Florida's Construction Lien Law and the Notice of Commencement (Chapter 713)
- Endless Life Design
- Jun 2
- 6 min read
Updated: Jun 13
Before the first inspection on most projects, one recorded document sets the legal foundation for who gets paid and how an owner avoids paying twice: the Notice of Commencement. Florida's Construction Lien Law turns on it, and a missing or expired notice creates real exposure. Endless Life Design handles the lien-law paperwork as part of running a clean project.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
What the Construction Lien Law Does
The Notice of Commencement (s. 713.13)
Recording, Posting, and the 2025 Threshold
Notices to Owner and the Pay-Twice Warning
Claims of Lien and Deadlines
Releases, Affidavits, and Closeout
County and Municipality Inspection Comments for Permit Approval
Related Resources
Why Choose Endless Life Design
WHAT THE CONSTRUCTION LIEN LAW DOES
Chapter 713, Florida Statutes, gives contractors, subcontractors, laborers, and material suppliers who improve real property the right to record a lien against that property if they are not paid. The system is designed to secure payment for those who furnish labor and materials while giving owners a defined way to protect themselves from paying twice for the same work.
THE NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT (S. 713.13)
Under Section 713.13, F.S., the owner or the owner's authorized agent records a Notice of Commencement before beginning an improvement to private real property that exceeds $2,500 in value. It identifies the property, the owner, the contractor, any lender or surety, and a person designated to receive notices, and it establishes the project's official start date that lien deadlines run from.
RECORDING, POSTING, AND THE 2025 THRESHOLD
The notice is recorded in the public records of the county where the property is located, and a certified copy is posted at the job site before work begins. Two thresholds matter:
The lien-law improvement threshold for recording a Notice of Commencement remains more than $2,500 in value.
Effective July 1, 2025, the contract amount at which the building department requires the notice to be filed before the first inspection rose from $2,500 to $5,000.
Air-conditioning repair or replacement under $15,000 is exempt under Section 713.02(5), F.S.
A Notice of Commencement expires one year after recording unless a later date is stated, and payments made after expiration are treated as improper.
NOTICES TO OWNER AND THE PAY-TWICE WARNING
Subcontractors and suppliers who are not in direct contract with the owner must serve a Notice to Owner before, or within 45 days of, first furnishing labor or materials, under Section 713.06, F.S. The law's central warning is blunt: a lien can attach even if the owner has already paid the contractor in full, which is why owners should collect written lien releases with every payment.
CLAIMS OF LIEN AND DEADLINES
A lienor must record a claim of lien within 90 days after the last furnishing of labor or materials to the project. An action to enforce that lien must then be filed within one year of recording the claim, a period the owner can shorten by recorded notice. Missing either deadline generally defeats the lien.
RELEASES, AFFIDAVITS, AND CLOSEOUT
Progress payments are exchanged for partial releases of lien, and final payment for final releases. Before a contractor can enforce its own lien or demand final payment, it must furnish the owner a final contractor's affidavit stating that all lienors have been paid or listing any who have not. Clean releases and a complete affidavit are part of a proper closeout.
COUNTY AND MUNICIPALITY INSPECTION COMMENTS FOR PERMIT APPROVAL
Common comments include:
Notice of Commencement not recorded or posted before the first inspection where required.
Notice of Commencement expired before the work was completed.
Final contractor's affidavit missing at closeout.
Designated-owner and lender information incomplete on the notice.
No system in place to collect lien releases against payments.
RELATED RESOURCES
The Notice to Owner That Arrives From Strangers
The notices arrive from strangers, with the suppliers and subcontractors the owner never hired preserving their lien rights by mail, the document alarming but routine, and the statute's machinery introducing every hand the project pays indirectly, the owner's file collecting the notices as the roster of who could claim, the paperwork read as information rather than threat, the names tracked against the releases that will retire them, the strangers known before the checks that must answer them.
The strangers must be known before the checks that answer them. Endless Life Design tracks the notices your project receives and matches every name to the release that retires it. Call (305) 680-3283 for owners who always know who could claim. The tracking spreadsheet pairs every notice with its trade, its amount, and its release status, and the project's exposure is readable at a glance.
