Florida Notice of Commencement: Filing, Recording, and Duration

A Florida Notice of Commencement is a document you record with the county Clerk of the Circuit Court before starting any construction project with a direct contract price above $2,500. Recording it creates a public record of the project’s start date and the parties involved, and it activates the payment protections in Florida’s construction lien law under Chapter 713.¹ Skip it on a qualifying project and you lose the framework that keeps you from paying twice for the same work.

When You Have to File One

Projects with a direct contract price of $2,500 or less are exempt from most construction lien requirements, including the Notice of Commencement.² Cross that line and you must record the notice before any work begins.¹ Additions, roof replacements, plumbing overhauls, interior renovations, any work that changes the property.

One carve-out. Repairing or replacing an existing heating or air-conditioning system does not trigger the requirement unless the contract price reaches $15,000.³ Below that amount, HVAC repair and replacement projects are exempt. Every other kind of construction follows the $2,500 threshold.

Skipping the filing has immediate practical consequences. The local building department will not conduct inspections on a project without a recorded notice, which effectively freezes the job. You also lose the statutory payment protections that shield you from paying subcontractors and suppliers directly when your general contractor doesn’t pay them.

What the Notice Must Include

The statute requires seven categories of information on the form:¹

The property’s legal description from your deed, plus the street address and tax folio number if available. A street address alone is not enough.
A brief general description of the improvement being made.
Your full name, address, and interest in the property. If you are a lessee rather than the fee simple owner, you must say so and list the titleholder’s name and address.
The name and address of the contractor you hired.
If a payment bond has been issued, the surety’s name, address, and the bond amount, with a copy of the bond attached when the notice is recorded.
The name and address of any construction lender.
Optionally, a designated agent in Florida (someone other than you) to receive legal notices, with that person’s name and address on the form.

Most county Clerk of Court websites publish the standardized form, and contractors often provide it as well. The form follows a template prescribed by the statute, and clerks generally reject documents that deviate significantly from it. You must sign the notice and have your signature acknowledged by a notary; without notarization, the clerk’s office will refuse to record it.

Many Florida counties now accept electronically signed and recorded documents. If the notice was originally created and signed electronically, Florida law requires it to be recorded electronically rather than on paper.

How to Record and Post the Notice

Record the Notice of Commencement with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the property sits.¹ Recording fees are set by statute at $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page, so the total on a one- or two-page notice usually lands between $10 and $20.⁴ The clerk stamps the document with an official records book and page number, which is your proof of recording.

After recording, you must post either a certified copy of the notice or a notarized statement that the notice has been filed (with a copy attached) at the job site.¹ The form itself warns in bold that the notice must be recorded and posted before the first inspection. Most owners put it in a clear weather-resistant sleeve on a fence, door, or post near the entrance. Inspectors look for it before conducting any site inspection.

Timing is strict. The statute requires the notice to be recorded and posted “before actually commencing to improve” the property, and inspectors read that literally. If you pull a permit and your contractor shows up before the notice is on file, you’ve already created a compliance problem.

How the Notice Keeps You from Paying Twice

In Florida, subcontractors, suppliers, and laborers who don’t get paid by the general contractor can file a construction lien directly against your property. Without a properly filed notice and a careful payment process, you can pay the general contractor in full and still owe money to a subcontractor who files a lien. That is the double-payment risk the entire lien law framework exists to prevent.

When the notice is properly recorded and you follow the statutory payment procedures, your exposure to lien claims is limited to the balance you haven’t yet paid to the general contractor.¹ If you’ve paid $80,000 of a $100,000 contract and followed the rules, a subcontractor’s lien can only reach the remaining $20,000. Make “improper payments” along the way and lien claims can stack up beyond what you’ve already paid, forcing you to cover the same costs twice.

The statutory form carries a bold warning to the owner: payments made after the notice expires are considered improper and can result in paying twice for the same improvements. That warning describes what actually happens when owners let the notice lapse or ignore the payment rules.

Notices to Owner from Subcontractors

Once you record a Notice of Commencement, it becomes the anchor for the rest of the lien process. Subcontractors and suppliers who don’t have a direct contract with you must serve you with a “Notice to Owner” within 45 days of first providing labor or materials on the project.⁵ The notice identifies the sender, what they’re providing, and which property the work relates to.

