How to get paid faster as a Florida contractor
Review this period's completed and stored work, confirm the payment summary, and keep submitted pay applications on today's follow-up list. A separate candidate lien worksheet keeps dates ready for team review.
What you will do
- Document completed work
- Prepare a clear payment request
- Watch the dates that protect collection
Why slow cash is the real squeeze on a Florida trade contractor
- Hand-built G702/G703 pay apps get kicked back over one wrong retainage line or a schedule that does not sum.
- Finished, stored work goes un-invoiced across multiple jobs because no single list shows what is billable.
- Billed draws age in silence while you float payroll against invoices nobody remembered to chase.
- Generic invoicing tools do not know Florida caps retainage on public work, or when payment is legally due.
For a 5 to 75 person Florida roofing, HVAC, plumbing, or electrical shop, the gap between finishing the work and seeing the cash is where the business gets squeezed. You floated the materials and the payroll; the draw is out; and now you are waiting.
Hand-building a G702/G703 pay application in a spreadsheet each month is error-prone. One retainage line that is wrong, or a schedule of values that does not sum, and the GC kicks the whole application back. That is another billing cycle lost on work you already did.
Finished, stored work piles up across three jobs at once. Without a single list of what is billable right now, real money sits on the table because nobody got around to writing the pay app. And once a draw does go out, 45 days can pass while you float payroll against an invoice nobody remembered to chase.
Florida law does not mandate one pay-application format, but it does regulate prompt-payment timing and caps retainage on public work. Billing in the format GCs expect, and knowing the deadlines the money is owed by, is how you pull receivables forward instead of chasing them.
How FL Permit Pay helps you get paid faster
- 1
Review the work in this payment request
Read the scheduled value, this-period work, stored materials, total completed, percent complete, and remaining balance for each line.
- 2
Confirm the current payment due
Compare the amount currently due with completed and stored work, retainage, previous certificates, and the remaining contract balance before the draft moves forward.
- 3
Keep the submitted pay application on today's list
The sample priority queue keeps Pay App #4 visible with its amount and submitted age. It shows a follow-up item, not proof that payment is late or that collection occurred.
- 4
Review candidate lien dates separately
Use the lien worksheet to prepare the candidate deadline chain from the job facts your team enters. The worksheet is preparation evidence only, not proof of filing, service, or a legal conclusion.
The Florida rules behind it, sourced
- Florida caps retainage on public work and FL Permit Pay cites the section: 5% on state public construction (Fla. Stat. § 255.078, which does not apply under $200,000) and 5% on local-government work with a small-entity 10% allowance (Fla. Stat. § 218.735). Private work stays contract-driven, not statutorily capped (Fla. Stat. § 715.12). These are surfaced as sourced cautions, not silent blocks, because the statutes have real exceptions; confirm eligibility yourself. Not legal advice.
- On local-government public jobs, the Local Government Prompt Payment Act sets when the money is due: 20 business days after a proper invoice, or 25 business days if third-party approval is required, and a contractor must pay subs within 10 days of receiving funds (Fla. Stat. § 218.735). What counts as a proper invoice is defined by your contract, not a universal template, so confirm it against the agreement.
- AIA G702/G703 is the de-facto industry format, not a format Florida law mandates. FL Permit Pay computes the standard pay-application math on its own template. The current-payment-due figure is incremental: it is this period's earned-less-retainage minus what was previously certified.
- Online payment availability depends on account activation. When it is available, funds settle into your connected account. FL Permit Pay does not lend, advance, or factor money.
Common questions
Does Florida cap how much retainage a contractor can hold back?
It depends on the project type. On state public construction, retainage is capped at 5% of each progress payment under Fla. Stat. § 255.078 (which does not apply if the total construction cost is $200,000 or less). On local-government public work, the cap is also 5% under Fla. Stat. § 218.735, with a 10% allowance for small municipalities and counties. On private projects, retainage is contract-driven and not statutorily capped (Fla. Stat. § 715.12), where market practice is commonly 5 to 10%. Confirm the figure against your contract and the statute; this is not legal advice.
When is payment legally due on a Florida public construction job?
Under the Local Government Prompt Payment Act (Fla. Stat. § 218.735), payment on a local-government job is generally due within 20 business days after the entity receives a proper invoice, or 25 business days if a third-party agent must approve it. A contractor who receives that payment must then pay its subs within 10 days. What counts as a proper invoice is defined by the contract, so confirm the terms before relying on the timer.
What is the difference between an invoice and a pay application?
A plain invoice usually suffices for small, fixed-price, service, repair, time-and-materials, or residential work where the owner does not require AIA forms. A pay application (typically AIA G702 plus the G703 continuation sheet) is used when the contract requires progress billing against a schedule of values, common on larger commercial, public, or lender-financed jobs. FL Permit Pay generates the G702/G703 pay-application format for the jobs that need it.
How fast can a contractor actually collect a pay application?
Bill in the format the GC expects, review the totals before sending, and offer online payment when it is active for your account. On public work, statutory prompt-payment timers, including the 20 to 25 business days under Fla. Stat. § 218.735, may apply. Confirm the contract and project type before relying on a timer.
Put the guide to work.
See how FL Permit Pay turns reviewed field progress into a pay application on the Get Paid page, and keep supported collection deadlines visible with Lien Protection.