A Florida 558 notice is a written notice of construction defect that Chapter 558, Florida Statutes, requires a claimant to serve before filing most construction defect lawsuits. Under section 558.004(1)(a), the notice must be served at least 60 days before the lawsuit is filed, or at least 120 days before, when the claimant is a condominium or homeowners association representing more than 20 parcels.
Chapter 558 is often called Florida’s “right to cure” law. Before an owner can sue over defective work, the statute gives the contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or design professional a formal chance to inspect the problem and offer to fix it, pay for it, or dispute it. This article explains what the notice must contain, every deadline in the process, what the recipient may do, and the one deadline the notice does not pause.
It is written for the claimant’s side of the exchange: the owner or association deciding whether, and how, to serve a Chapter 558 notice before suing for construction defects. If that is you, start here, then see our construction defect practice for the claim itself.
Why Chapter 558 exists
The Legislature adopted Chapter 558 as an alternative to immediate litigation. The theory is simple: many construction defects can be repaired for less than they can be litigated, and the party who built the work already knows the building, the plans, and the subs who touched it. The statute forces a structured conversation (notice, inspection, response) before anyone files suit.
In practice, the process works when both sides treat it seriously. A precise notice supported by documentation tends to draw a substantive response. A vague notice tends to draw a form-letter dispute, and the parties end up in court anyway, 60 or 120 days later.
When a 558 notice is required, and when it is not
Chapter 558 applies to civil actions and arbitrations alleging a “construction defect.” Section 558.002(5) defines that term broadly: a deficiency in the design, specifications, surveying, planning, supervision, or observation of construction, or in the construction, repair, alteration, or remodeling of real property, arising from defective materials, a violation of the building codes, design work that falls below professional standards, or construction that fails to meet accepted trade standards.
The notice requirement reaches almost everyone in the project chain. A claimant serves the contractor it hired, and notices commonly go to subcontractors, suppliers, and design professionals alleged to be responsible for a given defect.
There is one major exception: the parties can contract out of the process. Under section 558.005, a claimant and a potential defendant may agree in writing to opt out of Chapter 558, and construction contracts entered after October 1, 2009 are required to carry a conspicuous notice stating that defect claims are subject to the chapter’s notice-and-cure provisions. Read your contract before you do anything else. If it opts out or substitutes its own claim procedure, the path below may not be your path.
What the notice must contain
Section 558.004(1)(b) sets the content requirements. The notice must:
- describe in reasonable detail the nature of each alleged construction defect;
- describe the damage or loss resulting from each defect, if known; and
- identify the location of each defect specifically enough that the recipient can find it without undue burden.
The description can rest on a visual inspection. The statute does not require the claimant to perform destructive testing (opening walls, pulling roof sections, coring slabs) before serving notice.
That is the floor. It is rarely where a notice should stop. We draft 558 notices the way an estimator builds a scope: defect by defect, by location, assembly, and observed symptom. “Stucco cracking at the second-floor band board, south elevation, with staining at the interior drywall below” gives the recipient something it can inspect, price, and respond to. “Exterior cracking and water damage” gives it an excuse to dispute. Where the problem implicates structure or design, we retain independent licensed engineers before the notice goes out, so the descriptions in the notice match what testing will later show. That fluency comes from the firm’s focus: I am a Florida attorney with a family history in construction for generations, and we write these notices in the language of the trades because that is the language the recipient’s estimator will read them in.
Chapter 558 deadlines at a glance
Every deadline below comes from the current text of Chapter 558, Florida Statutes. The longer periods apply when the claimant is an association representing more than 20 parcels: a threshold that captures most condominium and homeowners associations.
