What Florida law requires in your AC replacement contract

Most people read an AC replacement contract for two numbers: the price and the start date. The parts that actually decide what happens if the job goes wrong are somewhere else on the page, and three of them are there because Florida law puts them there.

A deposit is the moment the legal picture changes. The day the money leaves your hand, a statute starts counting, and a separate chapter of law quietly attaches to your house. Neither of those depends on what the contract says. They happen anyway.

Here is what the statute book requires, what it gives you, and the one place where the protection most homeowners assume they have does not exist.

A deposit starts a clock, and the clock is in days

Section 489.126 of the Florida Statutes is titled “Moneys received by contractors” and subsection (2)(a) is where an AC replacement lands. It applies to a contractor who receives, as initial payment, “money totaling more than 10 percent of the contract price for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property”.

Once that happens, the contractor must do two specific things. Subparagraph (2)(a)1 is the first:

“Apply for permits necessary to do work within 30 days after the date payment is made, except where the work does not require a permit under the applicable codes and ordinances”

Subparagraph (2)(a)2 is the second:

“Start the work within 90 days after the date all necessary permits for work, if any, are issued, unless the contractor has just cause for failing to apply for the necessary permits, starting the work, or refunding the payment, or unless the person who made the payment agreed, in writing, to a longer period to apply for the necessary permits or start the work or to longer periods for both.”

Read those two deadlines together and the shape of the protection becomes clear. The permit application is the first checkpoint, and it is the one you can verify yourself without asking the contractor anything. An AC changeout in Sarasota or Charlotte County needs a mechanical permit, which is covered in detail in our guide to whether an AC replacement needs a permit in Englewood. Thirty days after your deposit, that application either exists in the county’s system or it does not.

One detail in subsection (1) is worth noticing before you go further. For purposes of this section, the term contractor takes in all the definitions set out in s. 489.105(3) “and any person performing or contracting or promising to perform work described therein, without regard to the licensure of the person.” The deposit rules do not stop applying because the person who took your money was never licensed. That is a different problem with its own consequences, and the line Florida draws around unlicensed AC work is covered in our post on when handyman AC repair crosses Florida’s licensing line.

The written demand is a specific document, not a phone call

If those deadlines pass, the statute does not simply hand you a remedy. It tells you to send a letter, and it is particular about how.

Paragraph (2)(b)1 requires that the contractee “make written demand to the contractor in the form of a letter that includes a demand to apply for the necessary permits, to start the work, or to refund the payment sent via certified mail, return receipt requested, mailed to the address listed in the contracting agreement.” If the agreement lists no address, or there is no written agreement at all, the demand goes to the address the contractor has on file for licensing purposes with the department or the local licensing board.

That is the step most homeowners skip, and skipping it costs them the next sentence. Subparagraph (2)(b)2 provides:

“It may be inferred that a contractor does not have just cause if the contractor fails to apply for the necessary permits, start the work, or refund payments within 30 days of receiving written demand to apply for the necessary permits, start the work, or refund the payment from the person who made the payment.”

“Just cause” is the escape hatch built into subsection (2)(a). The certified letter is what closes it. Thirty days of silence after a documented demand is what the statute says may be read as the absence of just cause, and voicemails do not produce a return receipt.

There is a second, separate rule for a job that starts and then stops. Under subsection (3)(a), a contractor who has received money “in excess of the value of the work performed may not fail or refuse to perform any work for any 90-day period or for any period that is mutually agreed upon and specified in the contract.” The same certified-mail demand and the same 30-day inference apply on that track too, under sub-subparagraph (3)(b)3.b and c.

The part people are surprised by

Subsection (5) turns the deposit rules into graduated criminal offenses, scaled to the money received. A violation of subsection (2) is a first degree misdemeanor if the total money received is less than $1,000, a third degree felony at $1,000 or more but less than $20,000, a second degree felony at $20,000 or more but less than $200,000, and a first degree felony at $200,000 or more. Subsection (6) sets the same ladder for violations of subsection (3), measured by the amount received in excess of the value of the work performed.

Most residential AC replacements put a deposit squarely in the second tier. That is not a reason to lead a conversation with a contractor by citing it. It is a reason to understand that the written demand letter is not an empty gesture, and that the recipient knows it is not.