Receiving a Notice to Owner is not a sign anything has gone wrong. It’s routine on any project with subcontractors. The notice puts you on record that this person is working on your project and has potential lien rights. Once you receive one, you cannot make a “proper payment” to your general contractor for that subcontractor’s portion of the work without first getting a lien waiver from that subcontractor.

The reverse is your protection: any subcontractor or supplier who fails to serve a timely Notice to Owner, or never serves one at all, loses the right to file a lien against your property. Failure to serve the notice is a complete defense against lien enforcement.⁵ That is exactly why the Notice of Commencement matters. Without it, subcontractors don’t know where to send their notices, the payment verification chain breaks down, and your double-payment protections evaporate.

Lien Waivers on Every Payment

Lien waivers are the receipts of construction payments. Every time you make a progress payment to your general contractor, you should collect lien waivers from the subcontractors and suppliers who served Notices to Owner. Florida law provides specific statutory forms for these waivers, and no one can require you to use a different version.⁶

There are two kinds. A progress payment waiver covers work through a specific date and does not affect lien rights for later work or retained amounts. A final payment waiver covers everything and closes out that party’s lien rights. One built-in protection: a lien right cannot be waived in advance, so a waiver only covers work already performed.⁶ Any blanket waiver signed at the start of the project is unenforceable.

A subcontractor who signs a waiver in exchange for a check can make the waiver conditional on the check clearing. If the check bounces, the waiver never takes effect. When no payment bond is protecting the owner, you can hold back the amount of an uncleared check from your next payment to the general contractor until the condition is satisfied.⁶ Collecting waivers at every draw is tedious, but it’s the mechanism that keeps your “proper payment” status intact.

How Long the Notice Lasts

A Notice of Commencement is effective for one year from the date of recording unless the form specifies a different expiration date.¹ If your contract calls for work lasting longer than a year, the notice must state that it covers one year plus whatever additional time the contract allows. Failing to set the right expiration on a long project is one of the more common and costly mistakes owners make.

Once the notice expires, it is void. Any payments you make after that point are treated as improper payments under the lien law, and subcontractors can file liens for those amounts even if you paid the general contractor in full.¹ If your project is running long and the expiration is approaching, amend the notice to extend its effective period before it lapses. Waiting until after expiration is too late.

Amending, Replacing a Contractor, and Terminating Early

Florida allows you to amend a recorded Notice of Commencement to extend the effective period, correct errors, or add information left off the original.¹ The amended notice must reference the book and page number of the original so the clerk can link them. After recording the amendment, you must serve a copy on the contractor and on every subcontractor or supplier who served a Notice to Owner, either before or within 30 days after the amendment is recorded.

One change you cannot make by amendment: switching contractors. If the original contractor defaults, abandons the project, or you terminate them for any reason, you must file an entirely new Notice of Commencement (or a Notice of Recommencement) before a replacement contractor begins work.¹ This catches owners off guard when a project goes sideways mid-construction. Crossing out the old contractor’s name and writing in the new one does nothing.

When a project finishes ahead of schedule or a contract is cancelled before work is complete, the owner can shorten the notice’s remaining effective period by recording a Notice of Termination under Section 713.132. The termination notice must repeat the basic information from the original, reference its recording details, state a termination date no earlier than 30 days after recording, and confirm that all lienors have been paid in full. Before recording, you must serve a copy on the contractor and on every subcontractor or supplier who previously served a Notice to Owner; anyone who has already signed a final payment waiver does not need to be served.⁷ Recording a termination without properly serving everyone entitled to notice can leave the door open to lien claims you thought you had closed.

1
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 713.13 – Notice of Commencement
2
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 713.02 – Liens for Improvements on Real Property
3
Florida Senate. Florida House of Representatives Staff Analysis – HB 263
4
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 28.24 – Service Charges by Clerk of the Circuit Court
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 713.06 – Claims of Liens
6
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 713.20 – Waiver of Right to Claim Liens
7
Florida Legislature. Florida Code 713.132 – Notice of Termination