The Florida Notice of Commencement, Explained

What a Notice of Commencement Is

A Notice of Commencement is a one-page legal document a Florida property owner records before a construction project begins. It announces that work is starting, identifies the property, the owner, the contractor, and the lender, and names a place to serve lien paperwork. Recording it is the first procedural step that ties your remodel into Florida construction lien law under F.S. chapter 713.

The document is short, but its legal weight is not. Recording the NOC gives constructive notice that liens may be filed against the property and sets the date from which those liens take priority under Florida Statute 713.07. For subcontractors and material suppliers who never signed a contract with you, the recorded NOC is how they learn where to send a Notice to Owner so their lien rights stay alive.

What the form must contain

Florida Statute 713.13 lists the required fields. Leaving one blank can make the notice defective, which undoes the protection you recorded it for in the first place.

Property description

A legal description sufficient to identify the parcel, plus the street address and tax folio number when available.

Owner and fee-simple titleholder

The name and address of the owner, and of the fee-simple titleholder if that is a different party.

Contractor

The name and address of the contractor performing the work.

Surety and lender

The payment-bond surety, if any, and any construction lender, with addresses.

Designated recipient

A person within Florida the owner designates to receive notices, which streamlines lien correspondence.

Common defects that void the protection

A NOC that is technically recorded but flawed can fail to protect you, so the details below are where careful owners and contractors slow down.

• Wrong legal description: a description that does not match the parcel can render the notice ineffective.
• Missing signature or notarization: only the owner may sign, and the signature must be notarized before recording.
• Not posted at the site: recording without posting a certified copy leaves a gap the first inspection is meant to catch.
• Stale information: a contractor or lender change that is never reflected in an amended notice can break the chain.

Each of these is avoidable with a quick review before the form reaches the Clerk, which is why an experienced crew double-checks the legal description against the deed and confirms the notary block is complete.

When a NOC Is Required in Florida

A Notice of Commencement is required before work begins whenever the project's direct contract is greater than 5,000 dollars. That threshold lives in Florida Statute 713.135, and it is the number most online guides still get wrong, because it changed recently.

The two thresholds people confuse

Florida lien law uses two different dollar figures, and conflating them is the most common mistake homeowners and even some trades make. One number decides whether the building department demands a recorded NOC; the other decides whether the project is exempt from lien law entirely.

So a direct contract of 2,500 dollars or less is exempt and needs no notice; a contract over 5,000 dollars triggers the permit-office requirement. The band between those two figures is governed by your local permitting authority and your contract, which is exactly why you confirm the rule with the jurisdiction issuing your permit before any tile, cabinet, or room addition work begins.

Why the number moved to 5,000 dollars

The certified-copy threshold sat at 2,500 dollars for years. House Bill 331 raised it to 5,000 dollars effective October 1, 2023, as part of a broader update to chapter 713. Any guide that still cites 2,500 dollars as the permit trigger is quoting pre-2023 law, which matters because most Florida remodels clear 5,000 dollars and the requirement applies to them anyway.

Who Files It — Owner or Contractor?

The owner files the Notice of Commencement. Under Florida Statute 713.13, "the owner must sign the notice of commencement and no one else may be permitted to sign in his or her stead." A contractor can fill in the form and walk it to the courthouse, but the signature and the legal responsibility belong to the owner.

What the contractor can and cannot do

A reputable Florida contractor handles the logistics so the homeowner is not navigating the Clerk's office alone. The split of duties is consistent from job to job.

• Owner: signs the NOC in front of a notary and acknowledges it.
• Contractor: prepares the form, supplies the legal description and license details, and can record and post it as the owner's agent.
• Notary: verifies the owner's identity and notarizes the signature, which Florida recording requires.
• Building department: verifies the NOC information matches the permit application.

That division is why permit handling is bundled into the job: the crew prepares and files the paperwork, but the document still carries the owner's notarized signature, keeping the legal protection where the statute puts it.

