Florida Construction Lien Law: What a Claim of Lien Must State

Part I of Fla. Stat. ch. 713 is the Construction Lien Law. It gives anyone who supplies labor, services or materials to an improvement a claim against the property itself, states what a recorded claim must say, and limits how long an unenforced lien survives. A licensed contractor sits on both sides of it.

Who has a lien, and the privity distinction

The chapter divides claimants by whether they contracted with the owner. Fla. Stat. 713.06(1) covers those who did not:

“A materialman or laborer, either of whom is not in privity with the owner, or a subcontractor or sub-subcontractor who complies with the provisions of this part and is subject to the limitations thereof, has a lien on the real property improved for any money that is owed to him or her for labor, services, or materials furnished in accordance with his or her contract and with the direct contract and for any unpaid finance charges due under the lienor’s contract.”

Two conditions are carried inside that sentence. The claimant must comply “with the provisions of this part”, and the work must have been furnished in accordance with both the claimant’s own contract and the direct contract — the one between the owner and the contractor.

What a recorded claim must state

A lien is perfected by recording. Fla. Stat. 713.08(1) opens:

“For the purpose of perfecting her or his lien under this part, every lienor, including laborers and persons in privity, shall record a claim of lien which shall state:”

and the items that follow include:

“(a) The name of the lienor and the address where notices or process under this part may be served on the lienor.”

“(b) The name of the person with whom the lienor contracted or by whom she or he was employed.”

“(c) The labor, services, or materials furnished and the contract price or value thereof.”

The subsection continues into the treatment of specially fabricated materials — items “specially fabricated at a place other than the site of the improvement for incorporation in the improvement but not so incorporated” are addressed separately, which is the provision that matters to a fabricator whose materials never reached the job.

“Every lienor, including laborers and persons in privity” is the phrase to read carefully: recording is not a step reserved for claimants at a distance from the owner. A contractor in direct privity records a claim of lien on the same terms.

The one-year limit

Fla. Stat. 713.22(1) is the provision that ends most claims:

“A lien provided by this part does not continue for a longer period than 1 year after the claim of lien has been recorded or 1 year after the recording of an amended claim of lien that shows a later date of final furnishing of labor, services, or materials, unless within that time an action to enforce the lien is commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction.”

The year runs from recording, not from the last day worked, and an amended claim showing a later final-furnishing date restarts it from that amendment’s recording. Commencing an action within the year continues the lien, but the same subsection limits what that continuation is worth against third parties:

“A lien that has been continued beyond the 1-year period by the commencement of an action is not enforceable against creditors or subsequent purchasers for a valuable consideration and without notice, unless a notice of lis pendens is recorded”

The subsection continues past that point with the recording conditions, which are not reproduced here.

How this connects to the notice of commencement

A claim under this part is made against a job whose record begins with the notice of commencement the job runs under, which identifies the owner, the contractor, the lender and the person designated for service — the items that notice must carry. Those names are how a lienor knows whom to serve, and they are why the notice matters to a claim that has nothing to do with the owner’s own paperwork.

A licensing point belongs here and is easy to miss. Chapter 489’s prohibitions on unlicensed contracting are not part of chapter 713, but they bear on what an unlicensed party can recover at all — set out under what an unlicensed contractor may not recover.

This page states what part I of chapter 713 requires. It does not advise on whether a claim exists on any particular job, how to perfect or defend one, or what a recorded lien is worth in a dispute. Those are legal questions about specific facts and belong with a lawyer.

Where to go next: the Florida general contractor license guide covers the licensing framework these obligations sit inside.

The warning that starts this sequence is printed at the permit counter — the permit conditions that carry it.