Florida's 45-Day Notice to Owner: The Deadline That Decides Whether You Get Paid
No document in Florida construction does more work in fewer words. Miss it by a day and your lien rights are usually gone.
If you supply labor or materials to a Florida construction project and you don't have a contract directly with the owner, one document decides whether you can ever lien the property: the Notice to Owner. And the clock on it starts the day you first show up or first deliver.
The deadline that doesn't forgive
Under Florida's Construction Lien Law (Chapter 713, Florida Statutes), most subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and material suppliers must serve a Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing labor, services, or materials to the project. See § 713.06, Fla. Stat. Miss it, and in most cases you have no lien rights on that project. Not reduced rights. None.
The cruel part is that the deadline runs from first furnishing, not last. A supplier who delivers materials in week one and keeps delivering for eight months doesn't get a new 45-day window with each delivery. The window opened on delivery one, and it closed 45 days later.
What the Notice to Owner actually is
It's not a lien. It's not a lawsuit. It's not an accusation that anyone owes you money. It's a statutory notice that tells the property owner: this company is furnishing labor or materials to your project, and if it doesn't get paid, it may have lien rights against your property.
Owners sometimes react badly to receiving one, and general contractors sometimes pressure subs not to send them. Don't give in. Serving an NTO is standard, professional practice in Florida construction, and the companies that treat it as routine paperwork on every job are the ones that get paid.
The rest of the lien timeline
The NTO is the first domino. The other deadlines matter just as much:
- Claim of Lien: must be recorded within 90 days of your final furnishing of labor or materials (§ 713.08, Fla. Stat.). "Final furnishing" is measured by real contract work, not by warranty visits or punch-list trivia meant to stretch the clock.
- Enforcement lawsuit: a recorded lien generally expires unless you file suit to foreclose within one year of recording (§ 713.22, Fla. Stat.). That period can be shortened dramatically if the owner records a Notice of Contest of Lien or serves a summons to show cause. When that happens, you move immediately or you lose the lien.
Why speed is the whole game
Almost every construction lien case we see go wrong goes wrong on the calendar, not on the merits. The work was done. The invoice was legitimate. The debt was real. But the NTO went out on day 50, or the lien got recorded in month four, and the leverage evaporated.
The fix is boring and effective: treat lien deadlines as a system, not a reaction. Calendar the 45-day date the moment your crew or your materials first hit the site. If a payment problem is even a possibility, record the lien well before day 90. And if you've recorded a lien and the owner goes quiet, don't let month eleven sneak up on you.
If you're the owner
Everything above cuts the other way too. Owners have tools: demanding lien releases with every payment, requiring the contractor's final payment affidavit before final payment, recording a Notice of Contest to force a lienor's hand, or transferring a lien to a bond to clear title. Which tool fits depends on where the project stands.
Construction lien law is one of the few areas where a two-day delay can erase a six-figure claim. If a Florida project isn't paying you, or a lien just hit your property, the time to call is now, not after the next progress payment doesn't show up.
Scheer Legal handles Notice to Owner strategy, lien recording, lien foreclosure, and lien defense for contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and owners across Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe Counties. Reach out and tell us where your project stands. The first call is free, and with lien deadlines, early beats perfect.
This article is general legal commentary, not legal advice for your project. Lien deadlines have exceptions and traps that depend on your role, your contract, and the specific dates involved.