A Florida Notice of Nonpayment is a payment-bond claim step

First, find out whether the job is private or public and whether a payment bond covers it. A Florida Notice of Nonpayment is a bond-claim paper for an unpaid subcontractor, supplier, or other protected claimant. It is not the same as a Notice to Owner, and it is more than an invoice or demand letter.

On a private bonded job, section 713.23 calls for a sworn notice from an unpaid lienor seeking payment from the bond. The notice goes to the contractor, with a copy to the surety. The outside deadline is generally 90 days after that lienor’s last work or delivery. When the lienor did not deal with the contractor, an earlier Notice to Contractor may also have been due.

Public work follows section 255.05. For a claimant who did not deal with the contractor, the sworn notice generally has a window. It cannot be sent before 45 days after the first work or delivery, or later than 90 days after the last one. Both laws count the later date from the claimant’s work or delivery, not from a certificate of occupancy or substantial completion.

Those details matter before anyone reaches for a form. Get the recorded bond, name the contractor and surety, and place the claimant in the contract chain. If a deadline is close or payment is in dispute, a Florida construction lawyer can check the notice, service method, and suit deadline before a bond right is lost.