Construction Claim Rules in Florida

Statutory interest rate

8.06% / year (effective Jul 1, 2026 through Sep 30, 2026)

The Chief Financial Officer sets the rate quarterly, with new rates taking effect Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1 and Oct 1 each year (the CFO publishes each new rate roughly a month ahead, around Dec 1, Mar 1, Jun 1 and Sep 1). Has ranged roughly 8%-9.5% over the past two years, trending downward from a 9.50% peak in late 2024.

Compounding: Not confirmed this pass

Citation: Fla. Stat. § 55.03

Source: https://www.myfloridacfo.com/division/aa/audits-reports/judgment-interest-rates

Last checked: 2026-08-23

Confirmed against the Florida CFO judgment interest rate page and corroborated by a Florida Bar News notice; current published rate is 8.06% for the quarter beginning Jul 1, 2026, unchanged from the prior research pass. Correction from prior entry: the CFO's quarterly rates take effect on calendar-quarter starts (Jan 1, Apr 1, Jul 1, Oct 1), not Dec 1/Mar 1/Jun 1/Sep 1 as previously noted; those dates are closer to when the CFO announces the upcoming rate. No Oct 1, 2026 rate has been published yet as of this check. Compounding was not independently confirmed against primary statutory text this pass.

Accrual: breach of contract claim

Measured as of the breach date, but courts have equitable discretion to pick a different trigger date

Repair/replacement damages are typically measured as of the breach date, but Florida courts (e.g., Broward County v. Finlayson) recognize an equitable exception letting the court choose a different date, such as substantial completion, when that produces a fairer result.

Citation: Broward County v. Finlayson, 555 So. 2d 1211 (Fla. 1990); Argonaut Ins. Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1985)

Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1985/65738-0.html

The link goes to Argonaut, the seminal case both rely on and the one with a free full-text copy available. A free, directly-linkable full-text copy of Finlayson itself wasn't found this pass; the exact accrual date can genuinely move based on case facts and this is one of the more court-discretion-dependent entries in this batch.

Accrual: property damage / tort claim

From date of loss ('loss theory'), once a verdict liquidates the damages amount

Under Florida's 'loss theory,' once a verdict fixes damages as of a prior date, prejudgment interest follows from that date as a matter of law, not judicial discretion. The Florida Supreme Court reasoned the loss itself is a wrongful deprivation of the plaintiff's property from that date forward.

Citation: Argonaut Ins. Co. v. May Plumbing Co., 474 So. 2d 212 (Fla. 1985)

Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1985/65738-0.html

This case-law rule applies to property damage/tort claims; personal-injury awards are excluded per the same opinion.

Actual Cash Value rule

Broad evidence rule (with a statutory wrinkle on labor)

Common-law broad evidence rule generally, but Fla. Stat. §627.7011 adds specific requirements when a replacement-cost policy's ACV valuation depreciates labor costs.

Citation: New York Central Mutual Fire Ins. Co. v. Diaks, 69 So. 2d 786 (Fla. 1954); Fla. Stat. § 627.7011

Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/florida/supreme-court/1954/69-so-2d-786-0.html

The case name was corrected in a follow-up verification pass; an earlier version of this entry had it as 'Dikis,' but the actual party name in the Florida Supreme Court's own reporter is 'Diaks.' The link above goes directly to the free, full opinion text on Justia.

ACV statute or regulation

No insurance-code statute defines ACV or restricts labor depreciation, the rule comes from case law.

Florida has no statute that defines actual cash value or restricts depreciation of labor. The controlling authority is case law: the Florida Supreme Court held in Trinidad v. Florida Peninsula Insurance Co., 121 So. 3d 433 (Fla. 2013), that overhead, profit and labor may be depreciated the same as materials when an insurer calculates ACV under a policy that defines ACV using the broad evidence rule or leaves it undefined. Florida Statute 627.7011 regulates how and when replacement cost benefits are paid but does not itself define ACV or address labor depreciation.

Citation: Trinidad v. Fla. Peninsula Ins. Co., 121 So. 3d 433 (Fla. 2013); Fla. Stat. 627.7011

Source: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/627.7011

Recoverable depreciation holdback

Florida statute regulates payout timing directly: total losses get full RCV with no depreciation holdback, and partial losses get remaining funds paid as repair work is performed.

Florida Statute 627.7011(3) requires that on a dwelling policy providing replacement cost coverage, the insurer must initially pay at least the ACV of the loss, less any deductible, and must then pay the remaining amounts necessary to complete repairs as work is performed and expenses are incurred. If a total loss of the dwelling occurs, the insurer must pay the full replacement cost coverage without reservation or holdback of any depreciation in value. A separate exception allows the insurer to withhold the roof portion at ACV until it receives reasonable proof the policyholder paid the roof deductible.

Citation: Fla. Stat. 627.7011(3)

Source: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/627.7011

“No damages for delay” clause enforceability

Generally enforceable, with an active-interference/bad-faith exception

Florida courts hold that a no-damages-for-delay clause won't be enforced in the face of governmental fraud, bad faith, or active interference with the contractor's performance. In a case applying this exception, a county's extension of a work suspension well beyond the contract's own suspension limit, even after being told it was safe to resume, counted as active interference defeating the clause.

Citation: Sarasota County v. Southern Underground Industries, Inc., 333 So. 3d 285 (Fla. 2d DCA 2022)

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-district-court-of-appeal/2158971.html

A free, directly-linkable full-text copy of this 2022 Second District Court of Appeal opinion wasn't located this pass; the holding is drawn from a secondary summary rather than the primary opinion text. Confirm the exact language before relying on it in a filing.

