You did the work. You furnished the materials. The invoice went out and the money never came back. In Florida, the construction lien is the most powerful collection tool a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier has. It is a recorded claim against the property itself, and it survives excuses, ownership games, and slow-pay tactics.
But Florida’s Construction Lien Law, Chapter 713, Florida Statutes, is strictly construed. File correctly and on time, and the lien puts real pressure on everyone above you in the payment chain. Miss a deadline or botch the form, and your lien rights are gone. Not reduced. Gone.
This guide walks through exactly how to file a lien in Florida on a construction project: who qualifies, what the Claim of Lien must contain, where and when to record it, how to serve it, and what has to happen within one year if you still haven’t been paid.
One note on terminology before we start. You will hear “mechanics lien,” “construction lien,” and “contractor’s lien” used interchangeably. Florida lien law officially calls it a construction lien, and the recorded document is a Claim of Lien. On a Florida construction project, they all mean the same thing. So if you came here searching for how to file a mechanics lien in Florida, you’re in the right place — the process below is identical.
What Is a Construction Lien in Florida?
A construction lien, historically called a mechanics lien, is a statutory claim recorded against real property to secure payment for labor, services, or materials that improved that property. The right comes from Chapter 713, Florida Statutes, the Florida mechanics lien statute, not from your contract. That matters for two reasons. First, you can have lien rights even when the person who stiffed you isn’t the property owner. Second, because the right comes from statute, Florida courts require strict compliance with the statute’s requirements. Good faith effort doesn’t count. The details count.
Once recorded, a construction lien in Florida clouds the property’s title. The owner generally can’t sell or refinance cleanly until the lien is resolved. And if the debt isn’t paid, the lienor can foreclose and force a sale of the property to satisfy it. That’s the leverage, and it’s why a properly filed lien so often gets a check moving without anyone setting foot in a courtroom.
Who Can File a Construction Lien in Florida?
Chapter 713 gives lien rights to a defined list of “lienors,” including:
- General contractors in direct contract with the owner
- Subcontractors and sub-subcontractors
- Material suppliers who furnish materials to the project, whether they contract with the owner, the GC, or a sub
- Laborers
- Design professionals such as architects, engineers, landscape architects, interior designers, and surveyors, for professional services that improve the property
Two threshold rules knock people out before the process even starts.
Licensing. Under §713.02(7), a contractor performing work that requires a license, without holding that license, has no lien rights at all. An unlicensed contractor’s lien is unenforceable, and recording one can create serious liability. If your trade requires a Florida license, confirm your licensure before anything else.
The Notice to Owner prerequisite. If you do not have a direct contract with the property owner, and that describes nearly every subcontractor and supplier on a job, you must have served a Notice to Owner (NTO) within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials. No timely NTO, no lien. Full stop. The NTO process has its own rules, its own required form, and its own traps, and we cover it in depth in our Florida Notice to Owner guide. If your 45-day window is still open, handle that today, before you spend another minute thinking about a lien.
Florida Construction Lien Deadlines: The Numbers That Control Everything
Before the steps, burn these numbers in. Miss any one of them and the right disappears.
| Deadline | What Must Happen | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| 45 days from first furnishing | Serve the Notice to Owner (subs and suppliers) | §713.06 |
| 90 days from final furnishing | Record the Claim of Lien | §713.08(5) |
| 15 days after recording | Serve a copy of the Claim of Lien on the owner | §713.08(4)(c) |
| 1 year from recording | File a lawsuit to enforce the lien | §713.22 |
| 60 days | Enforcement window if the owner records a Notice of Contest of Lien | §713.22(2) |
| 20 days | Enforcement window if the owner obtains a summons to show cause | §713.21(4) |
One clarification that trips up contractors constantly. The 90-day mechanics lien deadline in Florida runs from your final furnishing of labor, services, or materials under your contract. Not from the project’s completion. Not from your last visit to the site. Punch-list touch-ups, warranty work, and remedial corrections generally do not restart the clock. If you’re counting on a callback visit to extend your deadline, you’re gambling with your lien rights.
Step 1: Confirm Your Lien Rights Are Intact
Before drafting anything, verify three things.
First, your NTO was timely served (if you needed one). Pull the proof of service and check the date against your first day on the job or first delivery.
