Florida notice of commencement and notice to owner: the dates that matter

The 45-day notice to owner deadline

A subcontractor, sub-subcontractor or supplier who has no direct contract with the owner must serve a notice to owner before it starts, or no later than 45 days after it first furnishes labor, services or materials, and in any case before the owner makes the final payment after the contractor's final affidavit (§713.06(2)(a)). Laborers are not required to. The statute asks for strict compliance with this timing: a late notice can cost the lien right.

Mailing: a notice to owner sent by certified, registered or Global Express Guaranteed mail counts as served on the day it is mailed if it is mailed within 40 days of first furnishing and a mail log or tracking record is kept (§713.18(2)). Otherwise it is safer to plan on the day it is delivered, so leave time.

Worked example. First furnished on Mon, Oct 5, 2026: mail by day 40, Sat, Nov 14, 2026, for service to count from the mailing date; day 45 is Thu, Nov 19, 2026.

Deadline calculator

The table gives the dates for every first-furnishing day in the last 45 days, as of Nov 3, 2026:

The notice of commencement

• Who and when: the owner, or the owner's authorized agent, records the notice of commencement in the county's Official Records before actually starting the improvement, and posts a copy at the job site (§713.13(1)(a)). The statutory form warns that it must be recorded and posted before the first inspection.
• What it names: the property and the improvement, the owner, the contractor, any surety and payment bond, any construction lender, and anyone the owner designates to receive notices (§713.13(1)).
• Small jobs: an improvement with a direct contract price of $2,500 or less is exempt from the rest of Part I, except §713.05 (§713.02(5)).
• Ninety days: if the improvement is not actually started within 90 days after the notice is recorded, the notice is void (§713.13(2)).
• One year: the notice expires one year after recording unless it states a different date (the statutory form, §713.13(1)).

Worked example. Recorded on Mon, Oct 5, 2026: void unless work starts by Sun, Jan 3, 2027; expires Tue, Oct 5, 2027 unless it states a different date.

Finding a notice of commencement

Notices of commencement are recorded in each county's Official Records, kept by the Clerk. Online searches usually need the grantor (often the owner), the grantee (often the contractor) or an instrument number, which a supplier may not know.

Florida's service rule points to the address in the notice of commencement, or in the building permit application when there is no notice of commencement (§713.18(3)). That is one reason the permit matters to lien services.

What a building permit can and cannot tell you

A building permit shows that a job is starting, who the contractor is and what the job is worth. It does not show the parties a notice of commencement names (the surety, the lender, the owner's designee), and we do not deliver notices of commencement yet.

• Miami-Dade (county-issued permits): 861 permits with a trade, Oct 27–Nov 2.
• Tallahassee–Leon (new construction only): 7 permits with a trade, Oct 27–Nov 2.
• City of Miami (city-issued permits): 514 permits with a trade, Oct 27–Nov 2.
• Cape Coral (city-issued permits): 368 permits with a trade, Oct 27–Nov 2.
• Leesburg (city-issued permits): 52 permits with a trade, Oct 27–Nov 2.

Other dates

• Claim of lien: recorded no later than 90 days after your final furnishing (§713.08(5)).
• Public projects work differently (payment bonds rather than liens), and are outside this guide.

The statute, on the Florida Legislature's site

• §713.02: types of lienors, and the $2,500 exemption (subsection 5)
• §713.06: the notice to owner and its 45-day deadline (subsection 2)
• §713.08: the claim of lien and its 90-day deadline (subsection 5)
• §713.13: the notice of commencement
• §713.18: how notices are served, including the 40-day mailing rule (subsection 2)

Read on 2 November 2026.