| Step | Deadline | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Serve the notice of claim | At least 60 days before filing suit; at least 120 days for an association representing more than 20 parcels | s. 558.004(1)(a) |
| Recipient’s inspection of the property | Within 30 days after service; 50 days for a 20+ parcel association claim | s. 558.004(2) |
| Destructive testing | Advance written details are required. The statute addresses tester selection, mutually agreeable timing, observation, habitability, and financial responsibility for restoration. | s. 558.004(2) |
| Recipient’s written response | Within 45 days after service; 75 days for a 20+ parcel association claim | s. 558.004(5) |
| Claimant accepts or rejects a settlement offer | Within 45 days after receiving the offer | s. 558.004(7) |
| Statute of limitations tolling ends | The later of 90 days (120 for large associations) after service, or 30 days after the repair or payment period in an accepted offer ends | s. 558.004(10) |
| Statute of repose | Not tolled by the notice at all | s. 558.004(1)(d) |
These are the statutory defaults as of this writing. The Legislature has amended Chapter 558 repeatedly, contracts can modify the procedure, and how the periods run in a specific dispute depends on facts like the date and method of service. Confirm the deadlines that govern your project with counsel before you rely on any of them.
What the recipient can do with a notice
Section 558.004(5) gives the recipient five options, and it must pick one in writing within its 45-day (or 75-day) window:
- offer to repair the defect at no cost to the claimant, with a description of the repair and a timetable;
- offer a monetary settlement;
- offer a combination of repairs and payment;
- dispute the claim in writing; or
- state that the claim has been referred to its insurer, with any payment to be determined by the insurer within 30 days after notification.
If the recipient disputes the claim, or simply fails to respond on time, section 558.004(6) lets the claimant proceed straight to suit without further notice. If the recipient makes an offer, the claimant has 45 days to accept or reject it in writing. An accepted repair offer comes with an obligation to give the recipient reasonable access to do the work.
We describe the recipient’s options here so you know what to expect back. A builder or contractor who receives a well-documented notice can respond with an offer to repair, an offer to pay, a combination, or a dispute, and each of those responses shapes the defect case that follows. That is why the notice you send matters: a precise, well-supported notice tends to draw a substantive response and can resolve a claim without a lawsuit, while a vague one usually draws a form-letter dispute and a filing 60 or 120 days later.
What happens if a claimant sues without serving notice
Skipping the notice does not kill the case, but it stops it. Under section 558.003, if a claimant files a defect action without complying with Chapter 558, the court (on a timely motion) must stay the action until the claimant complies. A stay is a court-ordered pause: the case sits, without prejudice, while the notice, inspection, and response process runs.
The practical cost is months of delay and an early procedural loss in front of the judge. The practical benefit of the stay-not-dismissal design shows up in one narrow situation, covered next.
The deadline the notice does not stop: the statute of repose
Two different clocks run on every Florida defect claim, and Chapter 558 treats them differently.
The statute of limitations is the ordinary filing deadline. For construction defect actions it is four years under section 95.11(3)(b), Florida Statutes, and for a latent defect (one that is hidden and not reasonably discoverable) the four years run from when the defect is discovered or should have been discovered with due diligence. Serving a 558 notice tolls this clock. Tolling means the deadline pauses: under section 558.004(10), the limitations period stops running until the later of 90 days (120 for large associations) after service, or 30 days after the repair or payment period in an accepted offer ends.
The statute of repose is the outer wall. Since the 2023 legislation known as SB 360, the repose period is seven years, measured from the earliest of the issuance of a temporary certificate of occupancy, a certificate of occupancy, or a certificate of completion, or the date construction is abandoned if never completed. (Older articles cite this provision as section 95.11(3)(c); after 2023 renumbering it sits at 95.11(3)(b).) Repose is absolute: once seven years pass from that trigger, the claim is barred even if the defect was impossible to discover sooner.
Here is the trap. Section 558.004(1)(d) states flatly that a 558 notice “shall not toll any statute of repose period under chapter 95.” A claimant who discovers a latent defect in year six, serves a notice, and politely waits out the 60- or 120-day process can watch the repose wall arrive mid-process. Because section 558.003 stays a premature lawsuit rather than dismissing it, claimants close to the repose deadline often file suit first to stop the repose clock and then complete the 558 process during the stay. Whether that sequence fits your facts is exactly the kind of judgment call to make with counsel: early, not in year seven.
