Florida Construction Liens Explained: Notice to Owner, the 90-Day Deadline and How Not to Pay Twice

Most people only hear about construction liens when one shows up on their property. By then the money has usually changed hands, and the question is who pays twice. Florida's lien law is built around a simple idea: the people who put labor and materials into a property can look to the property itself for payment. The rules about notices and deadlines decide when that's fair to the owner and when it isn't.

We deal with this law on every job, as the contractor who pays the subs and suppliers and as the company that hands the owner releases. Here is how it works from all three sides: the owner paying for the work, the subcontractor or supplier doing it, and the investor buying or fixing property.

How an owner ends up paying twice

Picture a remodel. You pay your general contractor. The contractor is supposed to pay the plumber, the electrician, the drywall crew and the supply house. If the contractor takes your money and doesn't pay one of them, that unpaid sub or supplier can still record a lien against your home, even though you never signed anything with them. Florida's own consumer summary of the law puts it plainly: you may be held liable if you pay a contractor in full and he then fails to pay his suppliers or subcontractors.

The law balances that risk with notices. Subs and suppliers who don't have a contract with you have to tell you they're on the job, and you have tools to make sure they get paid before you pay the next draw.

The key documents and deadlines

For homeowners: how to protect yourself

1. Make sure a Notice of Commencement is recorded. On jobs over $5,000, it has to be recorded and posted on the job before the first inspection. Only the owner can sign it. If you have a construction loan, Florida law requires the lender to record it before disbursing any construction funds to the contractor, and the lender is liable to you for damages if it doesn't; posting it at the job site is still your responsibility. It names the owner, the contractor and the lender, and tells subs and suppliers where to send their notices. If work doesn't start within 90 days of recording, it's void and has to be recorded again.
2. Keep every Notice to Owner you receive. Each one is a name on your list of people who have to be paid. An unexpected Notice to Owner is not an accusation; it's a sub or supplier protecting its rights, and it's normal on a well-run job.
3. Get releases before you pay. Before each payment, ask for a release of lien from the contractor and from every sub and supplier that served you a Notice to Owner, covering the work being paid for. Florida's summary tells owners to get these waivers before making any payment.
4. Get the final payment affidavit before the last check. The contractor's final payment affidavit lists anyone who hasn't been paid in full. Don't release the final payment until you have it and the final releases.
5. Know how your lender handles notices and draws. With a construction loan, the lender designates itself in the Notice of Commencement to receive copies of every Notice to Owner, and a lender that pays the contractor after receiving one is held to the same proper-payment rules as an owner. Still, ask your lender how it collects releases before each draw, because a draw paid without them leaves the risk on your property. And don't make payments after the Notice of Commencement expires: the statutory form warns that those are improper payments that can result in paying twice.
6. Close it out. When the work is done, record a Notice of Termination of the Notice of Commencement, following the service rules that took effect in 2023.

Your contract should spell out how releases and the final affidavit are handled. Our remodeling contract checklist covers the lien law notice Florida requires in the contract itself, and our guide on how to hire a general contractor covers the rest of the vetting.

For subcontractors and suppliers: how to protect your lien rights

• Serve the Notice to Owner early. If you don't have a contract directly with the owner, serve it before you start or within 45 days of first furnishing. Florida's summary is blunt: a lien can't be enforced unless the Notice to Owner was served.
• Get the Notice of Commencement. It gives you the correct owner, address and legal description, plus any lender and surety. Mistakes in names and descriptions cause most notice problems.
• Track your final furnishing date. The 90-day clock for recording a claim of lien runs from the last day you furnished labor, services or materials, so keep delivery tickets and daily logs.
• Record and serve the claim correctly. Record it in the county where the work was done, and serve the owner before recording or within 15 days after.
• Claim only what's owed. A lien covers unpaid labor, services and materials that went into the property. An exaggerated or careless lien can be found fraudulent, and the prevailing party in a lien lawsuit can recover attorney's fees under s. 713.29, which cuts both ways.
• Mind the one-year limit. A lien that isn't enforced by lawsuit within a year of recording is gone, and an owner's Notice of Contest can cut that to 60 days.

General contractors hiring subs face the same rules from the other side. Our demolition division's prequalification checklist for commercial demolition shows how lien releases fit into a sub's paperwork.

For investors: buying and fixing property

• Search for liens before you buy. Claims of lien, Notices of Commencement and Notices of Contest are recorded in the county's official records. An open Notice of Commencement means work was started and may not be closed out. Your title company should catch recorded liens; ask how it handles construction liens and unrecorded work.
• Check the permits too. Open or expired permits and unpermitted additions often travel with the same problem. Our guide on fixing unpermitted work explains what that can cost.
• On your own rehab, you're the owner. The same rules protect you: sign the Notice of Commencement, collect releases from every Notice to Owner sender, and don't make the final payment without the contractor's final payment affidavit. If a hard-money or construction lender is funding the work, it records the Notice of Commencement before the first draw and receives copies of the Notices to Owner, so ask for its draw and release process up front.
• Selling with an open lien. Florida's summary warns that you may not be able to sell a property until outstanding liens are paid or otherwise resolved, which can stall a flip or a refinance.

How a lien gets removed

• Payment and a recorded release or satisfaction. Since 2023, a recorded satisfaction or release has to include the lienor's notarized signature and the official records reference and recording date of the lien.
• Notice of Contest of Lien. The owner records it, and the lienor then has 60 days from service to sue or the lien is extinguished.
• Order to show cause. The owner can ask the court to make the lienor show, within 20 days of service, why the lien shouldn't be removed.
• Transfer to a bond. The lien can be moved off the property to a bond or cash deposit. Since 2023 that deposit is the claimed amount plus interest, plus $5,000 or 25 percent of the amount claimed.
• Running out the clock. A lien that isn't enforced within one year of recording expires.

When a lien is disputed, talk to a construction attorney early. Fee shifting under the lien law means the side that loses can end up paying the other side's lawyers.

The bottom line

Florida's lien law protects the people who build, and it gives owners the tools to avoid paying twice. Owners: record the Notice of Commencement, collect releases before every payment and get the final payment affidavit before the last check. Subs and suppliers: serve your Notice to Owner within 45 days and watch the 90-day and one-year clocks. Investors: search the records before you buy. We handle renovations, additions, new homes and commercial build-outs across Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, with releases on every payment. Tell us about your project.