What §713.18 does
Section 713.06 says what a Notice to Owner must contain and when it must be served. Section 713.18 says how: the methods a lienor may use, the one method that makes a Notice to Owner effective the day it is mailed, and what counts when the envelope comes back. It is the service statute for the whole of Part I of Chapter 713, and for the payment-bond notices of s. 255.05 and s. 337.18 as well. The text below is the 2026 Florida Statutes as published by the Legislature, quoted subsection by subsection; the plain-English notes between the quotations are ours, and the quotations control.
(1) The three service methods
Unless otherwise specifically provided by law, service of any document permitted or required under this part, s. 255.05, or s. 337.18, or copies thereof when so permitted or required, must be made by one of the following methods:
By hand delivery to the person to be served; if a partnership, to one of the partners; if a corporation, to an officer or director; if a limited liability company, to a member or manager; or to an employee or agent authorized by the partnership, corporation, or limited liability company to receive service of such document.
By common carrier delivery service or by registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail to the person to be served, with postage or shipping paid by the sender and with evidence of delivery, which may be in an electronic format.
By posting on the site of the improvement if service as provided by paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) cannot be accomplished.
Paragraph (a) is hand delivery, and it names who can accept for an entity: a partner, an officer or director, a member or manager, or an employee or agent the entity has authorized. Paragraph (b) is the mailed and shipped methods, and each of them comes with a condition, “with evidence of delivery, which may be in an electronic format” — under (1)(b) the sender is proving that the document arrived, not only that it left. Paragraph (c), posting at the site, is available only when (a) and (b) cannot be accomplished. Fax and e-mail are not on the list.
(2) A Notice to Owner is served the day it is mailed, if three things are true
Notwithstanding subsection (1), service of a notice to owner or a preliminary notice to contractor under this part, s. 255.05, or s. 337.18 is effective as of the date of mailing and the requirements for service under this section have been satisfied if all of the following requirements have been met:
The notice is mailed by registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail, with postage prepaid, to the person to be served and addressed as prescribed in subsection (3).
The notice is mailed within 40 days after the date the lienor first furnishes labor, services, or materials.
The person who served the notice maintains a mail log that shows the registered or certified mail number issued by the United States Postal Service, the name and address of the person served, and the date stamp of the United States Postal Service confirming the date of mailing; or
The person who served the notice maintains tracking records approved or generated by the United States Postal Service containing the postal tracking number and verification of the date of receipt by the United States Postal Service.
This is the subsection a Notice to Owner is built around. Subsection (1) asks for evidence of delivery; subsection (2) replaces that, for a notice to owner and a preliminary notice to contractor, with a rule about mailing. When all three conditions are met, the notice is “effective as of the date of mailing” and the service requirements “have been satisfied” — what happens to the envelope afterwards does not undo service. The three conditions are:
- The method and the address (2)(a). Registered, Global Express Guaranteed or certified mail, postage prepaid, to the person to be served, “addressed as prescribed in subsection (3)” — the last address in the Notice of Commencement or its amendment, or, when none was recorded, the building permit application or the last known address. The recorded Notice of Commencement is where those addresses come from.
- The 40 days (2)(b). Counted from the day the lienor first furnishes labor, services or materials. Section 713.06(2)(a) allows service up to 45 days; the effective-on-mailing benefit stops at 40. A notice mailed on day 41 to 45 can still be timely under §713.06, but it is judged under subsection (1), which turns on delivery. The calculator prints both dates, and the late-notice page walks through what changes after each one.
- The evidence (2)(c). One of two records: a mail log with the certified number, the name and address served, and the USPS date stamp; or USPS-approved or USPS-generated tracking records carrying the tracking number and verification of the date USPS received the piece. Either one is enough; the statute says “or”.
NoticeSent mails every Notice to Owner by USPS Certified Mail, records the tracking number the moment the piece is submitted, and keeps the USPS acceptance scan and every later scan on the notice's archive page — the (2)(c)2. record, held for you. The 40 days are yours to meet; the wizard shows the mail-by date beside the deadline and nothing is mailed until you review and pay.
(3) When the envelope comes back
Notwithstanding subsection (1), service of a document under this section is effective on the date of mailing or shipping, and the requirements for service under this section have been satisfied, if the document meets both of the following requirements:
It is sent to the last address shown in the notice of commencement or any amendment thereto or, in the absence of a notice of commencement, to the last address shown in the building permit application, or to the last known address of the person to be served.
