Yes. Florida law gives property owners several ways to hold a contractor accountable for defective work, a broken contract, or an abandoned job. Which claim fits depends on what went wrong, whether the contractor holds a license, and how much time has passed.
This guide walks through the options in plain English: the legal claims available against a contractor, the pre-suit notice Florida requires before most defect lawsuits, the filing deadlines, the state’s complaint and recovery programs, and the practical question that should shape every decision: whether the contractor can actually pay a judgment.
The question is live for a lot of Tampa Bay owners right now. After Hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, repair and rebuild work surged across the region. Much of it was done well. Some of it was underbuilt, overbilled, or never finished. If that describes your project, the deadlines below are already running.
At a glance
- You usually have more than one claim. Depending on what went wrong, the routes include breach of contract, a construction defect claim, a building-code violation claim under section 553.84, and, if the contractor is unlicensed, treble damages under section 768.0425.
- Most defect suits require a pre-suit step. Chapter 558 makes you serve a written notice describing each defect and give the contractor a chance to inspect and offer a repair before you file.
- The deadlines are short, and they got shorter in 2023. Five years for a written contract, four years for construction defects, two years for negligence, plus an absolute seven-year statute of repose that can end a defect claim even if no one could have found the problem.
- Winning is not the same as collecting. Before you file, the real question is whether the contractor carries insurance or holds assets to pay a judgment.
First, match your problem to the right kind of claim
“Suing a contractor” is not one kind of case. It is at least three, and they follow different rules.
- The work is defective. A roof that leaks, stucco that cracks, a slab that settles, windows that let water in. These are construction defect claims, and Florida requires a formal notice-and-repair process before you can file suit. Our construction defect practice handles these claims for homeowners and associations.
- The contractor broke the contract. Missed completion dates, unapproved charges, a deposit taken with little or no work performed, a crew that stopped showing up. These are breach-of-contract and abandonment disputes handled through construction litigation.
- The contractor is unlicensed. Unlicensed contracting changes nearly every rule in your favor, and closes one important door. More on that below.
Real disputes usually combine categories. A contractor who abandons a job often leaves defective work behind, and both claims can travel in the same lawsuit. What matters at the start is identifying every claim you have, because each one carries its own deadline.
The legal claims Florida law gives you
Breach of contract
The contract is the baseline. It defines the scope of work, the price, the schedule, and the quality standard the contractor promised. A contractor who fails to perform, deviates from the plans, or walks off the job has breached it, and the ordinary measure of damages is what it costs to repair or complete the work, usually proven through written bids from licensed contractors. A breach of a written contract also carries Florida’s longest relevant deadline: five years.
Read your contract for a prevailing-party attorney fee clause. These clauses are common in construction contracts, and they run in both directions: the side that wins recovers its fees from the side that loses. That single paragraph often decides whether a case settles early or gets tried. Our construction contract dispute page covers these fights in detail.
Building code violations: section 553.84
Section 553.84, Florida Statutes gives anyone damaged by a material violation of the Florida Building Code a civil cause of action against the person who committed it. Since a 2023 amendment, the violation must be “material”: one that has caused, or may reasonably cause, physical harm to a person or significant damage to the performance of the building or its systems. There is a defense for contractors who obtained the required permits and passed inspections, unless they knew or should have known the violation existed. Code claims matter because the code is an objective standard: the framing either meets the fastening schedule or it does not.
Defective work claims
Florida treats claims “founded on the design, planning, or construction of an improvement to real property” as their own legal category, with a four-year limitations period and an absolute seven-year outer cutoff, both covered in the deadlines section below. If the defective work damaged something beyond itself (a bad flashing detail that rotted the framing, a plumbing error that flooded finished rooms), negligence theories may run alongside the defect claim. All of these routes pass through the chapter 558 notice process described in a moment.
Implied warranties on new homes
Florida law reads unwritten warranties of fitness, merchantability, and habitability into the sale of a new home by a builder-vendor. If you bought new construction and the house fails at its basic job (keeping water out, staying put on its foundation, functioning as a residence), you may have a warranty claim separate from the builder’s written warranty booklet. Contract language can limit these warranties, so the purchase documents need careful review. Our new construction defect page explains how these claims work.
FDUTPA: deceptive practices
The Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act (sections 501.201 and following) covers dishonesty around the work rather than the work itself: misrepresenting license status, billing for materials never delivered, bait pricing, altered change orders. A FDUTPA claim allows recovery of actual damages, and courts may award attorney fees to the prevailing party, again, in either direction.
Civil theft: powerful, but handle with care
When a contractor takes money with no intention of performing, section 772.11 allows a civil theft claim for three times the actual damages. It requires clear and convincing evidence of criminal intent: a high bar, and a failed project is not automatically a theft. The statute carries two-way fee risk: a claimant who raises a civil theft claim without substantial factual or legal support pays the defendant’s attorney fees. The statute also requires a written demand and a 30-day response window before filing. It is a claim for cases with documents behind it, not a pressure tactic.
