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Are Georgia's preliminary notice laws drastically different from Florida's notice laws?

I do most of my work in Florida on final cleaning on commercial construction jobs. However, I now have a project in GA. For GA jobs, do I still file a notice of lien and are there any other nuances I need to know for GA? Also, this is for a community college. The owner is Georgia State Financing and Investment Commission. Thank you

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Jun 25, 2020

Georgia's preliminary notice rules are a little bit different than Florida's. Further, if the property is owned by a public agency, the rules will also change a bit based on that ownership, as well. Generally, subcontractors who are hired directly by the GC on a public project won't need to send preliminary notice in order to make a bond claim later on. Though, it's still a good idea to send notice - regardless of what's required. But, if you were hired by someone else - like another sub - then you'd need to send a prelim in order to preserve rights against the project's payment bond. For a detailed discussion on Georgia's preliminary notice requirements on public and private projects, this resource should be useful (scroll a bit for public jobs): Georgia Preliminary Notice Guide and FAQs. For a broad discussion on the difference between public and private jobs: The Difference Between Public and Private Projects.

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Jun 25, 2020

If you don't have a direct contract relationship with the prime contractor, then you definitely need to send a notice to contractor to the prime contractor. The best way to do this is to ask for a copy of the Notice of Commencement for the project; this will list the prime contractor and its address. You can also find the Notice of Commencement by doing a title search for the project. The Notice to Contractor should identify your company, what you are providing for the project, and the anticipated amount of your contract or invoices. It must be sent within 30 days of your first work at the project. Also, since this is a public project, there should be a labor and material payment bond for the project. The Notice of Commencement will list the payment bond surety. This is good news, since a payment bond provides better security than a lien. In the event that you are have a payment issue on the job, then you should be sure to send notice within 90 days of your last day of work. The notice should be sent to the prime contractor and surety, and should specify your work, and the amount due to your company.

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