Florida NTO
Guide & FAQs

It depends, but generally the answer will be yes.  Preliminary notices (called “Notices to Owner” in Florida) are very closely integrated into the fabric of the state’s mechanics lien laws. Most participants will need to send a notice, and if a notice is required pursuant to the statutes, the requirement is very firm. We talked about this in the article “Florida Preliminary Notice – Ain’t No Sunshine If Its Not Sent.”  To read the reverse of this (i.e. the exceptions to the state’s NTO requirements), read this article: Exceptions to Florida’s  NTO Requirements.

Any party (except wage laborers) who does not have a direct contractual relationship with the property owner is required to serve a Notice to Owner within the earlier of 1) 45 days from first furnishing services or materials, or 2) 45 days from when work begins on making specialty materials, but in any event it must be 3) before owner’s final payment to prime contractor. 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 within 45 days of the date on which they first supplied labor or materials. Laborers and design professionals are not required to provide the preliminary notice to owner. Read more about the requirements and potential pitfalls of Florida’s Notice to Owner, here.  Also, be careful to avoid these Florida NTO Mistakes That Can Kill Your  Lien Rights.

Some companies worry that sending preliminary notice may scare their customers. However, as shown in this article, that is not the case:  Florida Notice to Owner – Will Sending It Upset Your Customer?

Parties required to send the notice to owner must send it within the earlier of 45 days from first furnishing services or materials, or 45 days from when work begins on making specialty materials, but in any case – notice must be sent before the owner’s final payment to the project’s prime contractor.

One common problem for those who must send Notices to Owner is not knowing exactly who to send it to.  Sure, you may know to send the NTO to the property owner and the general contractor, but what can you do if you don’t know who the property owner or general contractor actually is?  While this is a frustrating question mark in many states’ lien schemes, Florida actually makes it quite clear that notice senders can rely on publicly available information.

The notice to owner must be served on the owner, and all other parties “up the chain” from the party providing the notice.

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, and when this is done, they are allowed to appoint an “Owner Designee.”  This “Owner Designee” is a person or organization 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 presented, however, in the case the Owner Designee changes, is not designated in the Notice of Commencement, or if a Notice of Commencement cannot be located.    We wrote about the Owner Designee and how it impacts a party’s notice requirements in “Florida Mechanics Lien Law: Preliminary Notice and the Owner Designee.”

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, that we wrote about here: What can happen to the notice requirements if the property is transferred to another owner.

It depends. Florida requires 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.

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.

Note that, in any event, notice must be provided prior to the owner’s final payment to the GC.

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

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.

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.