Anyone who didn’t contract directly with the property owner on a private construction project in Pennsylvania needs to send a Notice of Intent to Lien (NOI) in order to secure their right to file a mechanics lien.

Interestingly, if the labor or materials furnished by the potential lien claimant are furnished to improvements on more than a single business or residence a separate notice for each improvement is required. So, for large developments or multi-use projects, multiple Notices of Intent may be required.

A Pennsylvania Notice of Intent to Lien must be served on the property owner at least 30 days before a valid lien claim can be filed. The deadline to file a PA mechanics lien is 6 months from the last date of furnishing labor and/or materials to the project, meaning that the notice must be served on the owner (read: received by the owner), at the very latest, 5 months from last furnishing.

Sending notice won’t extend the lien deadline, so it requires quite a bit of planning ahead.

The only party required to receive a PA Notice of Intent to Lien is the property owner. However, it may be a good idea to send notice to other project participants, like the GC, project manager, your customer, and anyone else who might be able to make sure payment is made before a lien must be filed.

The form requirements for a PA Notice of Intent to Lien can be found under 49 Pa. Stat. §1501(b) and should contain all of the following information:

• Claimant’s name

• Hiring party’s name

• Amount claimed to be due

• General description of labor and/or materials furnished

• Date of completion of the claimant’s work

• Description of the property

→ You can download a free Pennsylvania Notice of Intent to Lien form here.

Pennsylvania is fairly flexible when it comes to the method by which a Notice of Intent to Lien needs to be sent. The notice can be sent by first class mail, certified or registered mail, or by personal delivery.

However, it’s probably a good idea to send the notice in a way that it’s easy to show when the owner received it. So, sending certified or registered mail might be wise.

If service cannot be made by mail or personal service, then the Notice of Intent to Lien can be posted at a conspicuous and public area of the project site – and that will be sufficient for notice.

The Notice of Intent to Lien is considered served in Pennsylvania when it is actually received by the property owner. Which means that if there is a payment problem on the project, a claimant should be prepared to send this notice well before 5 months after last furnishing.

Failure to send a Notice of Intent to Lien, or sending the notice late is fatal to a claimant’s PA mechanics lien rights.

No. Pennsylvania’s Notice of Intent to Lien requirements are found in the state’s lien statute, and there’s nothing in Pennsylvania’s Little Miller Act which requires a Notice of Intent before making a claim.

With that being said, it may be valuable to send one anyway. We discuss that here: Do I Need to Send a Notice of Intent Before Making a Construction Bond Claim?