New Florida Law Prompt Processing of Change Orders

Effective July 1, 2025, Florida Statute 218.755 Prompt Processing of Change Orders went into effect after House Bill 683 passed. It’s a strong step forward in reducing unnecessary change order delays and improving cash flow on public projects. 

218.755 Prompt Processing of Change Orders:

• For any contract for construction services entered into on or after July 1, 2025, if a local governmental entity receives from its contractor a price quote for a change order requested or issued by the local governmental entity for construction services, and the price quote conforms to all statutory requirements and contractual requirements for the project, the local governmental entity must approve or deny the price quote and send written notice of that decision to the contractor within 35 days after receipt of such quote. 
• A denial notice must specify the alleged deficiencies in the price quote and the actions necessary to remedy those deficiencies. 
• If the local governmental entity fails to provide the contractor with a notice in compliance with this section, the change order and price quote are deemed approved, and the local governmental entity must pay the contractor the amount stated in the price quote upon the completion of the change order. 
• A contract between a local governmental entity and a contractor may not alter the local governmental entity’s duties under this section. 

In the past, public contracts generally allow a government owner or its representative to request written changes in the work, but they were not obligated to accept or approve a contractor’s proposal.

In practice, this meant contractors often submitted change order proposals, incurred estimating and administrative costs, and then waited, sometimes indefinitely, without payment or formal approval. Even when proposals were submitted, they only became binding once signed by both the contractor and the public entity, often requiring board-level approval unless delegated to staff under a certain threshold. 

Florida Statute 218.755 changes that dynamic. It places a firm deadline on local governments to respond within 35 days to contractor-submitted change order quotes that comply with the contract and law. This creates a more reliable and fair process, aligning with the payment protections already in place for pay applications.

Key Considerations for Contractors: 

1.) Be sure that price quotes comply with the contract’s specific change order pricing method (e.g., avoid lump sum pricing if the contract only allows cost-plus or unit pricing) per the statute requirement. 

2.) When does the clock start? This is not clearly defined in the statute like it is in other prompt pay statutes. For example, Section 218.735(2) defines the date of receipt as the date the invoice or payment request is stamped as received. For change order quotes, the date received may be defined in the contract, local ordinances or already established procedures and clarification may need to be requested from Gov entity in writing.

We encourage you to review this law with your legal counsel to understand how to take full advantage of it. We hope this change is a strong step forward in reducing unnecessary delays and improving cash flow on public projects for you. 

Sources:

 Chapter 2025-140, Laws of Florida (HB 683)

 New Fla. Stat. §218.755 – Prompt Processing of Change Orders