The Release of Lien Traded for Every Check
The releases trade for the checks, with each draw exchanged for the waivers that extinguish the rights it pays, the partial releases collected through the project and the finals gathered at its end, and the owner's protection built one signature at a time, the payment that skipped its paperwork leaving the right alive behind it, the file of releases being the property's shield, the discipline simple and absolute, the money moving only when the waiver moves with it.
The money moves only when the waiver moves with it. Endless Life Design manages the release exchanges that shield your property at every draw. Call (305) 680-3283 for payments that always buy their protection.
The Owner Who Pays Twice: The Statute's Hardest Lesson
The statute's hardest lesson is double payment, with the owner who paid the contractor still liable to the subs the contractor stiffed, the improper payments offering no defense against the liens that follow, and the protection living entirely in the procedures the law prescribes, the affidavits demanded and the releases collected before any final check, the owner's good faith insufficient where the paperwork was, the lesson learned cheaply by reading or expensively by lien, the procedure being the only shield the statute respects.
The procedure is the only shield the statute respects. Endless Life Design runs the payment procedures that protect owners from the statute's hardest lesson. Call (305) 680-3283 for projects that never pay twice.
The Contest That Shortens the Fight
The fight can be shortened by procedure, with the recorded lien contested or transferred to a bond, the cloud lifted off the title while the dispute continues elsewhere, and the property freed to sell, refinance, and proceed, the statute's tools converting the standoff into a schedule, the lien's leverage answered with mechanisms most owners never learn exist, the dispute fought on the merits instead of held hostage on the title, the pressure relieved by the filing that starts the clock.
The pressure is relieved by the filing that starts the clock. Endless Life Design deploys the contest and bonding tools that lift liens off your title while disputes resolve. Call (305) 680-3283 for properties freed to move forward.
The Final Affidavit Before the Last Check
The last check waits on the affidavit, with the contractor swearing to the unpaid parties before the final payment releases, the document listing who remains owed so the owner can pay correctly, and the project's closing protected by a sworn statement the statute scripts, the final draw conditioned on the truth in writing, the affidavit's accuracy carrying consequences, the closing checklist beginning with paper rather than money, the project finished financially only when the swearing is done.
The project finishes financially only when the swearing is done. Endless Life Design conditions the final payments on the affidavits the statute requires first. Call (305) 680-3283 for closings done in the lawful order.
The Termination That Ends the Notice Properly
The notice must end as formally as it began, with the commencement terminated when the work concludes or the project changes course, the recorded document closed by a recorded successor, and the property's title cleared for the refinance or sale the open notice would complicate, the paperwork's afterlife managed deliberately, the lender's title search finding an ending instead of a loose thread, the project closed in the records the way it was opened, the file finished completely.
The project must close in the records the way it opened. Endless Life Design records the terminations that end your commencement notices cleanly for the next transaction. Call (305) 680-3283 for titles with no loose threads. The termination's timing follows the statute's notice requirements precisely, and the recorded ending protects everyone the recorded beginning once bound.
WHY CHOOSE ENDLESS LIFE DESIGN
Endless Life Design is a licensed Florida general contractor serving Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties across construction, engineering, architecture, interior design, and 3D rendering. We manage the contracts, code compliance, and approvals behind every project as one accountable process, so the legal and regulatory groundwork is handled correctly from the first day to the certificate of occupancy.
Endless Life Design — Licensed Florida General Contractor. Visit endlesslifedesign.com, call (305) 680-3283, or email endlesslifedesign@endlesslifedesign.com.
Related Permit Resources
Continue exploring: The Florida Building Code, 8th Edition (2023): An Overview and What the 9th Edition Changes • Florida Milestone Inspections and Structural Integrity Reserve Studies (s. 553.899) • Florida's Private Provider Program: Private Plan Review and Inspections (s. 553.791) • City of Miami Building Permits: Using iBuild, ePlan, and the County-Approval Path • Ready to secure your approvals? Explore our Government Permit Processing Service or call (305) 680-3283 today.
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