The Notice of Commencement is legally the property owner's document. In practice, it's the general contractor who ends up managing it: coordinating the owner's signature, getting it recorded before mobilizing, and keeping subcontractors and the construction lender informed of what's on it. Getting the mechanics right matters more than most GCs realize, and some of the standard advice on this topic, including timing advice that sounds cautious on its face, can actually backfire.
Quick Answer
Get the NOC signed and notarized by the owner early, but time the recording to land close to real mobilization so the 90-day void window under § 713.13(2) never becomes a factor. If you'd rather skip the blank county form entirely, Swift's NOC Generator walks you through every required field and produces a notice ready for the owner's signature. Once it's signed and notarized, you can eRecord it with the county from your office or the jobsite.
Your Practical Role vs. the Owner's Legal Responsibility
Under § 713.13(1)(a), the owner or the owner's authorized agent must record the NOC, which is why contract language authorizing the GC to handle recording is standard practice. But recording and signing are two different acts under Florida law: only the owner may sign the notice itself, and no contract clause can substitute for that signature. Our guide on who must file and sign a Florida NOC covers this distinction in full, including what changes when the owner is an LLC, corporation, or trust rather than an individual, which matters for how quickly you can actually get a signature in hand.
Getting Authorization to Record, and Why "Immediately" Isn't Quite Right
Coordinating with the owner early is good advice. Building the NOC into the contract, having it ready to sign and notarize at the signing meeting, and using Remote Online Notarization for owners who can't meet in person are all sound practices worth keeping.
Where the standard advice runs into trouble is the instruction to record the NOC immediately after signing and not wait for permit issuance. That's exactly backwards on any project where permitting takes a while. Under § 713.13(2), if the described improvement doesn't actually commence within 90 days after the NOC is recorded, the notice becomes void and of no further effect, with no grace period and no way to revive it. Recording the day the contract is signed, on a project where permit review realistically takes three or four months, sets a clock that can run out before a shovel ever hits the ground. Our full breakdown of Florida's two different 90-day rules covers this in depth, since it's easy to confuse the NOC's own void window with the separate 90-day deadline for lien filings.
The better practice: get the NOC signed and notarized early, exactly as the standard advice suggests, but time the actual recording to land close enough to real mobilization, first physical work or the first material delivery that the 90-day window won't be a factor. On a project with a known, fast permitting timeline, recording right away is fine. On anything with permitting uncertainty, holding the signed and notarized document and recording it once a start date is realistically in view is the safer sequence.
This is where eRecording changes the math. Holding a signed NOC only works if you can record it quickly once the permit is in view, and a courthouse trip or a mailed submission adds days you may not have. With Swift, you submit the signed NOC electronically the day you decide it's time, and the recorded copy comes back to your account. That makes "record close to mobilization" a practical plan instead of a scheduling gamble.
What the NOC Actually Has to Contain
§ 713.13(1)(a) fixes exactly seven categories of information the NOC has to include: the property description, a general description of the improvement, the owner's name, address, and interest in the property, the contractor's name and address, surety information and bond amount if the project is bonded, the lender's name and address if the project is financed, and an in-state designee if the owner names one. Gathering all seven before the signing meeting, not just the owner and lender details, avoids a scramble later, particularly the payment bond information on any project where one is required.
One field that is not on this list: a contractor license number. It's worth stating plainly because it leads contractors to do unnecessary paperwork. There's nothing to amend on an NOC when a license number changes, because the NOC never had a license number field to begin with. License status is verified separately, through the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation's search at myfloridalicense.com, not through anything printed on the NOC.
Prepare It for the Owner
The owner still has to sign. Everything else on the form can be done before the signing meeting.
The NOC Generator walks you through each of the seven statutory fields, produces a completed Notice of Commencement ready for the owner's signature and notarization, and lets you submit it for eRecording from your office or the jobsite when your start date is in view.
Coordinating Lender Information Precisely
Construction lenders have their own independent obligation here: § 713.13(7) requires the lender to record the NOC before disbursing any construction funds, so a defective or missing NOC doesn't just create paperwork problems, it can directly delay the first draw. Calling the lender's closing team to confirm their exact legal name and address before recording is good practice, since a name mismatch is a common and avoidable defect. If a loan is later modified or refinanced with a different lender mid-project, that's a genuinely unsettled question under current statute, covered in more depth in our guide to amending a Florida NOC, since updated lender information doesn't cleanly fit the statute's categories for what an amendment can fix.