Second, the project is lienable. You cannot lien public property. City, county, state, and federal projects are protected by sovereign immunity. On public work, your remedy is a payment bond claim under §255.05 (or the Miller Act on federal jobs), not a construction lien. Bond claims have their own strict notice deadlines, so don’t sit on one.
Third, check for a payment bond on private work. Pull the recorded Notice of Commencement for the project. If the owner recorded a payment bond with the NOC under §713.23, the property is exempt from liens and your claim runs against the bond instead. The NOC also gives you the correct owner name and legal description you’ll need in Step 2, which is one more reason the NOC matters on every job. We break that document down in 20 Essential Facts About Florida Notices of Commencement.
Step 2: Prepare the Claim of Lien (§713.08)
The claim of lien is Florida’s sworn statutory document, usually one to two pages. Under §713.08(3), it must state:
- The lienor’s name and address. Use your legal entity name as registered with the Florida Division of Corporations, not just a trade name or DBA.
- The name of the person you contracted with. That’s your customer: the GC, the sub above you, or the owner.
- The labor, services, or materials furnished and the contract price or value.
- A description of the real property. Use the legal description from the official property records, not just a street address.
- The name of the owner.
- The first and last dates you furnished labor, services, or materials.
- The amount unpaid.
- If your NTO was served by an alternate method, the date and method of service.
The statute also requires the Claim of Lien to carry the statutory warning caption, in capital letters, beginning “WARNING! THIS LEGAL DOCUMENT REFLECTS THAT A CONSTRUCTION LIEN HAS BEEN PLACED ON THE REAL PROPERTY LISTED HEREIN…” Copy the full required language directly from §713.08(3). Omitting or altering it invites a challenge to the lien’s validity.
Two drafting rules decide cases.
Claim only what you are owed. Under §713.31, a lien that willfully exaggerates the amount due, includes work not performed, or is compiled with willful and gross negligence is a fraudulent lien. A fraudulent lien is a complete defense to enforcement, and it exposes you to the owner’s damages and attorney’s fees. Lien for the documented, contractual unpaid balance and nothing else. No padding, no anticipated legal fees, no interest you can’t support with the contract.
Get the property description right. A wrong legal description or parcel number can sink the lien. Worse, it can cloud the title of a property that had nothing to do with your job.
Step 3: Sign and Notarize
The Claim of Lien must be sworn to before a notary by the lienor or the lienor’s agent. An unsigned or unnotarized claim will be rejected by the clerk, or recorded and later invalidated, which is worse. If an officer or manager signs for a company, state the signer’s capacity next to the signature.
Step 4: Record the Claim of Lien With the County Clerk Within 90 Days
Record the notarized Claim of Lien in the official records of the county where the property is located, through the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Most Florida counties accept e-recording, and all of them accept recording in person or by mail. Recording fees are modest. In most counties it’s $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each page after that, but confirm with your county.
The lien may be recorded during the work or after, but never later than 90 days after your final furnishing. There is no grace period and no good-cause extension, and a backed-up clerk’s office is not your defense. The practical rule at our office: treat Day 80 as the real deadline, so a rejected e-filing or a slow mail week can’t kill your rights.
Keep the stamped, recorded copy with the official records book and page or instrument number. You’ll need it for service, and for foreclosure if it comes to that.
Step 5: Serve the Recorded Lien on the Owner Within 15 Days
Under §713.08(4)(c), you must serve a copy of the recorded Claim of Lien on the property owner within 15 days after recording. Certified mail, return receipt requested, sent to the owner’s address shown in the Notice of Commencement, is the standard practice. Keep the proof.
Late or missed service doesn’t automatically void the lien, but it makes the lien voidable to the extent the delay prejudiced the owner. That is an argument you never want to be on the wrong side of. Serve it the same week you record. There’s no reason not to.
Step 6: Enforce the Lien, or Watch It Expire
Recording a lien is leverage, not payment. A Florida construction lien lasts one year from the date it’s recorded under §713.22. If you haven’t been paid and haven’t filed a lien foreclosure lawsuit within that year, the lien simply expires. Unenforceable, automatically, with no further action needed by anyone.
In many cases the lien alone gets you paid. It blocks closings and refinances, it triggers the GC’s obligations to the owner, and lenders hate seeing one on title. But watch the calendar, because the owner has two tools that shorten your year dramatically:
- A recorded and served Notice of Contest of Lien in Florida cuts your enforcement window to 60 days. If one shows up, the clock is already running. Here’s what to do if you receive a Notice of Contest in Florida.
