Florida NTO
Guide & FAQs

Any party who does not have a direct contractual relationship with the property owner is required to serve a Notice to Owner (or NTO), with the exception of laborers. Preliminary notices are very closely integrated into the fabric of the Florida’s mechanics lien laws. Design professionals (like landscape architects, engineers, and interior designers) are not required to provide a preliminary notice to owner, because these parties only have lien rights in Florida if they have a direct contract with the owner.

While parties with a direct contract with the property owner (prime contractors / GCs) do not have to send an NTO, they do have some potential requirements related to providing notice. Property owners may request a list of subcontractors and suppliers that are working on the project. If that happens, the direct contractor has 10 days to supply a list of all subcontractors and suppliers that they have hired.

If the contractor posted a payment bond, and the property owner recorded the bond with his Notice of Commencement, all lien claimants who did not contract directly with the owner must serve the contractor a Notice to Contractor.

• Read the guide to Florida’s Notice to Owner (NTO) process

Generally, parties without a direct contract with the property owner must send preliminary Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials to the project.

• Specialty material fabricators have 45 days from when they began work on making the materials.

However, for participants that perform work at (or toward) the end of the project, Florida law specifically mandates that they provide notice before the owner’s final payment to the project’s prime contractor. This is only the deadline marking the latest the notice can be provided.

• Use this deadline calculator to quickly calculate your NTO and lien filing deadlines.

Florida statute makes it clear that a party can provide an NTO as early as they like – you cannot send a Notice to Owner too early. Providing a notice late, however, causes the sender to lose their lien rights entirely.

While it’s obvious that a notice called a “Notice to Owner” should be sent to the property owner, other parties must also receive the document. Florida requires that the notice be sent to the other parties “up the payment chain” from the party giving the notice. This means that first-tier subs should send the notice to the GC as well as the owner, and sub-subs should send the notice to the owner, the GC, and the sub that hired them. In some cases, you may need to send more than one NTO.

Florida’s mechanics lien rules are unique in that property owners or agents of the owner are required to file a Notice of Commencement at the start of the project. When this is done, they are allowed to appoint an “Owner Designee,” who will receive Notice to Owner filings on behalf of the owner. Generally speaking, when an Owner Designee is designated in a Notice of Commencement, the furnishing party can provide notice to that party instead of the actual owner. There are many complexities construction parties need to navigate when sending notice to the Owner Designee.

Interestingly, failing to serve an NTO on the owner designee does not necessarily kill your lien rights. Fla. Stat. § 713.06(2)(b) notes that: “the failure by the lienor to serve such copy, [on the owner designee] however, does not invalidate an otherwise valid lien.”

Another complexity may exist if the ownership of a property transfers or changes during the course of a construction project. This was addressed in a recent Florida case: What can happen to the notice requirements if the property is transferred to another owner.

Florida requires a lot of information and text to be included in a Notice to Owner form. However, certain information (like the identity of a subcontractor) is required only if the noticing party has knowledge of it. All parties providing notice are specifically allowed to rely on public information contained in the Notice of Commencement (or, if one was not filed, in the building permit) when sending their notice.

Generally speaking, a Florida Notice to Owner should contain the following information:

• • Owner’s name and address
• • General description of services or materials
• • Property description
• • Hiring party’s name and address

In addition to this information, there is also several paragraphs of warning text set out in Fla. Stat. §713.06(c) to make sure the property owner is aware of liens and ways to protect against them.

• Download a free Notice to Owner (NTO) form that meets the requirements of Florida’s mechanics lien statutes.

The Notice to Owner can be served by actual delivery to the person being served; by registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail, with postage prepaid; or by posting on the job site if service can’t be accomplished by the previous two methods.

• Learn more about mailing requirements for notices, and when they are considered served.

The Notice to Owner is considered served at the time of mailing only if the notice is sent within 40 days of first furnishing labor or materials. Otherwise, the notice is considered served on the date of receipt.

• See the answer to this related question: Do I lose my lien rights if the NTO I send certified gets lost in transit?

Failing to serve an NTO within the deadline causes a claimant to lose the right to file a mechanics lien in Florida.

Sending an updated Notice to Owner carries significant risk. If the original 45-day deadline to send notice has passed, then sending an amended NTO could cause you to lose your lien rights. However, if you’re still within the time frame to send the NTO, there is likely little risk to sending an amended preliminary notice.

The good news is that Florida rewards “substantial compliance.” According to Florida’s mechanics lien statute § 713.06(2)(f), if a claimant “has substantially complied with the provisions […] errors or omissions do not prevent the enforcement of a claim against a person who has not been adversely affected by such omission or error.”

This essentially means that if an error in an NTO does not adversely affect the parties who were supposed to receive the Notice to Owner, amended notice is not necessary.

• See the answer to this related question: Do I need to update the NTO if the property owners record a new Notice of Commencement?

All parties who do not have a direct contract with the general contractor (excluding laborers) to provide preliminary notice to preserve the right to make a bond claim in Florida.

If preliminary notice is required, it must be sent either before claimant’s first furnishing of labor and/or materials to the project, or within 45 days from the first date of claimant’s furnishing of labor and/or materials to the project. If the notice is sent by registered or certified mail within 40 days of claimant’s first furnishing labor and/or materials, the notice is considered effective as of the date of mailing as long as sending information is retained.

To preserve the right to make a claim against the bond on a public project in Florida, preliminary notice, when required, must be delivered to the general contractor of the project. However, it’s a good idea to send a copy to the surety company as well.

The Notice to Contractor is only required to include the claimant’s information and a statement that the claimant “intends to look to the bond for protection.”

However, there are other useful pieces of information that we recommend including:

• • Hiring party’s name and address
• • Public entity’s information
• • Surety name and address
• • Description of labor, services, or materials being provided
• • Property description

• Download a free Notice to Contractor form that meets the Florida statutory requirements.

Preliminary notice on public projects may be sent by the same methods allowed for sending preliminary notice on a private project. This means that sending the notice via registered or certified mail is permissible, as well as personal service, or other method of actual delivery with evidence of delivery.

• Learn more about mailing options for construction notices

Similar to the private project Notice to Owner, a Notice to Contractor is considered served at the time of mailing only if the notice is sent within 40 days of first furnishing labor or materials. Otherwise, the notice is considered served on the date of receipt.

When required, preliminary notice is mandatory and failure to send the notice timely may be fatal to the ability to make a claim against the payment bond.