Received a Chapter 558 Notice? Your Response Clock Is Running.
HD Law Partners represents Florida contractors, subcontractors, and builders through the 558 pre-suit process and the litigation that follows.
What to do in the next 48 hours
-
Note the date you were served and calendar the response deadline
The clock runs from the day the notice reached you, not the day you read it. Write that date down now and work the deadline back from it.
-
Notify your insurance carrier in writing
A 558 notice is a claim your policy may cover, and most policies require prompt written notice. Late notice can cost you coverage for the whole dispute.
-
Send us the notice, your contract and your carrier information before you respond
The written response is the first document the other side will quote back to you. Nothing should go to the claimant until counsel has read the notice and the contract.
What a 558 response has to do
The statute gives the recipient of a notice a short list of written answers. You can offer to repair the claimed defect, offer to pay, dispute the claim, or combine those. You can also pass the notice to a subcontractor whose work is involved. The response has to be in writing and has to be made within the period the statute sets.
A careless response is used against you later. An offer phrased the wrong way reads as an admission that the work was defective, and a dispute that does not address the specifics reads as a refusal to engage. Both show up in the lawsuit that may follow.
The response should be drafted by defense counsel who has read the notice, the contract and the project record. It should address each claimed defect, protect your rights under the contract and your policy, and keep the door open to a repair or a settlement where that is the better result.
Who we represent
We represent general contractors, subcontractors, developers, suppliers, property owners, and community associations in Florida construction disputes, and we try cases. One Tampa office, statewide representation. We handle Chapter 558 from the notice stage through trial.
Founding partner Raymond A. Haas leads the construction litigation practice.
Common questions
What happens if I ignore a 558 notice?
The claimant can treat the lack of a response as a rejection and move toward a lawsuit, and the record will show you never engaged. You also lose the inspection and the chance to resolve the claim before litigation costs begin. A notice should always get a written response from counsel.
Does my insurance company need to know?
Yes, and in writing, as soon as you receive the notice. A 558 notice is a claim your liability policy may cover, and most policies make prompt notice a condition of coverage. Waiting until a lawsuit is filed can give the carrier a reason to deny.
Can I inspect the property?
Chapter 558 gives the recipient of a notice the right to inspect the claimed defect. Use it, with your own people and on your own terms, before anyone else frames the condition. We coordinate the inspection and document what is found.
What if the defect was a subcontractor’s work?
The statute lets a contractor who receives a notice pass it down to the subcontractor or supplier responsible for that part of the work. Doing that promptly protects your position and brings their insurance into the picture. We handle that step as part of the response.
Do I need a lawyer for the pre-suit stage?
The pre-suit stage is where the claim is either resolved or shaped for litigation, and your written response is evidence in any case that follows. A response drafted by defense counsel addresses the claim without conceding it. That is the point at which legal help has the most effect on the outcome.
What is a Chapter 558 notice?
Florida law requires anyone claiming a construction defect to notify the contractor in writing and give them a chance to inspect and fix the problem before filing a lawsuit. That requirement is Chapter 558.
Who serves a Chapter 558 notice?
The party claiming the defect serves it. That is often a property owner or a community association, and the notice goes to the contractor, subcontractor, supplier or design professional whose work is said to be defective.
What happens if a construction defect suit is filed without a Chapter 558 notice?
In Moss & Associates, LLC v. Peterson, the Third District Court of Appeal held that when Chapter 558 applies, the trial court has no discretion: the case must be stayed until the notice requirements are met.
Does calling the claim negligence avoid Chapter 558?
The Third District held that Chapter 558 applies to what the claim is actually about, not what the plaintiff calls it. Calling defective work negligence does not take it outside the statute.
Does a stay make the claim go away?
No. A stay pauses the litigation and returns the dispute to the process the statute was built for: written notice of the specific defects, the right to inspect, and the opportunity to repair or offer settlement before anyone spends money on litigation.
Who does HD Law Partners represent in construction disputes?
The firm represents general contractors, subcontractors, developers, suppliers, property owners, and community associations, and handles Chapter 558 matters from the notice stage through trial.
What should I do first if my company is sued over its work?
Check whether a Chapter 558 notice was ever served and whether the inspection and cure period ran; consider a motion to stay; and preserve the project record now, including contracts, change orders, inspection reports, correspondence and photographs.
Chapter 558, explained
What a Chapter 558 notice is
Florida law requires anyone claiming a construction defect to notify the contractor in writing and give them a chance to inspect and fix the problem before filing a lawsuit. That is Chapter 558.
The notice comes from the party claiming the defect — often a property owner or a community association — and goes to the business whose work is said to be defective. It has to describe the claimed defects in writing rather than assert a problem in general terms, and serving it opens a period in which the recipient may inspect the work and respond.
The process exists so the parties can look at the claimed defect and try to resolve it before anyone spends money on litigation.
The Chapter 558 sequence
The statute sets out an order of events that runs before a defect suit can proceed.
The statute also fixes how long each step runs, and the periods differ depending on the nature of the project. Those timing requirements are not set out here. If you are holding a notice, or think one should have been served, the dates on your documents are the place to start.
-
Written notice of the claimed defects
The party claiming a defect must describe in writing what they say is wrong with the work.
-
Opportunity to inspect
The recipient may inspect the claimed defect and see the condition for themselves.
-
Written response
The recipient responds to the notice, stating whether it disputes the claim and what, if anything, it proposes to do.
-
Repair or settlement offer
The process allows for an offer to remedy the work, to resolve the claim by payment, or both.
-
Suit, only if the process does not resolve it
Litigation follows only where the statutory process has run and the dispute remains.
What the Third District held in Moss v. Peterson
In Moss & Associates, LLC v. Peterson, 406 So. 3d 344 (Fla. 3d DCA 2025), a condominium unit owner skipped that step. He sued Moss & Associates, the general contractor, for negligence over water intrusion he attributed to construction and repair work. Moss asked the trial court to pause the case until the owner complied with the statute. The trial court refused.
The Third District Court of Appeal reversed. It held that Chapter 558 applies to what the claim is actually about, not what the plaintiff calls it. Calling defective work “negligence” does not take it outside the statute. And the appellate court held that when Chapter 558 applies, the trial court has no discretion: the case must be stayed until the notice requirements are met.
HD Law Partners was not counsel of record in the matter discussed. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
What it means for your business
If your company is sued over its work and the plaintiff never served a Chapter 558 notice, you may be entitled to put the litigation on hold. That forces the dispute back into the process the statute was built for: written notice of the specific defects, your right to inspect, and your opportunity to repair or offer settlement before anyone spends money on litigation.
That matters for two reasons. Litigation is expensive from day one, and a stay pushes those costs back or off the table entirely if the settlement and repair process resolves the claim. And the inspection gives you a look at the claimed defect on your own terms, with your own people, before an expert retained by the other side frames it for a jury.
What to do first
Three things to do when a defect suit lands.
Check whether a notice was ever served
Before anything else, check whether a Chapter 558 notice was ever served and whether the inspection and cure period ran.
Consider a motion to stay
Consider a motion to stay, as courts should enforce the Chapter 558 process.
Preserve the project record now
Contracts, change orders, inspection reports, correspondence about the claimed defect, and photographs. The 558 process is an inspection process, and you want to walk into it with the file complete.