- A summons to show cause under §713.21 can cut it to 20 days.
If payment hasn’t arrived by month nine, talk to a Florida construction lien lawyer. A foreclosure complaint takes time to prepare properly, and the prevailing party in a lien action generally recovers attorney’s fees under §713.29. That statute cuts both ways, so you want your paperwork airtight before you file suit.
After You’re Paid: Release the Lien
When the check clears, record a Satisfaction of Lien in the same official records. Leaving a satisfied lien of record isn’t just bad manners. A lienor who fails to discharge a paid lien can face liability for it.
And be careful what you sign along the way. Florida recognizes statutory lien waiver forms, and a contractor’s waiver of lien signed at the wrong moment can cost you money you haven’t collected yet. Partial releases, conditional releases, and final lien waivers each mean something different, and signing the wrong one can wipe out rights for money you haven’t actually received. We break that down in our guide to partial and conditional satisfaction of construction liens in Florida.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to file a mechanics lien in Florida?
90 days from the last day you furnished labor, services, or materials under your contract. The clock does not run from project completion, and punch-list or warranty work does not extend it.
How long does a construction lien last in Florida?
One year from recording, unless you file an enforcement lawsuit within that year. That’s also how long a mechanics lien stays on your property in Florida if you’re the owner. The owner can shorten the window to 60 days with a Notice of Contest of Lien, or to 20 days with a show-cause summons.
How do I put a lien on a property in Florida?
In short: confirm you have lien rights (licensed, timely NTO if required, private project), prepare a Claim of Lien with the §713.08(3) contents and statutory warning, sign it before a notary, record it with the Clerk of Court in the county where the property sits within 90 days of your last work, and serve the recorded copy on the owner within 15 days. The six steps above walk through each stage in detail.
Is a mechanics lien the same as a construction lien in Florida?
Yes. Florida’s lien law uses “construction lien,” and the older, still-common name is mechanics lien. Liens on vehicles for repair work are a different thing entirely, under a different statute.
Can I file a construction lien on a government project in Florida?
No. Public property can’t be liened. On public projects your remedy is a claim against the contractor’s payment bond under §255.05, which has its own strict notice deadlines.
Do I need an attorney to file a construction lien in Florida?
The statute doesn’t require one, and plenty of lienors record their own claims. But Florida’s strict-compliance standard means small drafting errors, like the wrong entity name, the wrong legal description, or an exaggerated amount, can void the lien or create fraudulent-lien exposure. Having a construction lien attorney in Florida prepare or at least review the Claim of Lien is cheap insurance against losing the claim entirely.
What does it cost to record a lien in Florida?
Recording fees in most counties run about $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page. The real cost of a lien isn’t recording it. It’s getting it wrong.
Key Takeaways
- A Florida construction lien is a statutory right under Chapter 713, Florida lien law, and courts demand strict compliance. Close enough is not enough.
- Subs and suppliers must have served a Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing, or there is no lien to file.
- Record the Claim of Lien in the county’s official records within 90 days of your final furnishing, and treat Day 80 as the real deadline.
- The Claim of Lien must contain the §713.08(3) elements and the statutory warning, sworn and notarized. Lien only for the documented amount owed. Exaggeration makes the lien fraudulent.
- Serve the recorded lien on the owner within 15 days.
- The lien expires one year after recording unless you sue to enforce it, and a Notice of Contest of Lien can cut that to 60 days.
- Unlicensed contractors have no lien rights. Public projects can’t be liened, and bond claims are the remedy there.
- Be careful with lien waivers along the way; signing the wrong release can waive rights to money you haven’t received.
Deadlines Don’t Negotiate. Neither Should You.
A construction lien is only as strong as the paperwork and the calendar behind it. If you’re staring down a 90-day deadline, holding an NTO you’re not sure was served right, or sitting on a recorded lien with the one-year mark approaching, the time to get answers is now, not after the window closes. Call Martin Law, PLLC and talk to a Florida construction lien attorney who handles Chapter 713 claims for a living. Florida construction law for contractors and subcontractors who need answers, not hedged opinions.
About the Author
John C. Martin, Esq. is a Florida construction law attorney and the founder of Martin Law, PLLC. He represents contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers throughout the state of Florida.
Disclaimer: This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Reading this content does not create an attorney-client relationship. Because lien laws are complex and fact-specific, always consult a qualified Florida construction law attorney regarding your specific situation.