Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Is Preliminary Notice required in California on a State bonded project?

Is Preliminary Notice required in California on a State bonded project?

We are a material supplier from Colorado to a Caltrans project in California. Since it is public, it is bonded, but not protected by the Miller Act since it is not Federal. I am trying to determine if I must file a preliminary notice at the outset, and if so, find the correct form. The only form I can find is preliminary for a lien. Thank you in advance for your help!

1 reply

May 10, 2019

That's a good question, and it sounds like you know your way around preliminary notices (which is great). For California public projects, every party who does not have a direct contract with the project's prime contractor must send a preliminary notice in order to preserve their right to later make a bond claim or to a send stop payment notice. For parties hired directly by the prime contractor, sending preliminary notice is not necessary - but sending notice can still provide the benefit of improved communication and collaboration. It's worth noting, though, that even if preliminary notice is required but not sent, a bond claim will be available - just with a different deadline. Currently, zlien only has a free downloadable form for CA preliminary notices on private projects - though that will likely be available very soon. However, there are other sites online that provide forms for the 20-day notice for public projects - including one that can be found here. Further, there are notice services available online (including Levelset) that can help construction businesses send notices. For more information about notice and claim requirements on CA public projects, this resource should be valuable: California Bond Claim and Notice Overview.

0 people found this helpful

Helpful