How Long Does a Construction Lien Last in Florida?

Short answer: A Florida construction lien does not sit on the property indefinitely. It runs on two clocks. You have 90 days from your final furnishing to record the Claim of Lien, and one year from the date it is recorded to file suit to enforce it. Miss either and the lien is unenforceable. And the owner can shorten that 1 year to sue down to 60 days, or to 20 days, with a single filing you may not recognize when it arrives.

Two clocks, not one

Most people asking how long a lien lasts are thinking of one deadline. There are two, they measure from different events, and meeting one does nothing for the other.

A lien recorded on day 89 and never sued on is worth exactly as much as a lien never recorded at all. Both clocks have to be met.

The 90 days: what “final furnishing” actually means

This is where the miscounting happens, and it is almost always in the same direction — people believe they have more time than they do.

The 90 days runs from the last day you actually furnished labor, services or materials to the improvement. It does not run from:

• The date of your last invoice
• The date the owner last promised to pay
• The date the project as a whole was completed
• The date you last spoke to the contractor about the money

Two traps in particular. Work performed to correct defective work, and work performed under a warranty obligation, does not extend the 90 days. Neither does a small return trip made mainly to restart the clock. If your last real work on the improvement was in March and you swap out a fixture in June, do not assume June is your date.

Punch-list work is the grey zone and it is fact-dependent. If your last activity was punch-list items, that may not qualify and is a question worth asking your attorney before you rely on it, not after the 90 days has run.

Recommendation: Be conservative with your timings by recording earlier rather than later.

After recording: serve a copy on the owner

Recording the Claim of Lien in the county’s official records is not the last step. A copy must be served on the owner, and doing it late or not at all can be raised against you as a defense.

Serve it the way section 713.18 requires — the same service rules that govern every other construction notice. Keep the proof of delivery. A recorded lien with no evidence it was ever served on the owner is an argument waiting to happen.

The one year to enforce — and the two ways it gets shorter

Once the lien is recorded, you generally have one year from the recording date to file an action to enforce it. That year is not guaranteed. The owner controls two devices that cut it down, and both arrive as paperwork that is easy to set aside.

Recommendation: After recording your lien and serving it, write a collection letter to owner letting them know that if you’re not paid within the next X days, you will have no choice other than to turn this matter over to your attorney for collection, which could result in you having to pay legal fees and costs. Once that letter gets served, and the X number of days passes, it’s time to contact your attorney.  Do not delay. Delaying could result in the loss of your rights or other problems.

Notice of Contest of Lien — 60 days

The owner may record a Notice of Contest of Lien. Once it is served on you, your time to file suit drops from the balance of the year to 60 days. If you are 4 months into the year when it arrives, you no longer have 8 months. You have 60 days.

Summons to show cause — 20 days

The owner may also obtain a summons requiring you to show cause why the lien should not be enforced or vacated. That compresses your window to roughly 20 days. And legally speaking, that 20 day deadline cannot be extended even by agreement of the parties.  It’s a hard deadline where you must sue to foreclose your claim of lien or your lien rights could be extinguished by operation of law.

Both of these look like routine mail. Neither is. If something arrives from the owner referencing your lien, treat it as a drop-dead deadline until someone tells you otherwise.

What actually happens when the time runs out

The same precision applies here as everywhere else in this area. When the year runs out, you have not “lost a lien” in the sense of losing property you owned. The lien becomes unenforceable by operation of law — the right to enforce it against the property is gone, and the recorded document no longer does the work it was recorded to do.

The practical consequence is the same either way: the leverage disappears. A lien is worth something because it attaches to the property and interferes with sale and refinancing. An unenforceable one does neither.

Losing the right to enforce the lien does not mean you are owed nothing. A breach of contract claim against the party you actually contracted with may remain, with its own deadline. But that claim reaches only your customer — and if your customer is the reason you were not paid, that is a very different case.

Before any of this: did you preserve the right at all?

Everything above assumes you had the right to record a lien in the first place. For a subcontractor or supplier not in privity with the owner, that right is preserved by serving a Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing — and on a bonded job, by serving a Notice to Contractor instead, under a different statute and with a different second step. If it’s a bonded job, you would generally sue the Surety, not the owner.

How long is a Notice to Owner good for in Florida? covers that first step, the bonded-job fork, and where to get the owner and surety information.

The mistakes we see most often

• Counting the 90 days from the last invoice instead of the last day of actual furnishing
• Treating warranty or corrective work as a new final furnishing and assuming the clock restarted
• Recording the lien and stopping there, without serving a copy on the owner or keeping proof
• Assuming the year is safe after a Notice of Contest has been served
• Setting aside a show-cause summons as routine mail
• Waiting on negotiations. Talking does not toll anything. Deadlines run while you are being reasonable.

Construction lien and notice services

Williams Law Firm prepares and serves construction notices for Florida projects at $45 per notice plus postage, with discounts available above 100 notices per month. Every notice is reviewed by a Florida licensed attorney at no additional charge. Client may be responsible for costs and expenses in addition to this fee.

Claim of Lien services  |  Notice to Owner services

Call a Construction Lawyer Board Certified by The Florida Bar: (407) 926-4100. We also offer a free initial telephone consultation, limited to 30 minutes.

Williams Law Firm | Orlando, Florida
Glenn Williams, Esq., Board Certified in Construction Law by The Florida Bar

NOT LEGAL ADVICE. This article is general information and educational commentary about construction and construction law. It is not legal advice and is not a substitute for advice from a lawyer about your specific situation. Do not act, or refrain from acting, based on anything in this article.

FLORIDA ONLY. Glenn Williams is licensed to practice law only in the State of Florida. This content generally reflects Florida law. Laws differ by state and by country, and this may not reflect the law where you live or where your project is located. If you are outside Florida, consult a lawyer licensed in your jurisdiction.

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DEADLINES. Construction law deadlines are short and unforgiving. Contacting this firm does not stop, extend, or preserve any deadline. Statutes change; verify current law before relying on any deadline stated here.