Bond and Payment Claims

Public projects do not use liens. They use bonds.

Not every construction payment dispute is resolved through a lien. On public projects, lien rights against the property are unavailable, and unpaid contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers must pursue payment through a bond claim if the project is bonded.

This section covers Payment Bond Claims, Florida Little Miller Act, FDOT Bond Claims, and Federal Miller Act. The correct remedy depends on the project type. Private bonded projects, Florida public projects, FDOT projects, and federal projects each involve different statutes, procedures, notices, and deadlines.

A payment bond claim may look similar to a construction lien dispute because both involve unpaid construction work. But the legal analysis is different. Instead of recording a lien against real property, the claimant may need to make a timely claim against a surety bond.

Timing is also different. For many bond claims, the deadline to file a lawsuit is one year from the date of final furnishing, not one year from serving a notice of nonpayment. This differs from construction lien practice, where a lien must first be recorded within 90 days of final furnishing and then enforced within one year of recording. As a result, the time to file suit on a bond claim may expire sooner than the time to foreclose a construction lien.

Bond claims often overlap with Breach of Construction Contract, Change Orders, Delay Claims, retainage disputes, and project closeout issues.