If the contractor is unlicensed, the rules change
Florida strips unlicensed contractors of their ordinary legal rights. Under section 489.128, a construction contract entered into by an unlicensed contractor is unenforceable by the contractor: they cannot sue you on it, and they cannot lien your property. The street runs one way: you can still sue them. And under section 768.0425, a consumer damaged by the negligence, malfeasance, or misfeasance of an unlicensed contractor may recover three times the actual compensatory damages, plus costs and attorney fees.
The catch comes at the collection stage: the state’s Recovery Fund, discussed below, does not pay claims arising from unlicensed contractors, and unlicensed operators tend to be the hardest defendants to collect from. Our unlicensed contractor page covers the full toolkit, including how to verify a license before you sign anything.
The chapter 558 notice: the required step before a defect lawsuit
Before filing most construction defect lawsuits, chapter 558, Florida Statutes requires the owner to serve a written notice of claim describing each alleged defect in reasonable detail: generally at least 60 days before suit, with longer periods for many association claims. The contractor then gets a window to inspect the property and may respond with an offer to repair, an offer to pay, a combination of the two, or a dispute of the claim.
The notice is not a formality. A defective 558 notice can get a lawsuit abated (paused by the court) until you redo it, and a thorough, well-documented notice sometimes produces a funded repair without litigation at all. We cover the timelines, the inspection rights, and how to evaluate a contractor’s settlement offer in our full guide: Florida’s 558 notice, explained.
The deadlines that control everything
Two terms first. A statute of limitations is the deadline to file, measured from when your claim arises. A statute of repose is an absolute outer cutoff that runs regardless of when (or whether) you discovered the problem. Florida shortened both for construction cases in 2023, and the changes favor contractors.
| Claim | Deadline | When the clock starts |
|---|---|---|
| Breach of a written contract | 5 years | The date of the breach. § 95.11(2)(b) |
| Construction defect, patent (visible) | 4 years | The earliest of the temporary certificate of occupancy, certificate of occupancy, or certificate of completion, or the date of abandonment if the project was never finished. § 95.11(3)(b) |
| Construction defect, latent (hidden) | 4 years | The date the defect was discovered, or should have been discovered with due diligence |
| Statute of repose, all defect claims | 7 years, absolute | The same earliest trigger. Bars the claim even if the defect was never discoverable |
| Negligence | 2 years | For causes of action accruing after March 24, 2023 (HB 837); accrual of the claim. § 95.11 |
A patent defect is one a reasonable inspection would reveal. A latent defect is hidden: missing flashing under the roof covering, absent reinforcement inside a wall. The discovery rule protects owners with latent defects, but the seven-year repose does not bend: seven years after the trigger date, the claim dies even if no one could have found the defect. The 2023 law (SB 360) cut that repose period from ten years to seven and moved the trigger to the earliest qualifying event rather than the latest: a significant compression of the window.
Three caveats. The triggers carry exceptions: model homes run from the first deed transfer, and multi-building projects run building by building. The defect provision now sits at paragraph 95.11(3)(b) in the current statute after the 2023 renumbering, so older articles citing (3)(c) describe the same rule. And no owner should calendar a deadline from an article, including this one. Have a lawyer confirm your dates against the project’s actual permit and certificate records.
If your contractor abandoned the job
Abandonment has a legal shape. For license discipline purposes, a project is presumed abandoned when the contractor fails to perform work for 90 consecutive days without just cause and without notice to the owner. Separately, section 489.126 puts concrete duties on any contractor who takes a deposit of more than 10 percent of the contract price on residential work: apply for the necessary permits within 30 days after the payment, and start the work within 90 days after the permits issue. The statute includes a certified-mail demand procedure; a contractor who ignores it loses the presumption of just cause for the delay.
The practical sequence matters as much as the law. Document the site as it stands with dated photographs. Gather the contract, every payment record, the text messages, and the permit history. Send written notice under the contract’s cure-and-termination clause before hiring a replacement. Terminating incorrectly can hand the contractor a breach claim against you. Then get written bids from licensed local contractors to complete and correct the work. Those bids become your damages evidence, and we check them line by line against what the original contractor billed.
DBPR complaints and the Recovery Fund
Two state programs run parallel to any lawsuit, and owners often confuse them.
A complaint to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR), the agency that licenses contractors, can lead to fines, restitution orders, and license discipline. It costs nothing to file, creates an official record, and puts real pressure on a contractor who wants to keep working. But it is a disciplinary process, not a compensation process. DBPR cannot make you whole.
The Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund can. It is a last-resort state fund for owners of residential property harmed by licensed contractors in specific ways. Under section 489.141, you must first obtain a final judgment, restitution order, or arbitration award, show that you tried to collect from the contractor, and file within a strict window, generally one year. For contracts signed on or after July 1, 2024, with claims filed on or after January 1, 2025, the fund can pay up to $100,000 per claim against Division I contractors (general, building, and residential contractors) and up to $30,000 against Division II trade contractors; lower caps apply to older contracts. The fund never pays claims arising from unlicensed contractors: one more reason license verification belongs at the top of your checklist.
