How to File a Construction Lien in Florida: Notice and Recording

To file a construction lien in Florida, you serve a Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials (unless you contracted directly with the owner), then record a sworn Claim of Lien with the circuit court clerk in the county where the property sits within 90 days of your last day of work, and serve a copy on the owner within 15 days of recording. Miss any of those deadlines and your lien rights are gone, no matter how much you’re owed. The rules live in Chapter 713 of the Florida Statutes, and courts apply them strictly.

Confirm You Have the Right to a Lien

Florida’s lien law covers contractors, subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, material suppliers, and laborers who improved real property and weren’t paid. If you weren’t in a direct contract with the owner, you can still claim a lien, but the total of all liens on a project cannot exceed the original contract price between the owner and the general contractor.¹

Before you do anything else, verify your license. If the work you performed required a Florida contractor’s license and you didn’t have one, the contract is unenforceable, and no lien or bond claim exists in your favor for any work done under it.² Courts will not waive this, and the quality of your work is irrelevant.

Serve the Notice to Owner

If you don’t have a direct contract with the property owner, you must serve a Notice to Owner before you can record a lien. This applies to subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and material suppliers. Laborers don’t need to serve one, and general contractors who signed directly with the owner are also exempt.¹

The deadline is firm. Serve the notice before you begin work or no later than 45 days after you first furnish labor or materials, whichever comes later. In every case, the notice has to arrive before the owner makes final payment to the general contractor. Failing to serve on time, or not serving at all, is a complete defense to your lien.¹

The notice must include your name and address, a description of the property, and a description of what you’re providing. You’ll find the owner’s name and address on the Notice of Commencement recorded with the clerk or posted at the job site; if there isn’t one, pull the information from the building permit application. Florida requires one of these delivery methods:³

Hand delivery to the owner, a corporate officer, an LLC manager, or an authorized agent.
Registered, certified, or Global Express Guaranteed mail, or a common carrier delivery service with evidence of delivery.
Posting at the job site, only when hand delivery and mail both fail.

Service by mail counts as effective on the date you mail it, not the date the owner opens it, as long as you sent it to the address in the Notice of Commencement and you keep a mail log or postal tracking records.³

Prepare the Claim of Lien

The Claim of Lien is the document that creates the lien. It has to be signed, sworn under oath, and notarized. The statute requires specific contents:⁴

Your name and the address where notices or legal process can be served on you.
The name of the person or company that hired you.
A description of the labor, services, or materials furnished, along with the contract price. Materials fabricated off-site but intended for the project must be listed separately.
A description of the property with enough detail to identify it, typically the legal description from the deed or tax records.
The current property owner’s name.
The dates you first and last furnished labor or materials.
The unpaid balance, including any unpaid finance charges under your contract.
If you’re not in a direct contract with the owner, the date and method you served your Notice to Owner.

Minor errors won’t necessarily kill the lien. A trial court has discretion to enforce a lien despite small omissions or mistakes when no one was harmed by the error.⁴ The amount you claim is the exception. Get it right.

Record the Lien and Serve the Owner

Record the Claim of Lien with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property sits. The deadline is 90 days after the last day you furnished labor, services, or materials.⁴ You can record at any time during the work or after it wraps up, but once that 90-day window closes, the right to file is gone. If the general contract was terminated early, the 90 days runs from the termination date or your last day of work, whichever comes first.

Submit the original notarized document to the clerk and pay the recording fee. Filing is available in person, by mail, or through electronic recording where the county supports it. The clerk stamps the document with a filing date and assigns an official records number.

Within 15 days after recording, serve a copy of the Claim of Lien on the property owner. Failing to serve within that window doesn’t automatically void the lien, but it makes the lien voidable to the extent the delay prejudiced anyone entitled to rely on the service.⁴ Use the same delivery methods you used for the Notice to Owner.

Keep the Lien Alive After Recording

Recording secures your claim against the property but doesn’t collect anything. A Florida construction lien is valid for one year from the recording date.⁵ If you still haven’t been paid, you must file a foreclosure lawsuit within that year, or the lien expires on its own. When you do file, record a notice of lis pendens so the lien remains effective against later buyers or creditors.

The owner can shorten the timeline. By recording a Notice of Contest of Lien and having a copy mailed to you, the owner forces you to file your foreclosure suit within 60 days of service or lose the lien.⁵ The clerk mails the contest notice to the address you listed in your Claim of Lien, so use an address you actually monitor.

An even faster path exists. The owner or any interested party can ask the circuit court to issue a summons requiring you to show cause within 20 days why your lien should not be canceled. If you fail to show cause or don’t start a foreclosure action before the return date, the court will order the lien canceled.⁶ Respond immediately if you receive one.

Get the Amount Right

Overstating your claim is the fastest way to lose everything. A lien is deemed fraudulent if you intentionally inflate the amount owed, include charges for work you didn’t perform, or list materials you never delivered.⁷ A court that finds fraud will declare the lien unenforceable, and you forfeit all lien rights on that property.

The exposure extends beyond the lien itself. The owner or any party harmed by the fraudulent filing can sue for damages including court costs, attorney fees, bond premiums paid to discharge the lien, interest on deposited funds, and punitive damages up to the difference between what you claimed and what you were actually owed.⁷ Willfully filing a fraudulent lien is a third-degree felony under Florida law.

Honest mistakes don’t carry these penalties. A minor error in a Claim of Lien or a good-faith dispute over the amount owed does not constitute the kind of willful exaggeration that defeats a lien.⁷ Intent is the pivot. If you’re uncertain about the exact balance, err low.

A Note on Lien Waivers Along the Way

As progress payments come in, the owner or general contractor will likely ask you to sign lien waivers. Florida provides two statutory forms: one for progress payments, one for final payment. A progress waiver covers only work furnished through a specific date and doesn’t waive rights on future work or retained amounts. A final waiver covers everything.⁸

No one can require you to sign a waiver that differs from the statutory forms, and if you sign a waiver in exchange for a check, you can condition the waiver on the check clearing.⁸ Any attempt to waive lien rights in advance, before the work is done, is unenforceable in Florida. A “no-lien” clause buried in a contract before work begins has no legal effect.

1
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 713.06 – Rights of Persons Not in Privity With the Owner
2
Florida Senate. Florida Code 489.128 – Unlicensed Contracting
3
Florida Senate. Florida Code 713.18 – Manner of Serving Documents
4
Florida Senate. Florida Code 713.08 – Claim of Lien
5
Florida Senate. Florida Code 713.22 – Duration of Lien
6
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 713.21 – Discharge of Lien
7
Justia Law. Florida Code 713.31 – Remedies in Case of Fraud or Collusion
8
Online Sunshine. Florida Code 713.20 – Waiver of Right to Claim Lien