A notice of furnishing is a written notice that a subcontractor, material supplier, or (in some places) laborer sends to the property owner at the start of a construction job to announce they are providing labor or materials. Sending it on time is what preserves the right to file a mechanic’s lien later if the bill goes unpaid. If you have no direct contract with the owner, you almost certainly need to send one, and the deadline is usually measured in days from your first day on the project.
Who Must Send One
The requirement generally applies to anyone contributing to a project who does not have a contract directly with the property owner. In practice, that means:
- Subcontractors hired by the general contractor or by another subcontractor.
- Material suppliers delivering to the site under an agreement with a contractor rather than with the owner.
- Individual laborers owed wages, in some jurisdictions. The deadlines and form for laborers can differ from those for subcontractors and suppliers.
Parties with a direct contract with the owner usually do not need to send the notice. The general contractor’s own contract establishes their presence on the project and their lien rights. A supplier contracting straight with the owner is commonly exempt as well. Rules vary by state, so verify your tier before assuming you are off the hook.
Why This Notice Protects Your Right to Get Paid
The owner hires a general contractor, who hires subcontractors and suppliers. The owner may never meet the people actually doing the work, but under mechanic’s lien law those lower-tier parties can place a claim against the property if they go unpaid. The notice bridges that gap: once the owner knows every company contributing to the job, the owner can request lien waivers, scrutinize payment applications, and in some states pay lower-tier parties directly when needed.
Without the notice, an owner could pay the general contractor in full and still face liens from unpaid subs and suppliers, ending up paying twice for the same work. The notice puts the owner on alert so that doesn’t happen, and it is the price of admission for your lien rights if a dispute arises.
Other Names You May See It Under
The same document goes by different names depending on the state. You may see it called a preliminary notice, notice to owner, notice to contractor, notice of right to lien, or pre-lien notice. The function is the same across all of them. When you look up your obligations, search for the term your state actually uses so you find the right form and the right deadline.
What Goes in the Notice
Your starting point is usually the project’s notice of commencement. The owner or general contractor files that document with the county recorder and often posts it at the job site. It lists the owner, the legal property description, the general contractor, and any designated agent authorized to receive notices. If you can’t find a copy, many states let you request one in writing, and the owner or agent must respond within a set window, often around 10 days.
A notice of furnishing typically needs to include:
- The legal description or street address of the property, matching the notice of commencement.
- The name and address of the owner (or lessee, if the lessee hired the work), and any designated agent.
- Your own name and address as the party furnishing labor or materials.
- The name of the party that hired you — the general contractor if you’re a first-tier sub, or the subcontractor above you if you’re further down the chain.
- A general description of the work you’re performing or the materials you’re supplying.
- In some states, the probable contract amount or estimated value of your labor and materials.
Get the details right. A misspelled owner name, a wrong address, or the wrong contracting party can create grounds to challenge the notice. Treat the notice of commencement as the source of truth and copy from it.
When You Have to Send It
Most states that require the notice set a deadline measured from the day you first provide labor or deliver materials. Common windows run from 20 to 30 days, and some states give you longer. The deadline depends on where the project is, not where your business is based, and it can differ for subs, suppliers, and laborers. Confirm the exact number for your jurisdiction before you count.
Missing the deadline doesn’t always wipe out your lien rights entirely, but it hurts. In many states, a late notice limits your lien to labor or materials provided within a set lookback window before service, plus anything furnished afterward. Everything earlier becomes unprotectable. For a sub who has been on the job for weeks before realizing the notice was required, that can mean losing the lien for the most valuable part of the work already done. Calendar the deadline from your very first day on site.
How to Deliver It and Prove You Did
Two delivery methods are generally accepted:
- Certified mail with return receipt. This is the usual choice. The return receipt gives you third-party proof the notice was sent and either delivered or attempted. In most states, service is complete on the date of mailing, not the date of receipt.
- Personal delivery. You or a process server hand the notice to the owner, general contractor, or designated agent and get a signed acknowledgment. Immediate proof, but you have to reach the person.
Keep every scrap of documentation: the certified mail receipt, the return card, the signed acknowledgment. If you later file a lien, you’ll have to prove you served the notice on time and to the right party, and these records are the proof.
Third-party notice services will research the project, prepare the form, and handle mailing for a fee. On a large job with a complicated contracting chain they can be worth it, but the legal responsibility for timely, accurate service stays with you.
Mistakes That Can Void the Notice
Courts have thrown out notices for errors that look small but are treated as fatal. Watch for these:
- Insufficient postage. If the postal service returns the envelope and you re-mail it, you may now be past the deadline. Courts have held that mailing a notice means mailing it with enough postage to actually arrive.
- Wrong recipient. Serving the general contractor when the statute requires service on the owner’s designated agent, or the reverse, can void the notice. The notice of commencement tells you who gets served.
- Inaccurate property description. Many states apply a substantial-compliance standard, so a clerical typo won’t necessarily sink an otherwise valid notice. But a description that fails to identify the correct property can, especially if the error prejudiced someone.
- Late service. A single day past the deadline can cost you lien rights for work performed before the lookback window.
Substantial compliance can forgive some mistakes. It does not forgive ignoring the statute. When the rules are specific about form or delivery, follow them exactly.
Public Projects Use Payment Bonds Instead
Mechanic’s liens don’t attach to government-owned property, so a notice of furnishing isn’t the right tool on public jobs. On federal projects, the Miller Act requires the prime contractor to post a payment bond for contracts over $100,000, with other payment protections for contracts between $30,000 and $100,000.1GSA. The Miller Act Subs and suppliers who go unpaid make a claim against that bond rather than filing a lien. Most states have their own “Little Miller Act” bonding statutes for state and local public work, with their own deadlines and thresholds. If your project is public, check the bonding rules for that jurisdiction instead of relying on lien procedure.
If You Miss the Deadline
Blowing the notice deadline removes the mechanic’s lien from your toolkit, but it doesn’t necessarily leave you with nothing:
- Breach of contract. You can sue the party that hired you for failing to pay. The claim depends on your contract, not on lien rights.
- Unjust enrichment. Some states let a sub or supplier pursue the owner directly on the theory that the owner received the benefit of unpaid labor or materials.
- Payment bond claims. If the project is bonded, whether public or private, the bond may be your route to recovery.
These alternatives are real, but they’re not as strong as a lien. A lien is secured by the property itself, which gives you leverage when the owner wants to sell or refinance. A money judgment on a breach claim still has to be collected, and that collection can be slow if the party who owes you has no money. The practical lesson is the same one the deadline implies: send the notice on time, to the right person, with proof of service, and keep your lien rights intact.