A Preliminary Notice is a construction notice that subcontractors, equipment lessors, and material suppliers must send at the start of a construction job in order to secure their lien and/or bond claim rights.
43 states have a required notice in order to secure Lien and Bond Claim rights. Every state has different Preliminary Notice deadline. Does your state require a Preliminary Notice? Check it out on the map below, along with specified deadlines.
In Florida, you have forty five (45) days from the first day of furnishing materials and/or labor for a Notice to Owner to be received.
In California, a Preliminary Notice (also known as a pre-lien) should be sent within twenty (20) days from your start date on the project.
A Preliminary 20-Day Lien Notice should be sent within twenty (20) days after the commencement or furnishing labor and/or material to the project. A Preliminary 20-Day Lien Notice requires you to have an estimated contract amount.
For commercial projects 3rd Month Fund Trapping Notice is statutory but sending a 2nd Month Notice is recommended. For private residential projects, a Residential Notice Letter to Owner and Original Contractor to Trap Funds is mandatory to secure lien rights. For state/county projects a 3rd Month Bond Claim Notice is required and sending a2nd Month Bond Notice is recommended.
In Georgia, a Notice to Contract should be sent thirty (30) days from the recording of a Notice of Commencement of Improvement which is recorded by the Original Contractor or within thirty (30 ) days of first furnishing. It is required by law to secure lien rights for private and public projects with the exception of federal projects.
Some states require you to send a Preliminary Notice within a specific period of time in order to secure your lien and/or bond claim rights.
Preliminary Notices are named differently in different states. For example, in Florida a preliminary notice is called a Notice to Owner (NTO), in Texas it's called a Fund Trapping notice, and in Georgia it's called a Notice to Contractor.
To send a preliminary notice, you need to have your job information like the job address, your first day on the job, the company/person that hired you and the contract amount.
Once you have the information ready with you, sign up to send your preliminary notice in less than 5 minutes. Once your account is active, you can put in all the information and submit your request in a few steps. Easy peasy!
A dedicated account manager from SunRay will be assigned to send your preliminary notice within 5 business days.
Frequently asked questions on preliminary notice or pre-lien
