Lien waiver form Florida: the §713.20 guide for general contractors

Florida is the easy state. After California and Texas, lien waiver compliance in Florida feels almost relaxed.

One statute, two forms, no required notary, no rule that voids your waiver if you misplace a comma. The catch: "easy" doesn't mean "automatic." Florida lets you pick from a wider menu of formats than California, but advance waivers are still unenforceable, and a sub who signs a non-statutory form on a bad day can absolutely still come back and file a lien.

This post walks through Florida statute §713.20, the two prescribed forms, the conditional-check trick most GCs miss, and how to keep a Florida waiver from becoming a problem on closeout.

The legal anchor

Florida's entire lien waiver framework lives in one section: Florida Statutes §713.20 — Waiver or release of liens.

The relevant subsections:

• §713.20(2) — A lien right may not be waived in advance. A waiver only releases lien rights for work or materials already furnished.
• §713.20(4) — The statutory form for Waiver and Release of Lien Upon Progress Payment.
• §713.20(5) — The statutory form for Waiver and Release of Lien Upon Final Payment.
• §713.20(6) — A person may not require a lienor to furnish a different form. But if a lienor signs a different form voluntarily, it is enforceable per its own terms.
• §713.20(7) — A lienor who signs a waiver in exchange for a check may condition it on the check actually clearing.

The official text lives on the Florida Legislature site (leg.state.fl.us/Statutes). HB 658 (2025) updated the prescribed language and tightened the conditional-payment rules, so make sure you're reading the current year's text, not a 2012 cached PDF that's still floating around the internet.

What follows is a plain-English summary, not legal advice.

§713.20(4): the progress payment waiver

This is the form your subs sign every pay period.

What it says, in effect: the lienor has been paid (or is being paid) a specific dollar amount, in exchange for which they release lien rights for labor, services, and materials furnished through a specific date.

What you fill in:

• Lienor name
• Customer name
• Owner name
• Property description
• Through-date
• Dollar amount of the payment

What it doesn't release: anything furnished after the through-date, retainage held back per the contract, and unbilled extras. The form scopes the waiver tightly. If the sub provided $10,000 of work through May 1 and you pay them for that, lien rights for work done on May 2 are untouched.

The signature line is the trigger. Once the form is signed, the waiver is in force for the work and amount described. The sub's only protection against a bounced check is the conditional language under §713.20(7) — which we'll cover in the next section.

The conditional-check trick (§713.20(7))

Here's where Florida quietly hands you a useful tool.

The default §713.20(4) and (5) forms read as unconditional. Sign, release. Most subs don't realize that until a check bounces and they're holding a signed waiver with no payment to back it up.

§713.20(7) lets the lienor add a single sentence that changes the math:

This waiver is conditioned upon payment of the check described above.

Or words to that effect. With that line on the form, the waiver only takes effect when the bank clears the check. If the check bounces, the waiver has no force, and the sub's lien rights are intact.

GCs benefit from this too. A sub who has the conditional protection is less paranoid about signing a waiver before the funds clear, which means you can collect the signature on the same day you cut the check instead of waiting a week. Faster paperwork, same risk profile.

Conditional vs unconditional lien waivers walks through this distinction in detail across all 50 states. In Florida, you don't pick from a menu of four like you do in California — you pick from two, and you add conditional language if you need it.

§713.20(5): the final payment waiver

Same shape as the progress form, but the through-date is replaced with a description of the entire job. The sub releases all lien rights for the project in exchange for the final payment amount.

When to send it: with the final pay application. The sub fills it in, signs, and you cut the final check. If you're using the conditional language under §713.20(7), the release only fires when the final check clears.

What it doesn't cover: disputes over change orders that weren't paid, warranty work, or anything outside the scope of the original contract that the parties haven't reconciled. A final waiver for the contract sum doesn't waive a $5,000 unpaid extra the sub never billed.

The closeout pattern most Florida GCs use: §713.20(4) every progress pay period, with conditional language; §713.20(5) at job completion, also with conditional language; signed PDFs filed under the project record so the title company has clean documentation if the property is sold or refinanced.

§713.20(6): the rule that makes Florida unique

This is where Florida diverges from California and Texas, and where most generic lien waiver advice gets it wrong.

You cannot require a lienor to use a non-statutory form. If you write a custom waiver and put it in the contract that says "the sub must sign this on every pay app," the sub can refuse and demand the §713.20 form instead. They're inside their rights to do so.

