Polk County Notice of Commencement (NOC): Filing, Recording, and Posting

To file a Polk County Notice of Commencement, complete the statutory form with your property, owner, contractor, lender, and surety information, sign it before a notary, and record it with the Polk County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller before your first building inspection. Florida law also requires you to post the recorded notice at the job site. Do both steps, and your project can move through inspections and you keep the lien protections the statute is designed to give property owners.

When You Need to File One

Any improvement to real property in Florida under a direct contract greater than $5,000 triggers the requirement. Polk County enforces it through the permit process: the building department will not approve your first inspection without a copy of the recorded notice.¹

One exception: a contract to repair or replace an existing heating or air-conditioning system does not trigger the filing requirement unless the contract price exceeds $15,000.² Roofing, additions, pools, kitchen remodels, commercial build-outs, and essentially every other improvement over the $5,000 threshold are covered.

Your permit card itself will carry a boldface warning that failing to record the notice can result in paying twice for improvements to your property.¹ That warning reflects what happens if subcontractors or suppliers go unpaid by your general contractor: they can lien your property directly.

Information to Gather Before You Start

Florida Statute 713.13 spells out what the notice must contain, and missing fields can invalidate the document.³ Have these in front of you before you fill anything in:

The legal description of the property from your deed, not just the street address. The Polk County Property Appraiser’s website also carries the tax folio number.
A short general description of the improvement, such as “new pool and deck” or “kitchen remodel.”
The owner’s name and address exactly as they appear on the title. List all owners if there is more than one.
The general contractor’s name and address.
The surety company’s name, address, phone number, and bond amount, if the project has a payment bond.
The name and address of any lender financing the construction. Leave blank if you are paying out of pocket.
A designated agent for service of notices, if you want someone other than yourself to receive them. Optional.
An expiration date. The notice automatically expires one year from recording unless you specify a longer period.

If a construction loan is in the picture, check with your lender before recording. Lenders often have specific requirements about how they are listed and may want to review the document first.

Getting the Form and Signing It

Polk County makes the form available through its building department at polkfl.gov.⁴ Florida law also requires the permit office to hand you at least two blank copies when you pull your permit.¹

Fill in every field. The form tracks Section 713.13 closely, so each blank corresponds to a statutory requirement. Check the legal description against your deed character by character; a typo can create title problems later. If your project will take longer than a year, enter an expiration date that covers your full expected timeline.

The owner or an authorized agent must sign the form in front of a notary public.⁵ Florida notaries can charge up to $10 per notarial act.⁶ Banks, UPS stores, and title companies commonly offer notary services.

Recording It with the Polk County Clerk

Recording enters the notarized form into the county’s official public records, which is what gives it legal effect. You have three options.

In Person

Bring the signed original to a Clerk office that handles recording. The main location is the Polk County Courthouse at 255 N. Broadway Ave., Bartow, with additional offices in Lakeland and Lake Alfred.⁷ Cash, check, and credit card are accepted at the counter.

By Mail

Send the notarized original to the Recording Department at PO Box 9000, Drawer CC-8, Bartow, FL 33831-9000.⁸ Include a check for the fee and a self-addressed stamped envelope for the return. Build in mail time if your first inspection is coming up.

E-Recording

Polk County accepts electronically recorded documents through approved e-recording partners listed on the Clerk’s website.⁹ You submit a scanned notarized document and often get the recorded copy back within hours. This is the fastest route when the contractor is waiting on a recorded copy to schedule inspections.

Fees

The Clerk charges $10.00 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page. Most notices run one or two pages. A certified copy for the job site costs $1.00 per page plus $2.00 for the official seal.¹⁰ Budget roughly $20 to $25 for recording a two-page notice plus one certified copy.

Once recorded, the document is stamped with a book and page number (or instrument number). That stamp is your proof of recording and fixes the project’s formal start date for lien priority.

Posting at the Job Site

Recording is not the end. You must also post either a certified copy of the recorded notice, or a notarized statement that the notice has been filed for recording along with a copy, at the construction site before the first inspection.³ Put it somewhere visible, like a weather-protected board near the main entrance to the work area. A plastic sleeve or lamination keeps it readable through Florida weather.

Subcontractors and suppliers who serve a Notice to Owner on you are entitled to see the recorded notice. It tells them who the lender and surety are, which they need to preserve their own lien rights under Section 713.06.¹¹ If you designated an agent for service, lienors must also serve that person, which only works if the recorded information is accurate.

How Long It Lasts

A Notice of Commencement expires one year from the date of recording unless you specify a longer period on the form.⁵ For contracts that run longer than a year, the notice must state that it covers one year plus whatever additional time the contract allows. Choose carefully: once the notice expires, lien rights tied to it lose priority against later buyers or mortgage holders.

There is also a 90-day rule. If construction does not actually begin within 90 days after recording, the notice becomes void automatically.⁵ A delayed project needs a fresh notice recorded before work starts.

You can amend a recorded notice to extend the effective period, fix errors, or add missing information. The amended notice must reference the official records book and page number of the original, and you must serve a copy on the contractor and every lienor who has already served a Notice to Owner.³ One thing an amendment cannot do: switch general contractors. A new contractor means recording an entirely new notice.

Closing the Notice Out

When the project is finished and everyone has been paid, record a Notice of Termination under Florida Statute 713.132. Leaving the commencement notice open after work ends leaves the lien window open too, which keeps unnecessary risk on your title.

The Notice of Termination must include all the information from the original notice, the official records book and page number and recording date of the original, a termination date that cannot be earlier than 30 days after the termination notice is recorded, a statement that all lienors have been paid in full, and confirmation that you have served a copy on every lienor with a direct contract and every lienor who properly served a Notice to Owner.¹²

Serve the Notice of Termination on each of those lienors before recording. Termination takes effect 30 days after recording, giving lienors a final window to assert unpaid claims. Your contractor’s sworn affidavit under Section 713.06 confirming all subs and suppliers have been paid must accompany the recorded termination.

What Happens If You Skip It

Two things go wrong immediately. The county will not approve inspections on your project without a copy of the recorded notice, so the contractor cannot pass framing, electrical, plumbing, or any other required inspection.¹ That alone can stall a job for days or weeks.

The second problem costs more. When a notice is on file, subcontractors and suppliers must serve a Notice to Owner within 45 days of starting work to preserve their lien rights.¹¹ That notice tells you exactly who is working on your property and expecting payment. Without a recorded Notice of Commencement, lienors can instead rely on information from the building permit application, and you lose visibility into who holds lien rights. A supplier you never knew was on the job can file a lien, and you can end up paying twice for the same work.

1
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 713.135 – Notice of Commencement and Applicability of Lien
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 713.135 – Notice of Commencement and Applicability of Lien
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 713.13 – Notice of Commencement
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Polk County. Building Permitting
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 713.13 – Notice of Commencement
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Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 117.05 – Use of Notary Commission
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Polk County Clerk, FL. Contact Us
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Polk County Clerk, FL. Official Records
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Polk County Clerk, FL. eRecording
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Polk County Clerk, FL. Fees
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 713.06 – Liens of Persons Not in Privity
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The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 713.132 – Notice of Termination