When the owner is the contractor

An owner-builder who pulls their own permit is both parties at once. The signing rule is unchanged — they sign as owner — but they also take on the contractor's duty to coordinate subs and suppliers, which is a heavier lien-management burden than most homeowners expect. We cover that tradeoff in our note on draw schedules and lien releases.

How to Record a Notice of Commencement

Recording a Notice of Commencement means filing the signed, notarized original with the county Clerk of Court and then posting a certified copy at the job site. The notice becomes legally effective the moment it is filed in the Clerk's office, not when it is posted.

The step-by-step

Miss the posting step and an inspector can refuse to proceed, stalling the whole schedule. The bold warning Florida requires on the form itself says it plainly: a notice of commencement must be recorded and posted on the site of the improvement before the first inspection.

How Long a Florida NOC Is Valid

A Notice of Commencement is valid for one year from its recording date. Florida Statute 713.13 provides that a NOC is "not effectual in law" beyond one year after recording, unless the document itself states a longer period tied to a contract that runs more than a year.

Setting a longer term on purpose

When a project's contract specifies a completion window greater than twelve months, the NOC must state that it is effective for one year plus that additional time. This is a deliberate drafting choice, not a default — if the form is silent, the one-year clock controls regardless of how long the job actually takes.

The 90-day rule that voids an early filing

One year is the outer limit, but there is an inner deadline most homeowners never hear about. Under Florida Statute 713.13(2), if the improvement described in the notice is not actually commenced within 90 days after recording, the notice is "void and of no further effect." Record too early and let the start slip past three months, and the protection silently disappears.

Why timing the recording matters

The 90-day window is why a Notice of Commencement should be recorded close to the real start date, not weeks ahead at contract signing. Two filing mistakes can quietly strip the protection the owner paid for.

Filed too early

Recorded long before mobilization, then construction is delayed past the 90-day mark — the notice is void and must be re-recorded.

Effective on filing, not on posting

Under F.S. 713.13, the notice is effective the moment it is filed in the Clerk's office; the 90-day and one-year clocks both run from that recording date, not from when the copy is posted on site.

What Happens When a NOC Expires

When a Notice of Commencement expires, any payment the owner makes after that date is an improper payment under chapter 713. An improper payment does not reduce the owner's exposure to unpaid subcontractors or suppliers, which is the mechanism behind the dreaded "paying twice" outcome.

How paying twice actually happens

The sequence is mechanical, not theoretical. Understanding it is the reason to watch the expiration date on a long job.

The fix is straightforward: if a project runs long, re-record a fresh NOC before the first one expires, and keep tying every disbursement to a signed release as covered in our guide to deposits and lien releases. A lapse is recoverable if you catch it before you cut the next check.

Terminating a NOC early

An owner can also end a notice before its natural expiration by recording a Notice of Termination, but only after the contractor and lienors are paid and proper releases are in hand. Terminating without satisfying outstanding claims reopens the same paying-twice risk, so it is a closeout step, not a shortcut.

NOC vs the Building Permit

A Notice of Commencement and a building permit are two separate documents that travel together. The permit authorizes the construction; the NOC protects the payment chain. One is about whether the work is legal, the other about whether you pay for it once or twice.

How they interact

The building department is where the two cross paths. For a contract over 5,000 dollars, the issuing authority must verify that the owner name, contractor name, and property address on the recorded NOC match the permit application before the first inspection proceeds.

Building permit

Issued by the local jurisdiction; authorizes the scope of work and triggers code inspections. Required for most structural, electrical, plumbing, and mechanical work.

Notice of Commencement

Recorded by the owner; protects against double payment and fixes lien priority. Required when the direct contract exceeds 5,000 dollars.

Because the inspector cross-checks both, getting either one wrong stalls the job. That is the practical case for letting the crew that pulls your permit also coordinate the NOC — the same project director keeps the two documents consistent and on schedule, whether the job is new flooring, a bathroom, or a full general-contracting remodel.