Miami-Dade Notice to Owner: how to send it and meet the 45-day clock

In Miami-Dade, as everywhere in Florida, a subcontractor, a sub-subcontractor, or a material supplier to the contractor, a subcontractor, or a sub-subcontractor that has no direct contract with the property owner must serve a Notice to Owner (NTO) to preserve its lien rights. It must serve the notice before it starts furnishing labor, services, or materials, or no later than 45 days after it starts, and in any event before the owner disburses final payment after the contractor's final payment affidavit. Laborers are the one exception the statute names (Fla. Stat. §713.06(2)(a)). A supplier to another supplier has no lien right under §713.01(19), so an NTO cannot protect it. The deadline is state law, so it does not change at the county line. What is local is the paper trail: the recorded Notice of Commencement that tells you whom to serve, the Clerk's records where you find it, and the building department that permitted the job.

This page is the Miami-Dade checklist for private jobs. Government-owned property is excluded from the lien law's definition of real property (§713.01(27)), and public work is generally handled through payment bonds instead (§255.05 for state and local work; FDOT jobs use §337.18, and federal jobs the Miller Act). For what an NTO is and who needs one statewide, read Florida Notice to Owner: the 45-day deadline that protects your lien rights and the Florida state guide.

The Miami-Dade NTO checklist

Step 1: Find the Notice of Commencement in Miami-Dade records

Before most private improvements begin, the owner or the owner's authorized agent must record a Notice of Commencement (NOC) in the clerk's office and post a certified copy, or a notarized statement that it has been filed for recording along with a copy, at the job site (§713.13(1)(a)). Posting means a conspicuous place at the front of the site (§713.01(26)), so have your driver photograph it on the first delivery.

The clerk's office is the office of the clerk of the circuit court, or another office serving as the county recorder, in the county where the property is located (§713.01(4)). In Miami-Dade, that is the Clerk of the Court and Comptroller, whose County Recorder's Office records official records, including notices of commencement and claims of lien. Search them in the Clerk's County Recorder's Official Records Online System:

• Name/Document: the owner as a person or a company, with the document type "NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT - NCO". The date range is optional.
• Property/Condo: the property address, with the same optional document type.
• Clerk's File Number or Recording Book/Page: when the contractor or the permit office gives you the recording reference.

Three checks before you rely on the result:

• One NOC per permit. Miami-Dade County's Notice of Commencement page says a separate NOC must be filed for each individual permit issued. Pull the one that matches the permit, owner, and contractor you supply under.
• Indexing lag. The search page states the date through which its records are loaded, so an NOC recorded in the past week or so may not appear yet. The Clerk says eRecorded documents may take approximately 1–3 business days to process before they are available for public viewing.
• Amendments. An NOC can be amended to extend it, correct errors, or add omitted information; changing contractors takes a new notice of commencement or notice of recommencement (§713.13(5)(a)). The mailing rules in §713.18 point to the last address in the NOC "or any amendment thereto."
• Effective dates. An NOC is void if the improvement is not actually commenced within 90 days after it is recorded (§713.13(2)), and it expires one year after recording unless it states a different date (§713.13(1)(c)–(d)).

From the NOC, copy these into your notice file (§713.13(1)(a)–(b)):

• The legal description, street address, and tax folio number (if available)
• The owner's name, address, and interest, plus the fee simple titleholder if different
• The contractor, any surety and bond amount, and any construction lender
• Any person in Florida the owner designated for service of notices; service on that person "constitutes service upon the owner"
• Anyone the owner designated to receive a copy of lienor notices

If a surety is listed, the job may be bonded under §713.23, which adds its own notice-to-contractor and notice-of-nonpayment rules. A notice to owner timely served on the contractor satisfies the bond notice to the contractor (§713.23(1)(c)).

No recorded NOC?

The 45-day clock still runs from your first furnishing. Without a recorded NOC, you may rely on the building permit application for the owner's details (§713.06(2)(e)).

