Statutes
Which vehicle warning lights may a licensee display without committing the impersonation ground in section 493.6118(1)(i)?Section 493.6118(1)(i), Florida Statutes
This unofficial Florida private investigator practice test asks the law behind the Class "C" examination: 80 of our own questions from sections 493.6100 to 493.6203 and 493.6301(5), Florida Statutes. Not affiliated with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
Read the full guide
Florida private investigator exam study guide: what to read
The department posts Chapter 493 and its Private Investigator Handbook on its forms page. Every answer here was read in the statute on October 12, 2026.
How the real examination is given
A testing company under contract gives it online or at test centers. You must pass before you apply and send proof with the application (section 493.6203(5)).
What is left out
The department's rules in Chapter 5N-1, its Private Investigator Handbook, court decisions and investigative technique are not asked.
No sponsor may have more than six interns, and an internship starts only after the notice of intent to sponsor is filed (section 493.6116).
Carrying a firearm on duty takes a Class "G" license as well. A concealed weapon license does not replace it (section 493.6115).
Tell your employer within 3 calendar days of any arrest (section 493.6108).
Questions and answers
What is on the Florida private investigator exam?
Florida law only. The department says the examination covers sections 493.6100 through 493.6203 and section 493.6301(5), Florida Statutes: how the industry does business and what the law requires of the people and agencies in it.
How much does the Florida Class C private investigator exam cost?
$70, paid to the testing company when you register, and $70 again for a retake, according to the department's examination questions and answers. Section 493.6203(5) caps the examination fee at $100.
How long is the Florida private investigator exam?
The department says you should be able to finish in 1½ to 2 hours, with preliminary results as soon as you submit. Rule 5N-1.140(3), Florida Administrative Code, sets 100 questions and 75 correct answers to pass. Exam mode here asks 80 at the same 75%.
Who is exempt from the Florida private investigator exam?
Anyone who holds a valid Class "C," "CC," "M" or "MA" license. A former holder whose license has been invalid for more than one year must take and pass the examination again (section 493.6203(5)).
Do you need experience to get a Florida Class C license?
Yes: two years of lawfully gained, verifiable, full-time experience or training. Coursework or law enforcement training counts for no more than one year, and bodyguard work does not count (section 493.6203(4)).