Subsection (4)(c) closes one obvious defense: “In a prosecution for a violation of this section, the fact that the person so charged intended to return the money owed is not a defense.”

Your contract has to carry a lien warning in bold capitals

Now the part that is not about your contractor at all.

Section 713.015(1) says that any direct contract greater than $2,500 between an owner and a contractor, for improvements to real property “consisting of single or multiple family dwellings up to and including four units,” must contain a specific notice provision “printed in no less than 12-point, capitalized, boldfaced type on the front page of the contract or on a separate page, signed by the owner and dated”.

The statute then prints the notice it requires, in capitals. The sentences that matter most to a homeowner are these:

“ACCORDING TO FLORIDA’S CONSTRUCTION LIEN LAW (SECTIONS 713.001 - 713.37, FLORIDA STATUTES), THOSE WHO WORK ON YOUR PROPERTY OR PROVIDE MATERIALS AND SERVICES AND ARE NOT PAID IN FULL HAVE A RIGHT TO ENFORCE THEIR CLAIM FOR PAYMENT AGAINST YOUR PROPERTY.”

“IF YOUR CONTRACTOR OR A SUBCONTRACTOR FAILS TO PAY SUBCONTRACTORS, SUB-SUBCONTRACTORS, OR MATERIAL SUPPLIERS, THOSE PEOPLE WHO ARE OWED MONEY MAY LOOK TO YOUR PROPERTY FOR PAYMENT, EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID YOUR CONTRACTOR IN FULL.”

That last clause is the whole point. Paying your contractor in full does not, by itself, end the exposure. If the equipment supplier who sold your contractor the condenser never got paid, the supplier’s claim runs to the property, not to the contractor’s bank account.

The statute also tells you what to do about it, in the same capitalized block:

“TO PROTECT YOURSELF, YOU SHOULD STIPULATE IN THIS CONTRACT THAT BEFORE ANY PAYMENT IS MADE, YOUR CONTRACTOR IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH A WRITTEN RELEASE OF LIEN FROM ANY PERSON OR COMPANY THAT HAS PROVIDED TO YOU A”, in the statute’s own capitals, Notice to Owner.

Do not expect the missing notice itself to save you. Paragraph (2)(b) is blunt about it: “The failure to provide such written notice does not bar the enforcement of a lien against a person who has not been adversely affected.” A contract that omits the warning is a contractor problem and a sign about who you are dealing with. It is not a defense against a supplier who was never paid.

How somebody you never hired reaches your house

The mechanism is the Notice to Owner, and it arrives in the mail from a company you have never heard of. It is not a bill and it is not a lien. It is the statutory prerequisite to one.

Section 713.06(2)(a) sets the timing. The notice “must be served before commencing, or not later than 45 days after commencing, to furnish his or her labor, services, or materials, but, in any event, before the date of the owner’s disbursement of the final payment after the contractor has furnished the affidavit under subparagraph (3)(d)1.”

Two things follow from that sentence. First, the notice must arrive early, which means it usually lands while the job is still in progress or shortly after, not months later. Second, the deadline has teeth in your favor: the same paragraph provides that “the failure to serve the notice, or to timely serve it, is a complete defense to enforcement of a lien by any person.”

So a Notice to Owner in your mailbox is not bad news in itself. It is a supplier preserving a right, which is routine on jobs with materials. What it tells you is exactly who could come looking, and it is the list you should hold releases against before you write the final check.

The final payment is where the leverage concentrates. Under subparagraph (3)(d)1, when final payment becomes due, the contractor must “give to the owner a final payment affidavit stating, if that be the fact, that all lienors under his or her direct contract who have timely served a notice to owner on the owner and the contractor have been paid in full”, or naming each one who has not been paid and the amount owed. The same subparagraph adds that the “contractor shall have no lien or right of action against the owner for labor, services, or materials furnished under the direct contract while in default for not giving the owner the affidavit”.

For a typical single-system AC changeout the number of lienors is small, often one supplier. Ask for the affidavit and the releases before the last payment, not after. On a larger job that bundles equipment with a full duct replacement, the list is longer and the total can cross other statutory thresholds, including the notice of commencement line explained in our AC permit guide. Our breakdown of what ductwork replacement costs in Englewood is the one to read before bundling the two into a single contract.

