Florida home improvement contract requirements

At a glance

The construction lien notice

Any direct contract over $2,500 between an owner and a contractor for improvements to a single- or multi-family home of up to four units must carry the § 713.015 notice, printed in no less than 12-point, capitalized, bold type, on the front page of the contract or on a separate page that the owner signs and dates. It begins:

The rest of the notice tells the owner to require a written release of lien from anyone who has sent them a notice to owner before each payment, and recommends an attorney. If the contract is oral, the notice goes in a document that refers to it. Leaving it out puts your own lien at risk: the statute only preserves enforcement against an owner who wasn't adversely affected by the missing notice.

The recovery fund statement

Residential contracts where labor and materials exceed $2,500 must also explain the owner's rights under the Florida Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund, substantially in the form § 489.1425 sets out, which opens "PAYMENT, UP TO A LIMITED AMOUNT, MAY BE AVAILABLE FROM THE FLORIDA HOMEOWNERS’ CONSTRUCTION RECOVERY FUND" and ends by telling the owner to contact the Construction Industry Licensing Board. The board's address and telephone number, as its rules set them, must follow immediately. The board can fine you up to $500 for a first miss and must fine $1,000 per violation after that.

License numbers and unlicensed work

Your state registration or certification number must appear in every offer of services, business proposal, bid, contract and advertisement (§ 489.119(5)(b)), and on a work vehicle that bears your business name. Under § 489.128, a contract signed by a contractor who lacked the license its scope of work requires can't be enforced by that contractor, and it carries no lien or bond rights. Work that needs no state license doesn't make you unlicensed for this purpose.

Deposits: the 10 percent trigger

• No flat cap, but a trigger. If your initial payment is more than 10 percent of the price of residential work, § 489.126 requires you to apply for permits within 30 days of the payment and start work within 90 days after the permits issue, unless you have just cause or the owner agreed in writing to longer periods.
• Write the timeline in. If a custom order or a permit backlog means you'll need longer, put the agreed periods in the contract so the owner's written agreement is on record.
• Don't stall after being paid ahead. If you've received more than the value of the work done, stopping work for 90 days (or the period in the contract) without just cause is prima facie evidence that you took more than the work was worth.
• The stakes are criminal. Violations are graded by the money involved: a first-degree misdemeanor under $1,000, then third-, second- and first-degree felonies at $1,000, $20,000 and $200,000.

The home solicitation right to cancel

Florida's own rule covers sales over $25, counting finance and other charges, that you personally solicit and close away from your fixed business location. The written agreement must use the date the buyer actually signs as the transaction date, and carry this statement under the caption "BUYER’S RIGHT TO CANCEL":

Florida's definition leaves out a sale that results from the buyer's request for specific goods or services. The FTC Cooling-Off Rule is broader: it covers sales made at the buyer's home even when they invited you, unless they asked you over only to repair or maintain their own personal property. So a homeowner who called you for a quote may still be owed the federal three-day notice and two copies of its cancellation form.

Roofing contracts

• The inducement notice. A roof repair or replacement contract must say that you may not offer gifts, cash, deductible waivers or anything else of value for an inspection or an insurance claim. Without it, the owner can void the contract within 10 days of signing.
• The insurance notice. Every residential roofing contract needs, in at least 14-point bold on the owner's signature page, the § 489.147(7) advice to check coverage, deductibles and policy terms with their insurer before signing.
• After a declared emergency. A roof contract signed within 180 days of events in a Governor's state of emergency, for a home in that area, can be cancelled within 10 days or by the official start date, whichever comes first. The contract must say so in 14-point bold immediately before the owner's signature.
• Fines. Each violation of § 489.147 can bring a fine of up to $10,000.

Signing it electronically

Florida's Uniform Electronic Transaction Act makes an electronic signature as good as ink for these contracts (see e-signature law in Florida). What the statutes care about is placement: the lien notice on the front page or its own signed and dated page, the roofing notices immediately before the owner's signature, the cancellation statement under its caption. For notices the law requires you to give a consumer in writing, ESIGN asks for the consumer's consent to electronic records first (15 U.S.C. § 7001(c)).

Setting it up in SignMaster

1. 1

   Put the lien notice where the law wants it

   In your template, keep the § 713.015 notice on page one, or give it its own page with the owner's signature and a date signed field.

2. 2

   Fill the header once

   Type your license number, the recovery fund statement and the board's contact details into the template, so no contract goes out without them.

3. 3

   Stack the roofing notices

   For roof work, place the 14-point notices directly above the owner's signature field, and keep a separate template for jobs signed during a declared emergency.

4. 4

   Sign and hand over a copy

   Use Sign in person at the house. The date signed field records the transaction date the cancellation clock runs from, and everyone gets the signed PDF by email.