Which office has that application depends on location. Miami-Dade County's building department handles unincorporated areas, and each of the county's 34 municipalities has its own building official who handles permits within its limits. To confirm which, the county suggests looking up the property's folio in the Property Appraiser's Property Search; the county serves properties whose folios begin with 30.

The permit office is also a backup source for the NOC. When the direct contract is greater than $5,000, it must require a copy of the NOC before the first inspection, and it must provide the NOC's recording information to any person on request (§713.135(1)(e)).

Step 2: Build the service list

The owner always gets the notice (§713.06(2)(a)). Who else gets a copy depends on your tier:

• Where the table lists the contractor, that copy is "a prerequisite to perfecting a lien under this chapter and recording a claim of lien" (§713.06(2)(a)).
• Missing the NOC copy designee "does not invalidate an otherwise valid lien" (§713.06(2)(b)). Serve it anyway.
• On a financed job, the lender must record the NOC before disbursing construction funds to the contractor and must designate itself to receive copies of notices to owner (§713.13(7)).
• The statutory form has a "Copies to" line for the persons listed in §713.06(2)(a) and (b), so list your copy recipients there.

Step 3: Serve it by a method §713.18 allows

§713.18(1) requires one of these methods: hand delivery (for a partnership, to a partner; for a corporation, to an officer or director; for an LLC, to a member or manager; or to an authorized employee or agent), or common carrier delivery service or registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail, with postage or shipping paid and "with evidence of delivery, which may be in an electronic format." Email and regular first-class mail are not on the list. Posting on the site is allowed only if those methods "cannot be accomplished."

Mail by day 40

An NTO is served as of the date you mail it if all three of these are true (§713.18(2)):

1. It goes to the person to be served by registered, Global Express Guaranteed, or certified mail, postage prepaid (a FedEx or UPS shipment does not qualify for this rule), addressed to the last address shown in the NOC or any amendment (or, with no NOC, the building permit application), or to the last known address of the person served.
2. It is mailed "within 40 days after the date the lienor first furnishes labor, services, or materials."
3. You keep a mail log with the registered or certified number, the name and address served, and the USPS date stamp confirming the mailing date, or USPS tracking records showing the tracking number and the date USPS received it.

Treat day 40 as your mailing deadline, and mail every required copy (contractor, subcontractor, designees) by then as well. If day 40 falls on a weekend or holiday, mail on the last business day before it; don't count on §713.011 to extend the day-40 window. After day 40, the §713.18(2) mailing-date rule no longer applies, so assume the notice has to reach the recipient within the 45 days. If you are already past day 40, involve counsel and consider hand delivery.

If a notice sent to one of those addresses comes back "refused," "moved, not forwardable," or "unclaimed," or is otherwise not delivered or deliverable through no fault of yours, service is effective on the date of mailing or shipping (§713.18(3)(a)). Keep the returned envelope with the tracking history. If the NOC or permit address is incomplete, you may complete it "using information obtained from the property appraiser or another public record" (§713.18(3)(b)), which in Miami-Dade you can pull from the Property Appraiser's Property Search.

Step 4: Count the 40 and the 45

Start from the date you first furnish labor, services, or materials to the job. For most suppliers, that is the first delivery, not the order date or the invoice date. If you specially fabricate materials for the job (custom impact windows, trusses, millwork), the definition of furnishing materials in §713.01(14) includes specially fabricated materials and excludes only design work, submittals, or the like "preliminary to actual fabrication," so count conservatively from the day fabrication starts and confirm with counsel. If your first delivery is on March 3, day 1 is March 4, day 40 is April 12, and day 45 is April 17.