The recovery fund notice, and the fine for leaving it out

There is a third mandatory paragraph, and it is the one most often missing from a thin one-page quote.

Section 489.1425(1) requires that each agreement or contract for repair, restoration, improvement, or construction to residential real property “must contain a written statement explaining the consumer’s rights under the recovery fund, except where the value of all labor and materials does not exceed $2,500.” The statute prints the required language, which begins “FLORIDA HOMEOWNERS’ CONSTRUCTION RECOVERY FUND” and explains that payment, up to a limited amount, may be available “IF YOU LOSE MONEY ON A PROJECT PERFORMED UNDER CONTRACT, WHERE THE LOSS RESULTS FROM SPECIFIED VIOLATIONS OF FLORIDA LAW BY A LICENSED CONTRACTOR.” The notice must be immediately followed by the board’s address and telephone number as established by board rule.

Notice the qualifier in that sentence: a licensed contractor. The recovery fund is one more reason the license question is not paperwork pedantry. You can check any Florida contractor’s license for free at myfloridalicense.com, and our guide to choosing an AC company in Englewood walks through what else to verify at the same time.

Leaving the notice out is a disciplinable act. Under paragraph (2)(a) the board may fine a contractor up to $500 for a first violation, and under paragraph (2)(b), on “a second or subsequent violation of subsection (1), the board shall fine the contractor $1,000 per violation”. Both amounts are deposited into the recovery fund itself.

The three-day cancellation right, and the exception that swallows most AC sales

This is the one homeowners most often get wrong, and the error runs in the direction of false comfort.

Section 501.025 is real and it is strong. “In addition to any other right to revoke an offer, the buyer has the right to cancel a home solicitation sale until midnight of the third business day after the day on which the buyer signs an agreement or offer to purchase.” Cancellation is by written notice, it “need not take a particular form” and notice given by mail “shall be effective upon postmarking.” Under s. 501.021(2), a business day is “any calendar day except Sunday or a federal holiday.”

The catch is in the definition. Section 501.021(1) defines a home solicitation sale as one where the seller “engages in a personal solicitation of the sale, lease, or rental at a place other than at the seller’s fixed location business establishment” and the agreement is given and the sale consummated at that other place. Then it carves out the ordinary case:

“It does not include a sale, lease, or rental made at any fair or similar commercial exhibit or a sale, lease, or rental that results from a request for specific goods or services by the purchaser or lessee”.

If your AC died and you called a company to come out, that is a request for specific goods or services by the purchaser. The three-day right does not attach. The homeowner who does get it is the one who did not ask: the knock at the door, the unsolicited call that ends in a signature at the kitchen table, the pitch that arrives rather than being summoned.

Storms blur that line badly, because the people knocking after a storm are soliciting and the homeowner is in no position to sort it out. If someone arrives uninvited and leaves with a signed agreement, the cancellation right is worth asking about in writing before the third business day runs. Our post on what to do with AC after a storm in Charlotte and Sarasota counties covers the equipment side of that same week.

What this changes about how you sign

Read the front page for the two capitalized blocks before you read the price. A contract over $2,500 should carry the construction lien warning, and the recovery fund statement should be there as well unless all labor and materials come in at $2,500 or less. Their presence does not make a contractor good. Their absence tells you the paperwork was not built to Florida’s requirements, on a document you are about to sign.

Put the release-of-lien condition in the contract, the way the statute itself recommends. It costs nothing at signing and it is nearly impossible to add later.

Keep the deposit proportionate and date everything. The 30-day permit clock and the 90-day start clock both run from dates, so the date the money moved is the date that matters. Pay by a method that creates a record.

Check the permit yourself around week four. It is public, it is quick, and it is the earliest honest signal you will get.

If the clocks run out, send the certified letter before you do anything else. The statute is built around that letter, and the 30-day inference does not start until it is received.

And keep the closing paperwork together with the equipment paperwork. The final payment affidavit, the lien releases, the permit documentation and the equipment registration all end up mattering for different reasons later, including warranty claims, which we cover in AC warranty coverage in Florida.

