How to Record a Notice of Commencement in Palm Beach County

To record a Notice of Commencement in Palm Beach County, complete the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller’s form with the required project information, sign it as the owner in front of a notary, and submit it to the Clerk’s Recording Department by e-recording, by mail, or in person at one of four courthouse locations, along with a $10.00 fee for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page.¹ After it is recorded, a certified copy must be posted at the construction site before the first building inspection can take place.²

When You Need to File One

Any construction project in Palm Beach County worth more than $5,000 requires a recorded Notice of Commencement before the first building inspection can take place.² The document creates a public record of who owns the property, who is doing the work, and who is funding it. Florida law prints a warning on every building permit card telling owners that failing to record one “may result in your paying twice for improvements to your property.”

The notice is also the foundation of your lien protection. Subcontractors and suppliers who aren’t under direct contract with you must send a “notice to owner” within 45 days of starting work on your project, and your recorded Notice of Commencement is what tells them who you are and where to send those notices. Without it, the notification system Florida relies on to cap lien exposure breaks down.

Filling Out the Form

Palm Beach County provides its own Notice of Commencement form through the Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller.³ Florida law requires seven categories of information:⁴

A full legal description of the property, including subdivision, lot, and block, not just the street address. The tax folio number should be included if you have it, and both can be looked up on the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser’s website.⁵
The full legal name and complete address of the property owner. A lessee who contracted for the work must be listed as the owner, with a note that the interest is a leasehold.
Name and address of the general contractor managing the project.
A general description of the improvements being made.
If a payment bond exists, the surety’s name, address, and bond amount. A copy of the payment bond must be attached when the notice is recorded.
Name and address of any lender providing a construction loan.
Optionally, a designated agent other than the owner to receive lien-related notices. This is worth doing if you won’t be readily available during construction.

The property owner must personally sign the form. The Palm Beach County Clerk does not accept signatures from anyone else on the owner’s behalf.³ The signature must be notarized, so the owner needs to sign in front of a notary public who then completes the acknowledgment and affixes a seal. Position matters: if the notary seal covers any information on the form, the Clerk can reject it.⁵

Submitting It to the Clerk

Once the form is notarized, record it with the Palm Beach County Recording Department. Until it’s recorded, it has no legal effect. There are three ways to submit:⁶

E-recording. Submit through one of the third-party vendors authorized by the county. For Notice of Commencement filings, the Clerk lists several specialty vendors geared toward lower-volume customers, including Deeds.com, E-Recording Inc, File and Go, iRecord365, QuickDeeds.com, and RecordNation. Higher-volume vendors like Simplifile and CSC eRecording Solutions are also available. Some vendors let you request a certified copy at the same time you file.⁷

Mail. Send the notarized original to the Clerk’s Recording Department at PO Box 4177, West Palm Beach, FL 33402-4177. Include a check or money order for the recording fee.

In person. Bring the document to any of the Clerk’s four locations: the Main Courthouse at 205 N. Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach, the North County Courthouse on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens, the South County Courthouse on Atlantic Avenue in Delray Beach, or the West County Courthouse in Belle Glade. In-person offices are open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

What You’ll Pay

The recording fee is $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page.¹ Most Notices of Commencement fit on one or two pages unless the legal description runs long. Certified copies — which you’ll need for the job site — are $1.00 per page plus $2.00 per document. E-recording vendors charge their own service fee on top of county recording fees.

After the Clerk processes the filing, the document is assigned a book and page number in the Official Records of Palm Beach County. Hold on to those reference numbers. You’ll need them if you ever amend or terminate the notice.

Posting at the Job Site

Recording the notice is only half the requirement. Florida law also requires you to post either a certified copy of the recorded notice, or a notarized statement that it has been filed together with a copy of it, at the construction site.⁴ Building inspectors will not conduct the first inspection until they can confirm the posting.²

Place the document inside a weatherproof permit board or protective sleeve where it’s visible to anyone visiting the site. The statute doesn’t spell out durability standards, but a document that disintegrates in the first rainstorm won’t satisfy the requirement. If an inspector shows up and can’t read it, your inspection gets delayed. Keep the notice posted for the entire duration of construction.

Deadlines That Can Void the Notice

Two deadlines trip people up, and missing either can unravel your lien protections.

The 90-Day Rule

If construction work doesn’t begin within 90 days after you record the notice, it becomes void automatically.⁴ You would need to record a new one before work can start. This catches owners who file early during planning and then hit permitting delays or financing holdups. Don’t record until you’re confident work will begin within three months.

Expiration After One Year

A Notice of Commencement expires one year from the date it was recorded, unless the form specifies a longer period.⁴ If your contract calls for a completion period longer than one year, the notice must state that it’s effective for one year plus that additional time. Any payments you make after the notice expires are considered “improper payments” under Florida’s construction lien law, which means they won’t count toward satisfying lien claims from subcontractors or suppliers. For large projects expected to run long, get the expiration date right from the start, or file an amendment before the original lapses.

When a Construction Lender Is Involved

If you have a construction loan, the responsibility to record the Notice of Commencement shifts to the lender. Florida law requires the lender to record it before disbursing any construction funds to the contractor.⁴ The lender must also designate itself to receive copies of lien-related notices on the project.

Posting the notice at the construction site remains the owner’s job even when the lender handles the recording. If the lender fails to record as required, the lender is liable to the owner for any resulting damages, but that liability runs only to the owner, not to subcontractors or other parties. Don’t assume your lender handled this. Confirm recording and get the book-and-page number before work starts.

Amending or Terminating the Notice

Project details change. A subcontractor gets replaced, the lender’s address changes, or a typo turns up on the legal description. Florida law allows you to record an amended Notice of Commencement to extend the effective period, correct errors, or add information left out of the original filing.⁴ The amended notice must reference the book and page number where the original was recorded, and you must serve a copy on the contractor and on any lienor who sent a notice to owner before or within 30 days after the amendment is recorded. One limitation: you cannot change the general contractor through an amendment. Switching contractors requires recording an entirely new Notice of Commencement or a notice of recommencement.

When construction wraps up and everyone has been paid, recording a Notice of Termination closes out the lien exposure window. This is optional but recommended. Without a termination on file, subcontractors and suppliers can technically still send lien-related notices until the original notice expires on its own.⁸

To terminate, record a notice of termination that includes the recording information from the original Notice of Commencement and a statement that all lienors have been paid in full. The termination must be accompanied by the contractor’s final payment affidavit. The owner also needs to serve a copy on each lienor who has a direct contract with the owner or who sent a timely notice to owner; lienors who already signed a final waiver and release of lien don’t need to be served. The termination takes effect 30 days after recording, or on a later date if one is specified. Filing it with the Clerk follows the same process and fees as the original.

1
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County. Recording Fees
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 713.135 – Notice of Commencement and Applicability of Lien
3
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County. Notice of Commencement
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 713.13 – Notice of Commencement
5
Palm Beach County Planning, Zoning & Building. Notice of Commencement
6
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County. Recording
7
Clerk of the Circuit Court & Comptroller, Palm Beach County. eRecording
8
The Florida Legislature. Florida Code 713.132 – Notice of Termination