CHAPTER 558 IS NOT A FORMALITY. IT IS THE FIRST MOVE. SEND IT LIKE ONE.
Florida makes both sides stop and talk before a construction defect case starts. A notice of claim, an inspection window, and a written response that has to say something. We handle Chapter 558 from both chairs, for owners pursuing defects and for contractors answering them.
Two Clocks Run Here,
and Only One Is Friendly.
Chapter 558 sets short procedural deadlines that both sides can manage. Behind them sits the limitations and repose clock, which Florida shortened in 2023 and which does not care whether anyone was talking.
Before You File Anything
Serve the notice of claim at least 60 days before filing suit, or at least 120 days where an association representing more than 20 parcels is involved. File without it and the court, on motion, stays the case until you comply.
Say Something, in Writing
The recipient has 45 days to respond, 75 for a large association, and 30 days to inspect, 50 for a large association. No response in time, or a response that disputes the claim, and the claimant is free to proceed.
The Hard Outside Limit
Four years to sue, seven years absolute, running from the earliest of the temporary certificate of occupancy, the certificate of occupancy, the certificate of completion, or abandonment. Latent defects get discovery on the four, never on the seven.
Whether you are sending one or receiving one, the dates decide most of it before the experts ever show up.
Talk to an AttorneySame Statute,
Three Different Problems.
Chapter 558 is procedural, so it applies the same way to everyone. What changes completely is what you should do with it, and the first mistake is usually treating the notice as either a formality or a declaration of war.
Owners & Homeowners
Your house is doing something it should not, and the builder has stopped returning calls. The notice of claim is the door you have to walk through, and it is also your best shot at a repair without a lawsuit.- Describe each defect in reasonable detail, not in general complaints
- Identify locations so they can be found without excessive burden
- Document before anyone touches anything
Contractors, Subs & Design Pros
A notice of claim landed on your desk with a 45-day fuse. This is the cheapest moment the dispute will ever have, and the response you serve frames everything that follows.- Pass copies down to subs, suppliers, and design professionals
- Use the inspection window, do not waive it by inaction
- Answer in writing, on time, with one of the statutory options
Associations & Boards
Condominium and homeowners associations run on longer deadlines and higher stakes, and building-by-building rules can change which claims are still alive and which are gone.- 120 days before suit where more than 20 parcels are represented
- 75 days to respond, 50 days to inspect
- Each building can be its own improvement for the repose clock
Check the contract before you assume 558 applies. The statute lets parties agree in writing to alter the notice process, to substitute pre-suit mediation, or to opt out, and construction contracts entered after October 1, 2009 are supposed to carry a notice that Chapter 558 applies. How far a written opt-out reaches is not as settled as the form language suggests, so it is worth reading rather than assuming. Send us the contract and the notice.
What Chapter 558
Actually Is,
and Is Not.
Chapter 558 is a process, not a cause of action. It does not give anyone a right to sue that they did not already have, and it does not take one away. What it does is force an exchange before the lawyers get expensive: here is what is wrong, come look at it, and tell me in writing whether you are going to fix it.
Used well, it settles cases. Used badly, it is a 60-day head start you handed the other side. The response options are set by statute, and one of them is simply to dispute the claim and refuse, which is a real answer with real consequences on both sides.
"The notice of claim is the cheapest day the case will ever have. Most people spend it badly."
What Counts as a Defect
The statute defines it broadly: defective materials or components, a code violation that supports a claim under section 553.84, a design that failed the professional standard of care, or construction that failed accepted trade standards for good and workmanlike work.
What the Response May Offer
Five options. Offer to remedy at no cost with a description and a timetable, offer money, offer a combination, dispute the claim and refuse, or say the insurer will decide on payment within 30 days. Silence is not one of them.
The Evidence Shield Is Narrow
An offer to remedy, or the failure to make one, is not an admission of liability and is not admissible. That protection runs to the offer. It is not a blanket rule that everything said during the 558 process disappears, and people rely on it far more broadly than the text supports.
Notice, Insurance, and Your Policy
The statute says a 558 notice is not itself a claim for insurance purposes unless the policy says otherwise. That does not relieve you of your policy's own notice conditions, and whether a 558 notice triggers a liability insurer's duty to defend is genuinely contested. Tell your carrier and let it be their decision.
The Anatomy of a Notice of Claim
and the Six Ways It Goes Wrong.
Below is what a Chapter 558 notice of claim has to carry. We are showing it rather than handing out a template, because the statute's one substantive requirement, reasonable detail, is exactly the thing a template cannot supply. This is illustrative only, not legal advice.
"The Stucco Is Bad"
Reasonable detail is the entire requirement, and a notice that reads like a complaint letter invites a fight about whether it counted. It also gives the other side nothing to price, which is how a fixable problem becomes litigation.
Noticing Only the General
The statute contemplates the notice moving down the chain to subcontractors, suppliers, and design professionals who may be responsible. A recipient who sits on it rather than forwarding it is usually making its own position worse.
Letting the 45 Days Lapse
No timely response, and the claimant may proceed without further notice. Contractors miss this because a 558 notice does not look like a lawsuit and gets treated like correspondence.
Skipping the Inspection
You have 30 days, 50 for a large association, and destructive testing is available on conditions including restoration. Declining to look and then disputing the claim is a position that does not age well in front of a judge.