• Weekends and holidays. If a period's last day is a Saturday, Sunday, or a holiday listed in §110.117(1), or a day the clerk's office observes as a holiday or the chief judge of the circuit designates as one, §713.011(1) extends the period to the end of the next business day. The Miami-Dade Clerk's observed holidays include days not on the state list, such as Good Friday and Yom Kippur. Treat that as a safety net, not a plan.
• Final payment can close the window early. A notice served after the owner disburses final payment (following the contractor's final payment affidavit) is late even before day 45 (§713.06(2)(a)), and §713.011 does not move that cutoff. On short jobs, serve in the first week.
• Storm closures. §713.011(2) tolls the time for recording a document or filing an action while the clerk's office is closed for an emergency. An NTO is served, not recorded, so do not count on a Clerk closure to extend it.
• Earlier is better. An owner "shall be under no obligation to any lienor, except laborers, from whom he or she has not received a notice to owner at the time of making a payment" (§713.06(3)(c)1). Serving in week one puts you on the owner's list before more progress payments go out.

If you miss the window

The statute is blunt: "the failure to serve the notice, or to timely serve it, is a complete defense to enforcement of a lien by any person" (§713.06(2)(a)). Substantial compliance can save a notice with errors or omissions against a person who was not adversely affected by them, but "a lienor must strictly comply with the time requirements" (§713.06(2)(f)).

If the window has closed, talk to counsel. The lien law is "cumulative to other existing remedies" and does not stop a lienor from suing on its contract (§713.30), so the unpaid invoice and the lien right are separate questions.

Next: the 90-day claim of lien

If you are not paid, the claim of lien must generally be recorded "not later than 90 days after the final furnishing of the labor or services or materials by the lienor" (§713.08(5)), in the clerk's office, which in Miami-Dade is the same Clerk where you found the NOC. For the filing steps, see how to file a mechanics lien before the deadline.

Calculate your Florida dates

Run the Florida lien deadline calculator, which returns reviewed supplier date calculations for Florida, then set your own mailing target at day 40.

Miami-Dade Notice to Owner questions

Does Miami-Dade have its own Notice to Owner form or deadline?

Both come from state law: the 45-day timing is in §713.06(2)(a), and the form, including its required warning, is in §713.06(2)(c). Miami-Dade County's own Notice of Commencement page describes the same 45-day window for subcontractors and suppliers.

Do I record my Notice to Owner with the Miami-Dade Clerk?

You serve it; you do not need to record it. The statute requires service (§713.06(2)(a)) and says the notice "is not a lien, cloud, or encumbrance on the real property." The Clerk is where you find the NOC now and where a claim of lien would be recorded later.

How do I look up a Notice of Commencement in Miami-Dade?

Search the Clerk's County Recorder's Official Records Online System by owner name or property address with the document type NCO. On direct contracts over $5,000, once the NOC copy is filed with the permit office, the building department that issued the permit must also provide the NOC's recording information on request (§713.135(1)(e)).

Is certified mail with a return receipt required?

The statute does not mention a return receipt. Mail or carrier service needs "evidence of delivery, which may be in an electronic format" (§713.18(1)(b)), and the day-40 mailing rule needs a mail log or USPS tracking records (§713.18(2)(c)). A return receipt is one way to document delivery, not the only one.

Does the deadline move if day 45 falls on a weekend or holiday?

Yes, for the 45-day period. §713.011(1) extends a period that ends on a Saturday, Sunday, or holiday to the end of the next business day (see Step 4). It does not extend the final-payment cutoff. Plan to mail by day 40 anyway.

Is there a dollar threshold for a Notice of Commencement?

Yes. Under §713.13(1)(a), an NOC is not required for an improvement exempt under §713.02(5), which covers an improvement "for which the direct contract price is $2,500 or less." The $5,000 figure on county permitting pages matches §713.135(1)(e), the rule for filing a copy of the NOC with the permit office before the first inspection. Subsection (1) of §713.135, which contains that rule, does not apply to a direct contract to repair or replace an existing heating or air-conditioning system for less than $15,000.

This is operational guidance, not legal advice. Use counsel-approved policies for final notice and lien decisions.