But. If a lienor voluntarily signs your custom waiver, it's enforceable on its own terms. That's the wrinkle. Florida law doesn't void non-conforming waivers the way Texas Property Code §53.281 does. It just protects the lienor's right to insist on the statutory form.

In practice: 95% of Florida GCs use the §713.20 forms because there's no reason to fight that fight, the forms are short, and any title company on the planet will recognize them. If you find yourself drafting custom Florida waivers, ask why. The juice is rarely worth the squeeze.

For the full breakdown of Florida lien rights, including preliminary notices, deadlines, and who has lien rights, see the Florida lien waivers state page.

What can go wrong on a Florida lien waiver

Five mistakes that show up in actual disputes:

• Asking for an advance waiver. The general contract has a clause requiring the sub to waive lien rights upon contract signing. §713.20(2) makes that clause unenforceable. The waiver is worthless paper.
• Sending unconditional before the check clears. Legal, but risky. If you send the §713.20(4) form without the conditional sentence and your bank reverses the wire two days later, the sub has waived their lien rights for a payment they never received. They will not be your friend on the next job.
• Filling in the wrong through-date. A through-date of "5/15/26" on a waiver where the sub actually worked through 5/30 leaves two weeks of labor unwaived. That's a lienable amount sitting on the property record after closeout.
• No property description. The §713.20 forms require a description of the real property the lien attaches to. A waiver with the property field blank is ambiguous. Ambiguous waivers get litigated.
• One waiver covering five projects. Each Florida lien attaches to a specific property. A single waiver listing five jobs across three counties confuses everyone, including the title company. Use one waiver per property, every time.

If you've automated waivers, the right software catches most of these before the link goes out. The PDF won't generate without an amount, a through-date, or a property description.

How LienDone handles Florida

Pick Florida in the form selector and the §713.20(4) or §713.20(5) statutory form drops in, with the lienor, customer, owner, property, through-date, and amount pre-filled from your project and pay-app data. Conditional language under §713.20(7) is a one-click toggle — on by default for any waiver sent before the payment clears.

Your sub gets a link. They review the form, sign on phone or laptop, and submit. The signed PDF lands in your dashboard with the timestamp and IP logged. If the sub is on a job in another state next month, switching to the Texas lien waiver requirements or California lien waiver requirements takes one click. Same loop, different statutory form.

For other state-form deep dives, Arizona lien waiver and release forms covers the form options Arizona offers (similar permissive structure to Florida), and Mechanics lien Louisiana walks through one of the more unusual state systems.

The takeaway for Florida GCs

Use the §713.20(4) form on every progress pay period and the §713.20(5) form at closeout. Add the conditional-check sentence under §713.20(7) any time the waiver leaves the office before the funds clear. Never ask for an advance waiver. File every signed PDF with a timestamp.

Florida's framework is short on purpose. The statute does the heavy lifting. Most of the legal risk in Florida lien waivers comes from skipping the conditional language, not from picking the wrong form.

FAQ

Does Florida require a specific lien waiver form?

Florida statute §713.20 publishes two forms — one for progress payments (subsection 4) and one for final payment (subsection 5). You cannot force a lienor to sign a different form, but if a lienor voluntarily signs a non-statutory waiver, that waiver is still enforceable on its own terms. Most Florida GCs use the §713.20 forms.

Are advance lien waivers enforceable in Florida?

No. §713.20(2) says a lien right may be waived only to the extent of labor, services, or materials already furnished. A waiver of future lien rights, signed before the work is done, is unenforceable.

Is the Florida lien waiver conditional or unconditional by default?

The statutory forms read as unconditional. §713.20(7) lets a lienor add conditional language that ties the waiver to actual payment of the check. If the check bounces, the conditional waiver has no effect.

Does a Florida lien waiver need to be notarized?

No. §713.20 does not require notarization. The form needs the lienor's signature, the dollar amount, the customer, the owner, the through-date for progress waivers, and a property description.

What changed in Florida lien waiver law in 2025?

HB 658 (2025) updated the prescribed language in §713.20(4) and (5) and added clarity around conditional waivers. The framework, two forms with no advance waivers and optional conditional language, did not change. Always read the current year's statute, not a cached older version.

Can a sub-tier subcontractor use the same form?

Yes. §713.20 applies to any lienor — direct contractor, sub, sub-sub, supplier, equipment lessor. The same two forms cover everyone in the chain.