Lenders also tend to ask for proof of recording before they release the first draw. When you eRecord the NOC through Swift, the recorded copy with the clerk's stamp is available in your account as soon as the county processes it, which is usually the fastest way to get that document into the lender's hands.
Managing NOCs Across Multiple Active Projects: Track Both Clocks
Standard advice for GCs running several jobs at once usually focuses on the one-year expiration, with a reminder to check in around month ten. That's worth doing, but it's only half the picture. A contractor juggling multiple project starts is, if anything, more exposed to the 90-day void window than the one-year expiration, since that's the clock that gets triggered by the exact kind of scheduling uncertainty that comes with managing several permits, several subcontractor schedules, and several inspection queues at once.
- Track the recording date and the actual commencement date separately for every active project, and flag any gap approaching 90 days.
- Track the one-year expiration date for longer jobs, with enough lead time to record an amendment before it lapses.
- Confirm each NOC's contractor name matches your current licensed entity exactly, since a mismatch here is a real defect, even though a license number itself was never required.
- Keep a running list of any project involving a lender change or a contractor change, both of which raise real questions covered in our amend/terminate guide.
Running every NOC through one Swift account also gives you a single place to see what has been submitted, what has been recorded, and on what date, across all of your active jobs. That recorded date is the number your 90-day and one-year tracking depends on, and it's easier to pull from a dashboard than from a stack of stamped copies.
What Actually Requires a New NOC vs. a Simple Amendment
Worth being precise here, since getting it wrong creates a defective filing: § 713.13(5)(a) allows an amendment only to extend the effective period, correct erroneous information, or add information that was omitted. It explicitly excludes contractor changes: if the general contractor on a project changes, a new notice of commencement or a notice of recommencement has to be recorded instead.
A subcontractor change doesn't touch the NOC at all, since subcontractors were never named on it to begin with. The full mechanics, including who has to serve the amendment and on whom, are covered in our guide to amending or terminating a Florida NOC.
Either way, the document still has to be prepared correctly and recorded. Whether it's a new notice for a contractor change or an amendment to extend the effective period, you can generate the document and eRecord it without a second trip to the courthouse.
Taking Over a Project From a Prior Contractor
If you're coming onto a project after the original GC defaulted or the work was abandoned, don't assume the existing NOC covers you. It doesn't, and starting work under someone else's NOC, or under one that's already void, creates real exposure for you and for the owner. The owner needs to record and post a new notice of commencement, or a notice of recommencement if construction had genuinely stopped, before your crews start.
Confirm this has actually happened in the county's public records before mobilizing, the same way you'd confirm any other NOC, rather than assuming the paperwork from the prior contractor's tenure still applies to yours. If the owner needs a fresh notice drafted quickly so you can get on site, the NOC Generator can produce one in your name for the owner to sign, and eRecording gets it on record before your first day of work.
Your Lien Rights vs. Your Lien Priority: A Distinction Worth Knowing
As the general contractor in direct privity with the owner, your right to record a lien doesn't depend on the NOC the way a subcontractor's does; you don't need to serve a Notice to Owner the way non-privity lienors do under § 713.06(2)(a). But your lien's priority is a different question entirely. Under § 713.07(2), liens ordinarily take priority as of the NOC's recording date; without a recorded NOC, priority instead dates only from when a claim of lien is actually recorded, typically much later. On a project where title or financing gets complicated, that gap matters. Our guide to the real consequences of not filing an NOC covers this priority mechanic in full.
Closing Out the Project: Filing the Notice of Termination
Recording a Notice of Termination under § 713.132 once the project wraps up and lienors are paid isn't just something that benefits the owner. It closes the public record cleanly, which matters if you're bidding future work with the same owner or if a dispute ever surfaces later and the paper trail gets reviewed. The real requirements, including serving lienors before recording and attaching a contractor's payment affidavit, are covered in full in our amend/terminate guide, and that affidavit is something you, as the contractor, are the one who has to prepare and furnish.
Swift supports eligible Notices of Termination the same way it supports the NOC, so the project's opening and closing documents can both be submitted electronically from the same account.
