The short answer is that a Notice of Commencement (NOC) and a Notice to Owner (NTO) protect two different sides of the same Florida construction project. The NOC is the property owner’s document. It’s recorded with the county Clerk of Court before work starts, and it publicly identifies who owns the property, who’s building on it, and who’s financing it.
The NTO runs in the opposite direction. It’s served, not recorded, by subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and suppliers who don’t have a direct contract with the owner, and it exists solely to preserve their right to file a lien if they don’t get paid.
Neither document replaces the other. Most Florida projects that involve more than an owner and a single general contractor need both handled correctly, and getting either one wrong has real consequences: an owner can end up paying twice for the same work, and a subcontractor can permanently lose the right to file a lien over work they were never paid for.
A Notice of Commencement is governed by Fla. Stat. §713.13. The property owner, or the owner’s authorized agent, must record it with the Clerk of Court in the county where the property is located, before actually commencing the improvement. It has to identify the property (legal description, and street address and tax folio number when available), the owner, the general contractor, any construction lender, and an expiration date.
Recording it doesn’t itself create a lien against the property; it gives constructive notice that lien claims may later be recorded and may take priority as of the NOC’s recording date. For the full breakdown of what belongs in an NOC and how to record one in Florida, see our Notice of Commencement guide. If the question is which party signs and which party submits it, our breakdown of who files a Notice of Commencement in Florida covers the owner, agent, and lender roles.
A Notice to Owner is governed by Fla. Stat. §713.06. Any lienor who doesn’t have a direct contract with the property owner, meaning they aren’t “in privity” with the owner, must serve an NTO as a prerequisite to ever recording a valid lien. That covers most subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and material suppliers. An NTO is never recorded anywhere. It’s delivered directly to the owner and, depending on the lienor’s position on the job, to the general contractor and the construction lender as well.
For a fuller overview, see What Is a Notice of Commencement in Florida?
| Factor | Notice of Commencement (NOC) | Notice to Owner (NTO) |
|---|---|---|
| Governing statute | Fla. Stat. §713.13 | Fla. Stat. §713.06 |
| Who is responsible | Property owner or authorized agent; the owner must sign | Subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, suppliers, and other lienors without a direct contract with the owner |
| When | Before the improvement actually begins | Before starting work, or within 45 days of first furnishing labor, services, or materials |
| Delivered how | Recorded in the county’s Official Records | Served by certified or registered mail, actual delivery, or jobsite posting as a last resort |
| Who receives it | Public record, available to anyone who searches it | The owner, and depending on the lienor’s tier, the general contractor and construction lender |
| Who is exempt | Improvements with a direct contract price of $2,500 or less | Laborers, and any lienor in direct contract (privity) with the owner, including most general contractors |
Best practice for anyone unsure of their exempt status is to serve the NTO anyway. It costs little relative to the value of the work, and it forecloses any later dispute about whether the owner had proper notice. Swift supports the recorded side of this workflow for contractors and permit expeditors, including Notices of Commencement, claims of lien, and releases.
The notice must be served before commencing, or not later than 45 days after commencing, to furnish labor, services, or materials. It must, in any event, be served before the date of the owner’s disbursement of final payment after the contractor has furnished the required final payment affidavit. The 45-day window runs regardless of how or whether the owner has been paying the contractor, and failure to serve the notice, or to serve it on time, is a complete defense to enforcement of a lien by that party.
Florida law also provides a mailing safe harbor under §713.18. If the notice is mailed by registered, certified, or Global Express Guaranteed mail, with postage prepaid, within 40 days after the lienor first furnishes labor, services, or materials, and the sender keeps a mail log or equivalent tracking record, service is treated as effective on the date of mailing rather than the date of actual delivery. That four-day cushion matters when mail is slow or a delivery is disputed later.
The NOC side of the relationship has its own set of deadlines. The notice must be recorded before the improvement actually begins. If the described improvement does not actually commence within 90 days after the notice is recorded, the notice becomes void.
Unless the notice or a properly recorded amendment states otherwise, its effectiveness generally expires one year after recording; contracts with a longer completion period require the notice to reflect that extended effective period.
An NOC recorded within its effective period can be amended to extend that period, correct erroneous information, or add information that was originally omitted. Changing contractors, however, requires a new notice of commencement or notice of recommencement rather than a simple amendment. To end a recorded NOC early once the project closes out, the owner records a separate instrument covered in our guide to the Florida Notice of Termination.
The NOC is what makes the rest of the system work. Without it on the public record, subcontractors and suppliers don’t have a reliable, official source for the ownership and financing information they need to serve a valid NTO in the first place.
Florida’s statutory permit warning tells owners plainly that failure to properly record a Notice of Commencement can result in paying twice for the same improvement. That risk exists because, without an NOC, an owner and their lender have less visibility into who is working on the project and who still needs to be paid before funds are released.
Lien priority is the other half of the consequence. Under §713.07, liens generally attach and take priority as of the date the NOC was recorded. If no NOC was filed, those liens instead attach and take priority only as of the date the claim of lien itself is recorded, a materially different position that can affect how a lien stacks up against a mortgage or other later-recorded interest.
On the lender side, a construction lender who is required to record the NOC before disbursing funds to the contractor, but fails to do so, can be held liable to the owner for resulting damages. This is one reason lenders and owners are encouraged to coordinate closely on the NOC before the first draw goes out. Swift supports recordable mortgage and construction instruments for lending and financial organizations.
On the lienor side, the consequence of a missed or late NTO is simpler and less forgiving: the failure to serve the notice, or to serve it on time, is a complete defense to enforcement of a lien. There’s no partial credit and no grace period once the window closes.
A homeowner in Orlando hires a general contractor for a $40,000 kitchen and structural renovation. The owner records a Notice of Commencement before demolition starts and posts a copy on the front door. The GC subcontracts the electrical and plumbing work to two separate companies and orders custom cabinetry from a supplier.
Because the electrician, the plumber, and the cabinetry supplier all lack a direct contract with the homeowner, each of them pulls the owner’s name and address off the recorded NOC and serves a Notice to Owner by certified mail within their first few weeks on the job. The GC, who does have a direct contract with the owner, serves no NTO at all.
Three months later, the cabinetry supplier still hasn’t been paid by the GC. Because that supplier served a timely NTO, they can record a claim of lien, and that lien relates back in priority to the date the original NOC was recorded, months earlier.
This example is illustrative only and simplifies a process that has county-specific recording steps and statutory form requirements; it isn’t a substitute for the actual NOC or NTO forms.
No. The NOC is the owner’s document, though the GC often handles the administrative work of submitting it as the owner’s agent. The GC doesn’t need an NTO because they already have a direct contract with the owner and can file a lien directly if unpaid. Our guide to who files a Notice of Commencement walks through the signing and submitting roles.
Swift E-Recording specializes in electronically recording documents with Florida county clerks, including Notices of Commencement, terminations, and liens. A Notice to Owner is served directly on the owner, contractor, and lender rather than recorded with the county, so it falls outside what an eRecording service handles.
Swift E-Recording supports eligible construction and property documents for contractors, permit expeditors, legal professionals, title and escrow companies, HOAs and property management companies, and government agencies. The industries we serve page lists the document types available to each, and our security practices explain how submissions are protected in transit.
Submit your Notice of Commencement electronically and get your recorded copy back from the county Clerk, without a courthouse visit. Swift E-Recording supports contractors, permit expeditors, and owners across supported Florida counties.
This article is for general information and isn’t legal advice. For guidance on a specific project, talk with a Florida construction attorney. Questions about county coverage or document eligibility can go to our contact page.