Before you send: how owners prepare a notice that works
For owners and associations, the notice is not paperwork: it is the opening exhibit of the dispute. Our preparation checklist:
- Read the contract first. Look for a Chapter 558 opt-out, a substitute claim procedure, warranty terms, and notice provisions.
- Document before anyone touches anything. Photographs with dates and locations, moisture readings, and a written timeline of when each problem appeared and who saw it.
- Limit repairs to emergency mitigation. Stop active water intrusion, but do not renovate away the evidence. The recipient has a statutory right to inspect what you are complaining about.
- Price the defect with real numbers. We check repair scopes and any settlement offer against bids from licensed local contractors, line by line, so a 45-day accept-or-reject decision is made against market reality rather than the recipient’s estimate.
- Bring in independent professionals where the defect justifies it. For structural movement, envelope failures, and design questions, we retain independent licensed engineers whose findings support each numbered defect in the notice.
- Serve it provably. Every deadline in the table above runs from service. Use a method that leaves a record.
Associations have added moving parts: the 120-day pre-suit runway, board authority, turnover timing, and owner communications. Our condo and HOA defect page covers the association-side process.
Is it a defect claim or an insurance claim?
Not every building failure is a Chapter 558 problem. If a storm opened the roof or a supply line burst, your fastest source of recovery may be your own property insurance policy: a separate legal track with its own statutes, deadlines, and disputes. Some losses are both: defective work that a storm then exposed. If a carrier is underpaying, delaying, or denying, start with our property insurance claims practice; the defect claim against the builder can run in parallel.
Where these disputes arise around Tampa Bay
Chapter 558 work concentrates where new construction concentrates. In our region that means the fast-growing corridors of Manatee and Sarasota counties (the communities east of Bradenton and the master-planned developments around Venice and North Port) along with infill construction and condo repair projects across Hillsborough and Pinellas. Newer buildings mean more claims inside the seven-year repose window, which is precisely when Chapter 558 has teeth.
Talk to us before a deadline decides the question
If you own the building: we represent owners and associations in defect claims against builders, contractors, and developers. Start with our construction defect practice, or read our companion guide, Can I sue my contractor in Florida?, for how a 558 notice fits into the larger claim.
The payment and contract disputes that often travel with a defect fight are handled in our construction litigation practice, and where the same damage is also a hurricane or water-loss claim against your insurer, see our property insurance claims practice.
The statute rewards the claimant who moves deliberately and early. Contact us for a free consultation.
This article provides general information about Florida law, not legal advice about your project.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a 558 notice pause the statute of limitations?
Yes. Under section 558.004(10), Florida Statutes, serving the notice tolls (pauses) the statute of limitations until the later of 90 days after service (120 days for an association representing more than 20 parcels) or 30 days after the repair or payment period in an accepted offer ends. It does not pause the statute of repose: section 558.004(1)(d) states the notice does not toll any repose period under chapter 95, so the seven-year outer deadline keeps running.
Can the parties opt out of Chapter 558?
Yes. Section 558.005 lets a claimant and a potential defendant agree in writing to opt out of the chapter's notice-and-cure process, and construction contracts entered after October 1, 2009 must contain a conspicuous notice that defect claims are subject to Chapter 558. Check your contract before sending or expecting a notice - an opt-out or substitute claim procedure changes the pre-suit path.
What happens if I file a defect lawsuit without sending a 558 notice?
The case is stayed, not dismissed. Under section 558.003, on a timely motion the court must pause the action, without prejudice, until the claimant completes the notice, inspection, and response process. The practical cost is months of delay - though the stay-not-dismissal design is also why claimants near the seven-year statute of repose sometimes file first and complete the 558 process during the stay.
Do I have to accept the contractor's offer to repair?
No. Section 558.004(7) gives the claimant 45 days after receiving a settlement offer to accept or reject it in writing, and a claimant who rejects may proceed to suit. If you accept a repair offer, you must give the recipient reasonable access to perform the work. Whether to accept is fact-specific - we check any offer against the real repair scope and bids from licensed local contractors before the 45-day window closes.