Who has to serve a Notice to Owner
Section 713.06 covers lienors who are not in privity with the owner — typically subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and material suppliers. For them, serving the Notice to Owner is a prerequisite to perfecting a lien (§713.06(2)(a)). The statute carves out laborers, who are not required to serve it. Whether a given company is "in privity" on a given job is a legal question; the statute, not this guide, decides it.
The deadline: 45 days, with a cutoff that can come sooner
The timing rule in §713.06(2)(a) reads:
"The notice must be served before commencing, or not later than 45 days after commencing, to furnish his or her labor, services, or materials, but, in any event, before the date of the owner's disbursement of the final payment."
Three things follow from that sentence:
- Day 45 is the outer limit, counted from the day the lienor first furnished labor, services, or materials to the job.
- Final payment is a second, independent cutoff. If the owner disburses the final payment on day 30, a notice served on day 31 is late even though it is inside 45 days.
- Serving before you start is allowed. Nothing in the rule requires waiting for the first delivery.
Florida treats the time rule strictly. Section 713.06(2)(f) forgives errors or omissions in the notice that do not adversely affect anyone, but adds: "a lienor must strictly comply with the time requirements of paragraph (a)." A late notice is not saved by substantial compliance.
Why day 40 is the date to plan around
Section 713.18 governs how notices are served. Its subsection (2) gives the Notice to Owner a special rule: when the notice is sent by registered mail, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail with postage prepaid within 40 days after the lienor first furnished, service is effective upon mailing— provided the sender keeps the mailing evidence the section describes: a proper postal log with the certified article number and the USPS date stamp, or USPS-approved electronic tracking records.
Mail deposited by day 40 therefore does not depend on when USPS delivers it. Mail sent between day 41 and day 45 loses that effective-on-mailing benefit, and service then turns on the general rules of §713.18(1). That is why NoticeSent's calculator shows both dates: the day-45 outer limit, and a recommended mail-by date of day 40.
Section 713.18(3) adds that a notice mailed to the recipient's last known address is effective on the mailing date even if it comes back marked "refused," "moved, not forwardable," or "unclaimed." A notice returned for a bad address is a different situation, and one to raise with an attorney promptly.
Counting the days: a worked example
| Event | Date | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| First furnished labor or materials | September 1 | Day 0 — the clock starts |
| Recommended mail-by date | October 11 | Day 40 — certified mail deposited by this date is effective on mailing (§713.18(2)) |
| Outer deadline | October 16 | Day 45 — and never later than the owner's final payment (§713.06(2)(a)) |
The free deadline calculator runs this arithmetic for any first-furnishing date and prints the citations beside each result.
Who must receive the notice
- The owner — always (§713.06(2)(a)).
- Anyone the Notice of Commencement designates to receive copies (§713.06(2)(a)).
- The contractor, if the lienor is a sub-subcontractor or a materialman to a subcontractor (§713.06(2)(b)).
- The subcontractor, if the lienor is a materialman to a sub-subcontractor (§713.06(2)(b)).
- The lender, at the person and place the Notice of Commencement designates for it (§713.06(2)(d)).
When no Notice of Commencement is recorded, §713.06(2)(e) lets the lienor rely on the building permit application for the information the notice needs.
What the notice must say
Section 713.06(2)(c) prescribes the form, beginning with the capitalized warning that Florida's Construction Lien Law allows some unpaid contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers to file liens against the property even if the owner has paid in full, followed by the "NOTICE TO OWNER" heading, the description of the services or materials, the property, the party who ordered the work, and the "IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YOUR PROTECTION" block. NoticeSent prints that statutory text verbatim and cites the section on the document.
How it may be served
Section 713.18(1)(b) allows service by a common carrier delivery service or by registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail, postage paid, with evidence of delivery. The pinned statute text does not require a return receipt; NoticeSent mails by USPS Certified Mail with tracking by default and offers signature proof (Electronic Return Receipt) as an add-on for lienors who want a signature record.
What to keep
For the day-40 rule to work, the sender needs the mailing evidence §713.18(2) describes: the certified article number with the USPS date stamp, or USPS-approved electronic tracking. Keep the document exactly as mailed, the addresses used, and the tracking record for each recipient. NoticeSent's archive page holds all of it, timestamped, for every notice it mails.