It is returned as being “refused,” “moved, not forwardable,” or “unclaimed,” or is otherwise not delivered or deliverable through no fault of the person serving the document.
If the address shown in the notice of commencement or any amendment thereto, or, in the absence of a notice of commencement, in the building permit application, is incomplete for purposes of mailing or delivery, the person serving the document may complete the address and properly format it according to United States Postal Service addressing standards using information obtained from the property appraiser or another public record without affecting the validity of service under this section.
Paragraph (3)(a) covers the envelope that comes back. Two things must both be true: the document went to the address the statute points at — the Notice of Commencement or its amendment first, the permit application when there is no Notice of Commencement, or the last known address — and it came back “refused,” “moved, not forwardable,” or “unclaimed,” or was otherwise undeliverable “through no fault of the person serving the document.” When both hold, service is effective on the date of mailing or shipping, the same as under subsection (2). An owner who refuses the certified envelope, or lets it sit unclaimed at the post office until USPS returns it, has still been served.
Paragraph (3)(b) handles an incomplete address: the sender may complete and format it to USPS standards from the property appraiser or another public record, without affecting validity. That is a different case from a wrong address. A piece returned because the address as written does not exist, or routes to the wrong post office, does not fit the words of (3)(a)2., and what to do next is a question for an attorney, promptly — the 45 days of §713.06(2)(a) keep running. NoticeSent's archive records every USPS scan on a returned piece, including the return reason, and the returned-mail email offers a corrected re-send.
(4) One owner, all owners
A document served by a lienor on one owner or one partner of a partnership owning the real property is deemed served on all owners and partners.
Where the property has several owners, or is owned by a partnership, service on one owner or one partner is deemed service on all of them. The wizard still asks for every owner the Notice of Commencement names and mails each one for the same flat price; subsection (4) is the statute's answer for the owner it did not name.
Where this text comes from
The quotations on this page are the 2026 Florida Statutes text of §713.18 as published on the Legislature's official site, pinned to this site's source tree and re-pinned on September 4, 2026; a check compares every quotation above against that pinned text. The section's history line runs from chapter 63-135 to chapter 2023-226, the latest amendment. The cross-referenced sections — §713.06 for the notice's contents and 45-day window, §713.13 for the Notice of Commencement the addresses come from — are pinned and quoted the same way on their own pages. NoticeSent is a document preparation and mailing service, not a law firm; what the statute means for a particular job is a question for a Florida construction attorney.
Frequently asked
Is a Florida Notice to Owner served when it is mailed or when it is delivered?
Under §713.18(2), a notice to owner sent by registered, Global Express Guaranteed or certified mail with postage prepaid, addressed as subsection (3) prescribes, mailed within 40 days after the lienor first furnishes, and backed by a mail log or USPS tracking records, is effective as of the date of mailing. Outside those conditions the general methods of §713.18(1) apply, and paragraph (1)(b) asks for evidence of delivery.
What records prove the mailing date under §713.18(2)(c)?
Either of two things: a mail log showing the registered or certified mail number issued by the United States Postal Service, the name and address of the person served, and the USPS date stamp confirming the date of mailing; or tracking records approved or generated by the USPS containing the postal tracking number and verification of the date of receipt by the USPS. NoticeSent keeps the second kind: the tracking number assigned at submission and the USPS acceptance scan, on the notice's archive page.
Does a returned envelope mean the notice was not served?
Not by itself. Section 713.18(3)(a) makes service effective on the date of mailing or shipping when the document went to the last address shown in the notice of commencement or an amendment, or, with no notice of commencement, to the last address in the building permit application or the last known address, and it came back refused, moved not forwardable, unclaimed, or otherwise undelivered through no fault of the sender. A return because the address was wrong is a different situation, and one to raise with an attorney promptly.
Does §713.18 apply to documents other than the Notice to Owner?
Yes. Subsection (1) governs service of any document permitted or required under Part I of Chapter 713 and under s. 255.05 and s. 337.18, the public-works payment-bond sections. Subsection (2), the effective-on-mailing rule, is written for a notice to owner or a preliminary notice to contractor; subsection (3) applies to any document served under the section.