To fill out and file a Notice of Commencement, you complete your county’s official form with the property, owner, contractor, lender, and surety details, sign it in front of a notary, record it with the county recorder or clerk of court where the property sits, and then post a certified copy at the construction site. The document goes on the public record before work begins, and it sets the framework for how subcontractors and suppliers must give you notice if they intend to preserve lien rights. The specifics vary by state, so pull your jurisdiction’s form and rules before you start.
What to Gather Before You Start
Chasing a missing detail halfway through the form is how errors creep in, and errors on a recorded notice can create real legal exposure. Have everything in front of you first.
- Your full legal name as it appears on the deed, your mailing address, and your ownership interest (fee simple owner, lessee, and so on).
- The formal legal description of the property from the deed or tax records — subdivision, lot and block, or section/township/range. The street address alone is not enough. Your county property appraiser’s website usually has it.
- The general contractor’s full legal name, business address, and phone number. If you’re doing the work yourself, you’ll list “owner-builder.”
- The lender’s name and address, if the project is financed.
- The surety’s name, address, and bond amount if a payment bond has been obtained. You may need to attach a copy of the bond.
- A brief description of the work and the total estimated cost, including both labor and materials.
Get the form itself from your county clerk, recorder’s office, or local building department. Many counties post fillable versions online. Use the local form rather than a generic template, because some recording offices reject documents that don’t match their required format.
Filling Out Each Section
Property Description
Enter the full legal description from your deed. It reads something like “Lot 14, Block 3, Sunshine Estates, as recorded in Plat Book 42, Page 16, Public Records of [County].” Most forms also ask for the street address; include both. If the legal description won’t fit, attach it on a separate page and note on the form that the description is attached. Add the tax folio or parcel identification number if the form has a field for it, since it helps the recording office index the document.
Owner Information
List every owner named on the deed, with each owner’s mailing address, and specify the type of ownership interest. If two people are on the deed, both names go on the form even if only one signs. If you’re a lessee who contracted for the improvements rather than the fee simple owner, say so and list the fee simple titleholder’s name and address separately.
Contractor Information
Enter the general contractor’s full legal business name and address. If there’s no general contractor because you’re running the project yourself, write “owner-builder” or “owner/builder” in this section. Don’t leave it blank. An empty contractor field raises questions at the recording office and confuses subcontractors and suppliers who need to know who’s running the job.
Lender and Surety Information
List the lending institution’s name and mailing address if a bank or other lender is financing construction. If there’s no construction loan, mark the section “N/A” or “none.” Handle the surety section the same way: if a payment bond exists, provide the surety company’s name, address, and the bond amount, and attach a copy of the bond. If there’s no bond, say so clearly. Errors or omissions here can prevent subcontractors from properly serving required notices, which affects lien priority later.
Project Description and Value
Describe the work in plain, specific terms. “Construction of a new single-family residence” or “interior renovation of existing retail space” is the right level of detail. Vague phrases like “improvements to property” don’t help anyone. Enter the total estimated cost as a specific dollar figure covering labor and materials.
Project Dates
Most forms ask for an anticipated start date and an estimated completion date. Be realistic about completion. In some states the Notice of Commencement expires based on the timeline stated in the document, and an optimistic date can cause the notice to lapse before work actually finishes.
Signing and Notarizing
The property owner signs the Notice of Commencement. In most jurisdictions someone else cannot sign on your behalf; the law is strict on this point. A notary public must witness the signature and notarize the document, and many county offices will not accept the filing without proper notarization. Some states now allow remote online notarization if you can’t appear in person.
If the property has multiple owners, check your state’s rule. Some states require all owners to sign; others accept one signature. Even where one is enough, name every owner on the form itself.
Recording and Posting the Notice
Take the signed, notarized original to the county recorder’s office or clerk of court in the county where the property is located and have it officially recorded. Recording is what puts the document into the public record. Fees vary by county but generally run between $25 and $65 for the first page, with a small per-page charge after that. Some counties charge a flat fee. Call the recorder’s office or check its website for the exact amount before you go.
After recording, most states require you to post a certified copy of the notice at the construction site in a visible location, or post a notarized statement confirming it was recorded along with a copy. This is the step people most often skip, and it matters. The posted notice is how subcontractors and suppliers learn who owns the property, who the general contractor is, and whether a payment bond exists. That information is what tells them where to send their own required notices to preserve lien rights. Keeping the notice posted for the entire project is your ongoing responsibility as the owner.
Give copies to the general contractor and to any subcontractors or suppliers who ask. Making the notice easy to get reduces the chance that someone sends required paperwork to the wrong party, which can lead to disputed lien claims.
What Happens If You Skip It or Get It Wrong
Not filing when your state requires it doesn’t strip subcontractors and suppliers of their lien rights. It has the opposite effect. A properly recorded notice normally triggers a requirement that potential lien claimants serve preliminary notices on the owner and contractor within a set window. Without a recorded notice, those preliminary notice requirements may not apply, and you lose the early warning system that tells you who’s on the job and expects to be paid. The practical consequence is exposure to double payment: if your general contractor collects from you but doesn’t pay a sub, that sub can lien your property.
Errors on the form cause a different problem. Listing a tenant as the owner, misspelling the contractor’s name, or giving the wrong lender address can all undermine the notice. When subcontractors rely on bad information to serve their notices, those notices may be deemed defective, which can invalidate their lien rights. In some states, an owner who filed inaccurate information can be held liable for the resulting losses, including attorney’s fees incurred by parties who lost lien rights because of it. Triple-check every name, address, and legal description before recording.
Keeping the Notice Current and Closing It Out
A Notice of Commencement doesn’t last forever. Expiration periods vary widely: some states set a one-year default, others allow up to four or five years, and a few impose no expiration at all. The clock usually starts on the recording date, not when construction begins. In at least one state, if construction doesn’t begin within 90 days of recording, the notice automatically becomes void. If the project runs past the notice’s effective period, record a new or amended notice to keep coverage continuous.
When the work is finished, record a Notice of Termination to close out the original. This separate document goes on the public record, signals that the project is complete, and starts a deadline for any remaining lien claims. It typically must be notarized and recorded with the same county office. Before recording it, confirm that all lienors have been paid or otherwise addressed, because premature termination while bills are outstanding can cause more problems than it solves. A Notice of Termination is also the right step when a project is abandoned or canceled, or when ownership changes hands mid-construction. Leaving a stale notice on the public record is a loose end that can complicate future transactions.
If You’re an Owner-Builder
If you’re managing the project yourself without a general contractor, you still file a Notice of Commencement wherever your state requires one. Fill it out the same way, but list yourself as both the owner and the contractor, written as “owner-builder” or “owner/builder” in the contractor section. Complete the legal description, lender information, surety details, and project description normally. Because you’re the one hiring subcontractors and suppliers directly, a properly filed notice is what tells everyone you hire exactly who to contact and what notice requirements apply before they can assert lien rights against your property.