Florida contractors and suppliers learn early that the construction lien is their most powerful collection tool. Then they land their first government job and discover the tool is gone. Public property is not subject to the lien rights created under Chapter 713, so a subcontractor who finishes a courthouse renovation or a municipal utility job unpaid has nothing to record. The security exists, but it takes a different form, and it runs on its own unforgiving clock.
On Public Work, the Bond Replaces the Lien
Under Section 255.05, Florida Statutes, a contractor on a public construction project must execute and record a payment and performance bond before commencing the work, generally in the amount of the contract price. The bond is conditioned on the contractor performing the work and promptly paying the subcontractors, suppliers, and laborers beneath it. The public entity may not pay the contractor until it receives a certified copy of the recorded bond. For everyone downstream, that recorded bond is the payment security. An unpaid claimant sues the contractor and the surety on the bond, not the public owner, and the prevailing party in a bond action is entitled to recover attorney’s fees.
Two Notices Keep the Claim Alive
The bond is only as good as the notices that preserve it. A claimant who does not have a contract directly with the general contractor, other than a laborer, must serve the contractor with written notice of intent to look to the bond before starting work or within 45 days after first furnishing labor or materials. If the bond was never recorded before work began, the claimant can serve that notice up to 45 days after being served with a copy of the bond.
The second notice is the one that generates the most litigation. A claimant not in privity with the contractor who has not been paid must serve a sworn notice of nonpayment on the contractor, with a copy to the surety, no earlier than 45 days after first furnishing and no later than 90 days after final furnishing. The deadline runs from the claimant’s own last day of work or delivery, not from the certificate of occupancy or substantial completion, and the statute says so expressly. If the notice includes retainage, it must break out the retainage amount. A willfully exaggerated notice is treated as fraudulent and forfeits the claim entirely, so the numbers need to be right. Note that both notices apply only to claimants without a direct contract with the general contractor. A first tier subcontractor in privity with the contractor on a public project serves neither one. Suit on the bond must then be filed within one year of final furnishing, and a contractor can shorten that to 60 days by recording a notice of contest.
Private Projects Can Be Bonded Too
The same structure appears on private work, with one trap for companies that move between the two. Under Section 713.23, an owner can exempt its property from construction liens by having the contractor furnish a payment bond in at least the contract amount, with a copy attached to the recorded notice of commencement. A subcontractor who records a claim of lien on a bonded project will see it transferred to the bond, because the bond, not the real estate, is the security. The preliminary notice rule mirrors the public side, since only lienors without a direct contract with the general contractor must serve the 45 day notice to the contractor. The sworn notice of nonpayment does not. On a private bonded project, every unpaid lienor, including a subcontractor in direct privity with the general contractor, must serve the sworn notice of nonpayment on the contractor and surety within 90 days of final furnishing as a condition of recovering on the bond. A sub that skips the notice on a private job because it never had to serve one on public work has given up its claim. The one year suit deadline applies here as well. One more caution deserves its own sentence. Florida also permits conditional payment bonds under Section 713.245, which tie the surety’s obligation to the owner actually paying the contractor, so the first thing to read on any bonded project is the bond itself.
Conclusion
Payment security on public and bonded projects rewards the companies that treat the bond like the lien’s stricter cousin. Get a copy of the bond at the start of every job, calendar the 45 and 90 day notice windows from your own furnishing dates, and serve accurate, sworn notices on both the contractor and the surety. The deadlines are short, the forms are technical, and the statutes forgive very little. Because every project and bond is different, it is worth having an attorney review your position before a deadline passes rather than after. If you are unpaid on a public or bonded project, or you are a contractor facing a bond claim, our attorneys can help you understand your options and protect your position.