Frequently asked questions

Can a contractor put a lien on my house for an AC job?

Yes, and so can a subcontractor or material supplier who was not paid. Section 713.015(1) requires your contract to say so in capitalized, boldfaced type, including the warning that people owed money “MAY LOOK TO YOUR PROPERTY FOR PAYMENT, EVEN IF YOU HAVE ALREADY PAID YOUR CONTRACTOR IN FULL.” A supplier not in privity with you must first serve a Notice to Owner under s. 713.06(2)(a).

What is a Notice to Owner, and should I be worried when one arrives?

It is the statutory prerequisite a supplier or subcontractor must serve to preserve lien rights, not a bill and not a lien. Under s. 713.06(2)(a) it must be served before the lienor starts furnishing labor or materials, or not later than 45 days after. Treat it as the list of parties you want written lien releases from before final payment.

How much deposit can an AC contractor take in Florida?

Section 489.126 does not cap the deposit. It attaches obligations once the initial payment is more than 10 percent of the contract price: the contractor must apply for necessary permits within 30 days of payment and start the work within 90 days after all necessary permits are issued, absent just cause or your written agreement to a longer period.

My AC contractor took my deposit and disappeared. What do I do first?

Send a written demand by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the address in the contract, demanding that the contractor apply for permits, start work, or refund the payment, as s. 489.126(2)(b)1 requires. Subparagraph (2)(b)2 says it may be inferred that the contractor lacks just cause if nothing happens within 30 days of receiving that demand.

Does the contract have to mention the recovery fund?

Yes, unless the value of all labor and materials does not exceed $2,500. Section 489.1425(1) requires a written statement explaining the consumer’s rights under the Florida Homeowners’ Construction Recovery Fund, followed by the board’s address and telephone number. A second or subsequent violation carries a mandatory $1,000 fine per violation under paragraph (2)(b).

Do I get three days to cancel an AC replacement contract?

Usually not. Section 501.025 gives a three-business-day cancellation right on a home solicitation sale, but s. 501.021(1) excludes “a sale, lease, or rental that results from a request for specific goods or services by the purchaser or lessee”. Calling a company out to your home is such a request. The right generally applies to unsolicited in-home sales instead.

What if my contract is missing the lien warning entirely?

It is a red flag about the contractor’s paperwork, and it is a licensing-board issue, but it is not a shield. Section 713.015(2)(b) provides that “The failure to provide such written notice does not bar the enforcement of a lien against a person who has not been adversely affected.”

What should I get before I write the final check?

The contractor’s final payment affidavit under s. 713.06(3)(d)1, which must state that all lienors who timely served a notice to owner have been paid in full or name each one who has not, plus written releases from every party that sent you a Notice to Owner. The same subparagraph provides the contractor has no lien or right of action against you while in default for not giving you that affidavit.

Does any of this change if the contractor was unlicensed?

The deposit rules still apply. Section 489.126(1) defines contractor to include any person performing or promising to perform the described work “without regard to the licensure of the person.” The recovery fund is narrower: s. 489.1425(1) describes recovery where the loss results from specified violations of Florida law by a licensed contractor.

Getting the contract right before you sign it

Englewood Air Pro is a referral service, not the licensed contractor doing the work. We connect homeowners with licensed local HVAC pros, and every pro we connect you with carries their own license and insurance. We ask every contractor in our network to hold an active Florida CAC license before we will refer them.

A straight proposal should survive this entire checklist without anybody getting defensive about it. The scope should be specific, the deposit should be proportionate, the two capitalized notices should be on the page, and the permit should be pulled on the schedule the statute sets. The pros we send are used to being asked, and you can verify any contractor’s license for free at myfloridalicense.com before anyone starts.

If you are weighing an AC replacement in Englewood, Rotonda West, Port Charlotte or Venice, call (941) 292-6250 and get a proposal you can read all the way through. Our guide to what an AC replacement costs in Englewood is the right thing to have open while you compare them.

Statutory citations are to the Florida Statutes as published by the Florida Legislature at leg.state.fl.us. Nothing here is legal advice. Florida’s construction lien law is complex, your contract language governs your specific situation, and an attorney is the right person to read it with you.