Florida Notice of Commencement: Who Records It, and When

The notice of commencement is the owner’s filing, not the contractor’s, and Fla. Stat. 713.13 fixes when it happens: before work starts. Fla. Stat. 713.135 then ties it to the permit and puts the consequence of missing it on the permit card in capital letters.

A contractor is named on the notice and works on a site whose inspections depend on it, which is why the timing matters to the licensee even though the duty does not sit with them.

The duty, and whose it is

“Except for an improvement that is exempt under s. 713.02(5), an owner or the owner’s authorized agent before actually commencing to improve any real property, or recommencing completion of any improvement after default or abandonment, whether or not a project has a payment bond complying with s. 713.23, shall record a notice of commencement in the clerk’s office and post either a certified copy thereof or a notarized statement that the notice of commencement has been filed for recording along with a copy thereof.”

Three things sit inside that sentence and each is commonly missed.

It is two acts, not one. The notice is recorded in the clerk’s office and posted at the site. Posting takes either a certified copy or a notarized statement that the notice has been filed, together with a copy.

A payment bond does not remove it. The subsection says so expressly — “whether or not a project has a payment bond complying with s. 713.23”.

Recommencing counts. A project resumed after default or abandonment requires the notice again, on the same terms as a project starting for the first time.

The permit connection, and the warning that rides on it

Fla. Stat. 713.135(1)(a) requires the permitting authority to print a warning on the face of every permit card, in “no less than 14-point, capitalized, boldfaced type”:

“WARNING TO OWNER: YOUR FAILURE TO RECORD A NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT MAY RESULT IN YOUR PAYING TWICE FOR IMPROVEMENTS TO YOUR PROPERTY. A NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT MUST BE RECORDED AND POSTED ON THE SITE OF THE IMPROVEMENT BEFORE THE FIRST INSPECTION. IF YOU INTEND TO OBTAIN FINANCING, CONSULT WITH YOUR LENDER OR AN ATTORNEY BEFORE RECORDING YOUR NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT.”

“Before the first inspection” is the operative deadline in practice. The statutory duty in 713.13 attaches before commencing work; the inspection is the point at which its absence stops the job.

The same section requires the issuing authority to hand the applicant and the owner a printed summary of the Construction Lien Law, which “the Department of Business and Professional Regulation shall furnish, for distribution”. The summary has to explain recording and posting, the owner’s rights where a lienor fails to serve a notice, and the owner’s rights under s. 713.22.

The $2,500 exemption

The duty does not reach small work. Fla. Stat. 713.02(5):

“Any improvement for which the direct contract price is $2,500 or less shall be exempt from all other provisions of this part except the provisions of s. 713.05.”

The test is the direct contract price, not the permit value or the cost of materials.

What the contractor’s stake in it is

The contractor’s name and address are among the items the notice must carry, so the filing identifies the licensee to anyone searching the record — the seven items the notice must contain sets out the rest. The notice is also the document against which lien claims are measured, which is taken up under how a construction lien attaches.

This page describes what chapter 713 requires and of whom. It does not address whether any particular improvement needs a notice, or what to do about one that was missed — those turn on the facts of a job and belong with a lawyer.

Where to go next: the licensing route this work sits behind is on the licensing route this work sits behind, the consequences of working outside a license are under what contracting without a license carries, and the Florida general contractor license guide covers the whole picture.

The permit that triggers the warning above carries a second condition from a different chapter. Fla. Stat. 440.103 makes proof of workers’ compensation a condition of applying for and receiving a building permit, accepted as a carrier certificate, a valid exemption certificate or self-insurance authority — the exemption route and its limits, and filing the certificate.

What else that permit application has to carry, and who may lawfully hold one, is set out under Florida building permit requirements.