Under Florida Statutes § 715.12(2), the general contractor must pay subcontractors within 7 days after receiving payment from the owner on private projects; on public works under Chapter 255/218, within 15-20 working days after approval of payment application. Your subcontract should mirror these statutory deadlines so that late payments automatically trigger the statutory interest and remedies without negotiation.

Under Florida Statutes § 255.07 (public jobs), retainage cannot exceed 5% for the first half of the project and must be reduced to 0% at 50% completion. On private jobs, retainage is negotiable but commonly capped at 5-10% by contract. Your agreement should specify the exact retainage percentage, the release schedule (typically at substantial completion and final completion), and payment of statutory interest on withheld retainage.

While Florida has not enacted a blanket statutory ban on pay-if-paid clauses, courts and statutes in most states treat "pay-when-paid" as a reasonable timing provision rather than an absolute condition. Check Florida Statutes Chapter 2013-267 (Florida Construction Law) and Florida Prompt Payment Statute at Florida Statutes §§ 715.12 (private) and 255.06, 218.50-.70 (public) for specific restrictions, and make sure your subcontract states that payment from the owner is not an absolute condition precedent to your right to be paid.

Florida does not mandate statutory lien waiver forms for private projects, but Florida Statute § 713.20 requires use of specific statutory waiver forms for progress and final payments on private construction. Under § 713.35, any waiver that does not substantially comply with the statutory forms is invalid. Never sign an unconditional waiver until payment has actually cleared your bank account, and make sure your waiver identifies the specific billing period and amounts to avoid losing lien rights on future work.

Florida does not have a broad anti-indemnification statute for construction, but under Florida Statute § 725.06, indemnification provisions in construction contracts are enforceable only if they contain a clear and unequivocal monetary limitation on the indemnitor’s liability, protecting subs from unlimited sole-negligence indemnity. Always read the indemnification clause carefully — even in states with anti-indemnity statutes, "broad form" indemnity for joint negligence is typically still enforceable.

Florida requires recording a Claim of Lien within 90 days after final furnishing of labor or materials. Florida requires a preliminary Notice to Owner under Florida Statute § 713.20 to be served on the owner within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials, and requires use of statutory conditional/unconditional waiver forms under § 713.20. Send statutory notices by certified mail or another trackable method, keep copies of everything, and calendar the deadlines immediately upon each project’s completion.