Collecting on a judgment
A judgment is not money. It is a court’s statement that you are owed money. Before you file, ask: Does the contractor carry general liability insurance, and would it respond to this claim? Insurance often covers damage the defective work caused to other parts of the building, but usually not the cost of redoing the defective work itself. Does the business hold assets, or is it a thinly capitalized entity that will dissolve when served? Are there existing judgments against it? Florida’s homestead protections can also shelter an individual contractor’s house from collection.
Against an empty shell, a negotiated repair, a DBPR complaint paired with a Recovery Fund claim, or a treble-damages claim against an unlicensed operator with personal exposure may return more than a lawsuit ever would.
Why Cory Cannon
I am a Florida attorney with a family history in construction for generations. I grew up around construction, and I read these disputes the way the trades read them: start with the contract and the pay applications, walk the scope line by line, and compare what was billed against what is actually on the wall. We check a contractor’s figures against real bids from licensed local contractors, and where the structure is implicated, we retain independent licensed engineers to document the defect rather than argue about it.
Fees fit the case, not the other way around. Owner-side defect claims may proceed on contingency. We explain the model in writing before you commit to anything.
We handle contractor disputes across Tampa Bay, including Sarasota and Bradenton, where post-storm rebuilding has concentrated exactly these kinds of cases.
If your contractor did bad work, took your money, or disappeared, bring us the contract and the photographs. The initial consultation is free, and the first thing we will tell you is which deadlines apply to your project. Contact Cory Cannon to get started.
This article is general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your project. Statutes and deadlines change; confirm current requirements with a lawyer before acting on them.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long do I have to sue a contractor in Florida?
Five years for breach of a written contract, four years for construction defect claims, and two years for negligence claims accruing after March 24, 2023. Hidden (latent) defects get a discovery rule, but an absolute seven-year statute of repose cuts off all defect claims, measured from the earliest of the temporary certificate of occupancy, certificate of occupancy, certificate of completion, or abandonment of the project. Have a lawyer confirm your specific trigger dates against the permit records before relying on any of these periods.
What counts as a contractor abandoning a job in Florida?
Abandonment matters here because a genuine walk-off is itself a breach you can sue on. Florida's licensing board presumes a job abandoned after 90 straight days with no work and no just cause, and a contractor who took a deposit but missed the permit-and-start deadlines in section 489.126 has a related problem. Before you act, save your dated photos, messages, and payment records, then see our page on proving abandonment as a contract breach.
Can I sue an unlicensed contractor in Florida?
Yes. Being unlicensed strips the contractor of any right to enforce the deal or record a valid lien, yet it does nothing to limit what you can pursue against them for your losses. The catch is collection: an unlicensed operator is often thinly capitalized, and the state Recovery Fund stays closed on unlicensed work. See how we handle unlicensed contractor claims for the remedies and the full path.
Do I have to notify my contractor before filing a defect lawsuit?
Usually, yes. Chapter 558 of the Florida Statutes requires a written notice describing each claimed defect (generally at least 60 days before filing suit, with longer periods for many association claims) and gives the contractor a chance to inspect and respond with a repair offer, a payment offer, or a dispute. Skipping or botching the notice can get your lawsuit paused by the court until you comply.
What is the Homeowners' Construction Recovery Fund and who qualifies?
It is a last-resort state fund that can compensate owners of residential property harmed by licensed contractors in specific ways. Under section 489.141 you must first obtain a final judgment, restitution order, or arbitration award, show that you tried to collect from the contractor, and file within a strict window, generally one year. For contracts signed on or after July 1, 2024, with claims filed on or after January 1, 2025, the fund can pay up to $100,000 per claim against Division I contractors and up to $30,000 against Division II trade contractors. It never pays claims arising from unlicensed contractors.
Can I recover my attorney fees if I sue my contractor?
Sometimes. Florida follows the general rule that each side pays its own fees unless a contract or statute shifts them. Many construction contracts contain a prevailing-party fee clause, which runs in both directions: the side that wins recovers fees from the side that loses. FDUTPA and the unlicensed-contractor statute (section 768.0425) also allow fee recovery. Read your contract's fee clause early, because it cuts both ways: if you lose, you may owe the contractor's fees.
Will my contractor's insurance cover defective work?
Often only in part. A contractor's general liability insurance typically covers damage the defective work caused to other parts of the building (for example, framing that rotted because of a bad flashing detail) but usually not the cost of tearing out and redoing the defective work itself. Whether coverage responds at all depends on the policy and the facts.
Should I file a DBPR complaint or a lawsuit?
They do different jobs, and you can pursue both. A complaint to the Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) is a disciplinary process: it can produce fines, restitution orders, and license discipline, costs nothing to file, and pressures a contractor who wants to keep working, but it cannot make you whole. A lawsuit is how you recover repair or completion costs. Against a thinly capitalized contractor, a DBPR complaint paired with a Recovery Fund claim sometimes returns more than litigation alone.