If You're a Subcontractor Instead of the General Contractor
If you're reading this as a subcontractor rather than the GC, the NOC still matters to you, just differently: it's where you find the owner's and lender's correct contact information to properly serve your own Notice to Owner. If there's no NOC recorded on the project, § 713.06(2)(e) lets you rely on the building permit application for that same information instead. Either way, that notice generally has to go out within 45 days of when you start furnishing your own labor or materials, not 45 days from the overall project start. Our homeowner's guide and consequences guide both cover Notice to Owner timing and the underlying payment protections in more depth.
Common Contractor Mistakes
- Recording the NOC the same day the contract is signed on a project with an uncertain permitting timeline, risking the 90-day void window before work starts.
- Ordering or accepting material delivery to the site before the NOC is actually recorded, not just submitted.
- Using an individual owner's name on the NOC when the property is actually titled to an LLC or trust.
- Not confirming the lender's exact legal name and address before recording.
- Assuming a license number change requires amending active NOCs, when the NOC never had a license number field to amend.
- Assuming a subcontractor swap has any bearing on the NOC.
- Starting work on a project under a prior contractor's NOC after taking over a stalled or defaulted job, without confirming a new notice has been recorded.
- Leaving the NOC open indefinitely after completion instead of recording a proper Notice of Termination.
Quick Reference Checklists
Before the signing meeting
- Gather the property description, improvement description, owner's exact legal name and interest, your own name and address, bond information if applicable, and the lender's confirmed legal name and address.
- Enter those details into the NOC Generator so the document is complete and ready for signature before the meeting.
- Build NOC recording authorization into the contract as the owner's agent, separate from the signature requirement itself.
At and after signing
- Get the NOC signed and notarized by the owner personally, or the entity's properly authorized representative.
- Time the actual recording to land close to real mobilization, not automatically the day of signing, on any project with permitting uncertainty.
- When the start date is in view, eRecord the NOC rather than mailing it or driving it in.
- Confirm recording in the county's public records before ordering materials or starting work.
Ongoing, multi-project tracking
- Track both the 90-day void window and the 1-year expiration for every active project separately.
- Flag any project with a lender change, a contractor change, or a takeover from a prior GC for special review.
- Prepare and furnish the final payment affidavit and record a Notice of Termination once each project wraps up.
A Short Illustrative Example
A general contractor signs a contract for a mid-size commercial buildout and has the owner sign and notarize the NOC the same day, per standard practice. The permitting authority in that county is running roughly four months behind on plan review. Rather than recording immediately, the contractor holds the signed, notarized NOC and tracks the permit's progress, recording it once the permit is genuinely close to issuance, about two weeks before the crew is scheduled to mobilize.
On a second, smaller residential project running at the same time, the permit clears in under three weeks, so the contractor records that NOC right after signing without any timing concern. The difference in approach isn't inconsistency; it's matching the recording date to each project's actual permitting timeline rather than applying one rule everywhere.
This example is illustrative only and simplifies a process that has county-specific recording and permitting steps; it isn't a substitute for advice on a specific project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the general contractor sign the Notice of Commencement for the owner?
No. Under § 713.13(1)(a) only the owner, or the properly authorized representative of an entity owner, may sign the NOC. A contract clause can authorize the GC to handle recording, but it cannot substitute for the owner's signature.
Should I record the NOC the same day the contract is signed?
Only when the permit is expected quickly. If work doesn't commence within 90 days of recording, the NOC becomes void under § 713.13(2). On projects with permitting uncertainty, hold the signed and notarized NOC and record it once a start date is realistically in view.
Does a change in my license number require amending the NOC?
No. The NOC has no license number field. License status is verified separately through the Florida DBPR, so there is nothing on the NOC to amend when a license number changes.
What happens if the general contractor on a project changes?
An amendment cannot be used for a contractor change. A new Notice of Commencement, or a Notice of Recommencement if work had stopped, must be recorded before the new contractor starts work.
Can I prepare and record the NOC without going to the courthouse?
Yes. The NOC Generator produces a completed notice ready for the owner's signature and notarization, and eligible NOCs can then be eRecorded with supported Florida County Clerks through your Swift account.
Build It, Sign It, Record It
Handle the whole NOC process without leaving your office.
Draft the notice with the NOC Generator, have the owner sign and notarize it, then eRecord it with the supported Florida county when your start date is in view. Create a free Swift account to get started.
This article is for general informational purposes only and is not legal advice. Florida construction-lien requirements can depend on the facts of the project. Consult a qualified Florida construction attorney for advice about your situation. Questions about county coverage or document eligibility can go to our contact page.