Any subcontractor, supplier, or equipment lessor who didn’t contract directly with the property owner must send a Notice of Intent to Lien prior to filing a Connecticut mechanics lien.

A Connecticut Notice of Intent to Lien must be sent anytime after first furnishing labor and/or materials to the project but within 90 days of the claimant’s last date of furnishing labor and/or materials to the project – and that deadline is strict.

Note that the deadline to file a lien in Connecticut is also 90 days from the last date of furnishing, and given the serving this notice can be tricky in CT, best practice is to start the process safely before that deadline.

• See: How should the Connecticut Notice of Intent to Lien be served?

The property owner must always receive a Notice of Intent to Lien in Connecticut. Keep in mind, that if there is more than one property owner, all owners must be served to be valid.

In most circumstances, the general contractor should be served a Notice of Intent to Lien as well. This is only required if the general contractor filed an affidavit within 15 days of commencement of the work listing their business name, address, and project property description.

Practically, though, it’s probably a good idea to send a Notice of Intent to Lien to both the owner and the GC on every project. And, if there are other higher-tiered parties who should be aware of the debt, it may be a good idea to send a copy to them as well.

Connecticut’s lien statute doesn’t provide a lot of insight into what, exactly, should be on the notice. It really only calls for the notice to state that the claimant “has furnished or commenced to furnish materials, or rendered or commenced to render services, and intends to claim a lien therefor on the building, lot or plot of land…” So, a statement of the work that’s been done and language indicating that a lien will soon be filed must appear on the notice.

Of course, it’s probably a good idea to include some other information as well, and the following might be worth putting on a Connecticut Notice of Intent to Lien:

• Name of the owner
• Location of the project property
• Name of your customer
• First and last furnishing dates
• A deadline for making payment

→ Download a free Connecticut Notice of Intent to Lien form here

If the owner or contractor resides in the county where the work was performed, then a Notice of Intent to Lien should generally be given by personal service in Connecticut.

To be specific, the statute calls for the notice to be served “by any indifferent person, state marshal or other proper officers, by leaving with such owner or original contractor or at such owner’s or the original contractor’s usual place of abode a true and attested copy thereof.“

If the owner or contractor does not reside in that town, but if they have a local agent, then notice can instead be personally served on that agent.

Further, if the owner or contractor doesn’t reside there, and if there isn’t a local agent present, then notice can be made to the owner or contractor by mailing an attested copy of the notice via registered or certified mail.

Finally, if personal service and mail service aren’t possible, then service by publication (i.e. publishing the notice in the newspaper) might work, but it’s not best to rely on this.

• See: Guide to Connecticut’s Complex Lien Notice & Service Requirements

As you may have gleaned from the question above, service is typically considered complete when actually received by the owner and/or general contractor.

If service/delivery fails, then publication in accordance with Conn. Gen. Stat. §1-2 should be acceptable.

Failure to send a Notice of Intent to Lien within the required timeframe will be fatal to a Connecticut mechanics lien claim.

It’s not quite a Notice of Intent to Lien, but Connecticut claimants who intend to look to the project’s payment bond for payment must send notice to be entitled to late payment interest.