Assuming Everything Said Is Privileged
The inadmissibility rule protects the offer to remedy or the failure to make one. It is not a settlement privilege over the whole exchange, and inspection findings and written admissions are not automatically off the table.
Starting the Process at Year Six
The 558 process tolls the limitations period while it runs, which helps. It is not a reason to start late. If your certificate of occupancy is years back, get the repose date calculated before you serve anything, because that date is not forgiving.
Sixty days is enough time to solve this or enough time to lose it. Have us handle the notice →
How a Florida Defect Claim
Actually Moves.
Whether we are sending the notice or answering it, the sequence is the same and the leverage moves at predictable points.
Document Before Anyone Repairs
Photographs, moisture readings, the permit file, the plans, the change orders, and where warranted a consultant's report. Repairs made before documentation destroy the proof and the leverage at the same time.
Pin the Dates, Then Serve
We fix the certificate of occupancy or completion date and calculate the limitations and repose deadlines first, because that determines whether there is time to run the process at all. Then the notice of claim goes out, defect by defect.
Inspection and Testing
We schedule and attend the inspection, agree the scope of any destructive testing and the restoration obligation in writing, and exchange plans, photos, expert reports, and maintenance records rather than fighting about them later.
Response, Offer, and the Real Decision
A repair offer with a real scope and timetable often ends it. A monetary offer gets evaluated against cost of repair and diminution in value. A refusal clears the way to file, and by then we know exactly what the defense is going to be.
Call before you send or answer one if:
- The certificate of occupancy is more than four years old
- Your contract has an opt-out, an arbitration clause, or a pre-suit mediation requirement
- There is water intrusion, structural movement, or anything involving life safety
- An association is involved, or the project has multiple buildings
- You are the contractor and your subs or your insurer have not been told
- Someone has already started repairs
- The dispute started as nonpayment and the defect claim showed up in response
Not a
Generalist.
We Work
Both Sides.
Florida construction law. Nothing else. We bring defect claims for owners and we defend them for contractors, which is unusual and useful. It means when we write your notice of claim we already know how a builder reads it, and when we answer one we know what the owner's expert is going to say.
This firm was founded by someone who worked construction and ran construction companies before practicing law. We can tell a defect from a maintenance item. From our office in Ocala we represent clients in all 67 Florida counties.
Meet the Team →Read Before You Send One.
Florida Chapter 558: The Right to Repair and the Defect Notice Process
The full pre-suit process, every deadline, and what each response option really means.
Read More → Defect LawWhat "Workmanlike Manner" Means in Florida Construction
The standard behind most defect claims, and how courts actually apply it to real work.
Read More → Defect LawPunch List vs. Warranty Work in Florida
Where completion ends and warranty begins, and why the distinction moves deadlines.
Read More →Florida Construction Defect FAQ
Four years, with an absolute outside limit of seven years. Both run from the earliest of the temporary certificate of occupancy, the certificate of occupancy, the certificate of completion, or the date construction was abandoned if it was never finished. For a latent defect the four years runs from when the defect was discovered or should have been discovered, but the seven-year repose still cuts it off. Florida shortened these periods in 2023, so older articles and older contract forms are unreliable on this point.
Generally yes, for claims within the chapter's scope. Serve it at least 60 days before filing, or 120 days where an association representing more than 20 parcels is involved. If you file without complying and a party moves to enforce it, the court stays the action without prejudice until the process is completed. The parties can also agree in writing to alter or substitute for the process, so the contract needs reading first.
45 days, or 75 days if the claim involves an association representing more than 20 parcels. You also have 30 days, or 50 for a large association, to inspect. Do not let it sit. If no timely response is served, or the response disputes the claim, the claimant may proceed to file suit, and you will have spent your best settlement window doing nothing.
One of five things: an offer to remedy the defect at no cost with a description of the repairs and a timetable, an offer to settle by monetary payment, an offer combining repairs and money, a statement disputing the claim and refusing to remedy or pay, or a statement that the insurer will determine within 30 days what monetary payment it will make. Each has different consequences, and choosing between them is the real work.
An offer to remedy, or the failure to make one, does not constitute an admission of liability and is not admissible. Read that narrowly. It protects the offer, not everything exchanged during the process. Inspection observations, written statements, and testing results are not automatically shielded, so treat the 558 exchange as something a jury may eventually read.
The statute says a notice of claim is not itself a claim for insurance purposes unless the policy specifies otherwise. That does not relieve you of your own policy's notice conditions, and whether a 558 notice counts as a "suit" triggering a liability insurer's duty to defend has been litigated with mixed results. The practical answer is to notify your carrier promptly and put the coverage question to them rather than deciding it yourself.
Florida gives a statutory cause of action to someone damaged by a material code violation, and "material" was narrowed in 2023 to violations that may reasonably result, or have resulted, in physical harm to a person or significant damage to the performance of a building or its systems. There is also a safe harbor where permits were pulled, plans approved, all inspections passed, and there is no personal injury or damage to other property, unless the defendant knew or should have known of the violation.
Sixty Days Starts When You Serve It.
Tell us what the building is doing, when it was finished, and who built it. That is usually enough for a first read on where you stand.
Send your name, your number, and a few details about the property. We will follow up to talk through your options.
P.O. Box 536
Ocala, FL 34478
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The information on this website is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Visiting this site or submitting a contact form does not create an attorney-client relationship. The attorneys of Martin Law, PLLC are licensed to practice law in the State of Florida. Each legal matter is unique, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.