Construction contract filing deadline

5 years for an action founded on a written instrument

Florida's limitations statute sets a 5-year period for a legal or equitable action on a contract, obligation, or liability founded on a written instrument, which covers an ordinary written construction contract claim.

Citation: Fla. Stat. § 95.11(2)(b)

Source: https://codes.findlaw.com/fl/title-viii-limitations/fl-st-sect-95-11/

State unemployment insurance (SUTA)

Florida's new-employer reemployment tax rate is 2.7% on the first $7,000 in wages per employee.

New employers pay a flat 2.7% rate for their first 10 quarters of liability. After that period, experience-rated employers pay anywhere from 0.1% (the statutory floor) to 5.4% (the statutory ceiling) depending on their benefit-charge history. The taxable wage base is $7,000 per employee per year, one of the lowest in the country and unchanged for many years.

Citation: Florida Reemployment Assistance Program Law, Florida Department of Revenue

Source: https://floridarevenue.com/taxes/taxesfees/Pages/rt_rate.aspx

Last checked: 2026-08-26

Rate and wage base confirmed for 2026 against the Florida Department of Revenue's own rate page. Florida's wage base has stayed at $7,000 for many years but should still be reconfirmed each year against the live source. Confirmed directly against the official Florida Department of Revenue rate page (floridarevenue.com).

Workers' compensation rating

Florida uses NCCI advisory rates rather than its own rating bureau.

Workers' compensation loss costs and classifications in Florida are developed by the National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) and filed with the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) for approval each year. Individual carriers then apply their own loss-cost multipliers on top of the approved NCCI figures. This is the standard advisory-rate structure used by most states, not an independent state bureau or monopolistic fund.

Citation: NCCI Florida State Advisory Forum, Florida Office of Insurance Regulation

Source: https://www.ncci.com/Articles/Documents/II_StateAdvisoryForumState_FL_2025.pdf

Prevailing wage law

Florida has no state prevailing-wage law, having repealed its version in 1979.

Florida's Little Davis-Bacon Act was repealed by the state legislature in 1979 and has not been reinstated. Public construction contracts let by Florida state or local government agencies are not subject to a state-mandated prevailing wage, only the federal Davis-Bacon Act applies, and only when federal funds are involved. Contractors should not assume a state prevailing-wage rate applies on purely state or locally funded work.

Citation: Repealed; U.S. Department of Labor state prevailing wage summary

Source: https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/state/prevailing-wages

OSHA plan

Federal OSHA (no state plan)

Florida has no OSHA-approved state plan; both public and private employers fall under federal OSHA jurisdiction.

Citation: 29 U.S.C. § 667 (State Plan roster)

Source: https://www.osha.gov/stateplans

Weight of an OSHA violation in a negligence case

Florida's high court has not addressed this directly, but its official civil jury instructions establish that OSHA violations constitute some evidence of negligence, not negligence per se.

The Florida Supreme Court's Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases confirm that OSHA violations are treated as some evidence of a party's negligence for the jury to weigh, consistent with the majority 'evidence, not per se' rule used by most states.

Citation: In re Standard Jury Instructions in Civil Cases-Report No. 09-01, 35 So. 3d 666, 687-88 (Fla. 2010).

Source: https://storage.googleapis.com/jnl-bcls-j-bclr-files/journals/1/articles/232/63a30c0a100a2.pdf

RESEARCHED via a comprehensive, exhaustively-footnoted 2020 Boston College Law Review survey of all 50 states + DC on this exact question, cross-checked against the underlying case for accuracy where feasible.

Third-party contribution against the employer

Qualifying statutory employers get substantial immunity in Florida; non-statutory-employer third parties are reached via premises liability, negligent activity, retained control, negligent undertaking, dangerous-instrumentality, products, or vehicle theories.

Whether a defendant qualifies as a statutory employer is the threshold question before any of the other third-party theories apply.

Citation: Fla. Stat. ch. 440; Jones v. Gulf Coast Newspapers, Inc., 595 So.2d 90 (Fla. 1992).

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-supreme-court/1094589.html

Source: attorney research manual (Construction Injury Law national volumes), self-marked "Draft; verify current law and citator status." Case citations are representative authorities from that manual, not independently re-verified against a citator by ClaimDuke.

Injury-severity gate on contribution claims

Immunity can be pierced only via the narrow statutory intentional-tort exception, which requires more than ordinary negligence or a safety-rule violation.

Fla. Stat. ch. 440 generally gives employers and qualifying statutory employers substantial immunity. The statutory intentional-tort exception is narrow and requires more than ordinary negligence or safety-rule violations.

Citation: Fla. Stat. ch. 440; Jones v. Gulf Coast Newspapers, Inc., 595 So.2d 90 (Fla. 1992).

Source: https://caselaw.findlaw.com/court/fl-supreme-court/1094589.html

Source: attorney research manual (Construction Injury Law national volumes), self-marked "Draft; verify current law and citator status." Case citations are representative authorities from that manual, not independently re-verified against a citator by ClaimDuke.

Distinctive state doctrine

Vertical/horizontal statutory-employer immunity (see thirdPartyContribution) (the standout Florida-specific mechanism)

See thirdPartyContribution above; this is treated as both the contribution rule and the distinctive doctrine for Florida since the two are the same mechanism.

Citation: Fla. Stat. §§ 440.10, 440.11

Source: https://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2025/440.11