Florida notice of commencement form, free and on the statutory wording
Florida makes the owner record a notice of commencement before the work starts, and section 713.13 prints the form it has to be in. Fill that form in here, hand it to the owner to sign in front of a notary, and record it with the clerk.
The owner signs this one, not you. Section 713.13(1)(g) says the owner must sign the notice of commencement and no one else may be permitted to sign in his or her stead. What you can do is prepare it, and then nobody at the permit counter can turn it away: 713.13(1)(h) says the authority issuing a building permit must accept a recorded notice of commencement that is in the form the statute prints.
Read the law: Florida Statutes section 713.13leg.state.fl.us
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Word for word from Fla. Stat. 713.13. Print it and fill it in by hand, or use the builder below and get it back already filled in.
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Why the building department has to take this form
Most paperwork is accepted because it is ordinary. This form is accepted because the statute orders it. Section 713.13(1)(h): the authority issuing a building permit must accept a recorded notice of commencement from an owner or the owner's authorized agent if the notice of commencement is in the form provided in paragraph (d).
Paragraph (d) is the form below, blank for blank, sliced out of the statute rather than rewritten. Section 713.13(1)(d) asks for substantially that form, so a county's own version is fine too. The version the statute prints is simply the one that cannot be argued with.
Who signs it, who records it, and who posts it
The owner signs. Section 713.13(1)(g) leaves no room at all: the owner must sign the notice of commencement and no one else may be permitted to sign in his or her stead. A contractor who signs it in the owner's place has produced a defective notice.
Section 713.13(1)(a) then asks for two separate acts. The notice is recorded in the clerk's office, and either a certified copy of it, or a notarized statement that it has been filed for recording along with a copy, is posted at the job. It takes effect when it is filed, under 713.13(1)(f), not when it is posted.
If a lender is funding the work, 713.13(7) puts the recording on the lender, before any construction funds are disbursed. Posting at the site stays the owner's obligation either way, and a lender that fails to record is liable to the owner for the damage that follows.
The three dates that decide whether it is still alive
Ninety days. Under 713.13(2), if the improvement described in the notice is not actually commenced within 90 days after the recording, the notice is void and of no further effect.
One year. Item 9 sets the expiration date, and the statute's own parenthetical says it will be one year after recording unless a different date is stated. Section 713.13(6) works from the other side: after one year the notice is not effectual against a conveyance, a mortgage, a lien, a creditor or a later purchaser.
Longer than a year. If the contract with the contractor named in the notice states a completion period greater than one year, 713.13(1)(c) requires the notice to say it is effective for one year plus that extra time. That same paragraph is where the warning on the form comes from: payments the owner makes after the notice expires are improper payments.
Changing it after it is recorded
A notice recorded within its effective period can be amended to extend that period, to change erroneous information, or to add information that was left out. Section 713.13(5)(a) allows all three.
Changing the contractor is not one of them. The same paragraph says that to change contractors, a new notice of commencement or a notice of recommencement must be executed and recorded instead.
An amendment carries two further duties under 713.13(5)(b). It must identify the official records book and page where the original notice is recorded, and a copy of it must be served by the owner on the contractor and on each lienor who serves notice before, or within 30 days after, the amended notice is recorded.
If the job is bonded, attach the bond
Section 713.13(1)(e) says a copy of any payment bond must be attached at the time the notice of commencement is recorded, and that failing to attach it negates the exemption in 713.02(6).
A bond that was missed is not lost. The statute lets the bond be used to transfer a recorded lien, other than the contractor's own, by recording and serving a notice of bond under 713.23(2).
What this form is not
Recording a notice of commencement does not put a lien, a cloud or an encumbrance on the property. Section 713.13(3) says exactly that. What it does is give constructive notice that claims of lien under part I may be recorded, and fix the point from which priority runs under 713.07.
It is also not the notice to owner. That is a different document under 713.06(2), served by a lienor who has no direct contract with the owner, and the person named at item 7 of this form is who it gets served on.
Questions people ask
Who signs a Florida notice of commencement?
The owner. Section 713.13(1)(g) says the owner must sign it and that no one else may be permitted to sign in his or her stead. A contractor can prepare the whole document and an authorized agent can record it, but the signature has to be the owner's.
Can the building department refuse my notice of commencement?
Not if it is in the statutory form. Section 713.13(1)(h) says the authority issuing a building permit must accept a recorded notice of commencement that is in the form provided in paragraph (d), which is the form on this page.
How long does a Florida notice of commencement last?
One year from the date it is recorded, unless item 9 states a different date. Section 713.13(6) cuts it off at one year against conveyances, mortgages, liens, creditors and later purchasers, and 713.13(1)(c) is what lets a contract longer than a year run longer.
What happens if the work never starts?
If the improvement described in the notice is not actually commenced within 90 days after recording, section 713.13(2) makes the notice void and of no further effect. A new one has to be recorded before the work begins.
Does a notice of commencement have to be notarized?
The form the statute prints ends in a notarial acknowledgment, so the owner signs it in front of a notary. The alternative to posting a certified copy at the job is also a notarized statement that the notice has been filed for recording.
Can I change the contractor named on a recorded notice?
No. Section 713.13(5)(a) allows an amendment to extend the effective period, change erroneous information or add omitted information, but says that to change contractors a new notice of commencement or notice of recommencement must be executed and recorded.
Is a notice of commencement the same as a notice to owner?
No. A notice of commencement is recorded by the owner before the work starts. A notice to owner under 713.06(2) is served by a lienor who has no direct contract with the owner, and it is served on the person named at item 7 of the notice of commencement.
Once the job is running and you are getting paid on it, the paperwork that comes next is the waiver: see the Florida statutory lien waiver forms, and conditional vs unconditional lien waiver for which of the two to sign.