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What responsibility do I have to ensure that a letter of commencement has been filed?

GeorgiaNotice of CommencementPreliminary Notice

We are a material supplier in GA. I am sending Georgia Preliminary Notice to my customers. Is it my responsibility to be sure a letter of commencement has been filed by the customer/owner/GC? By sending the notice I am only notifying them of our services being rendered and expectation of being paid. If a commencement hasn't been filed, does it affect my lien rights by the commencement not being created by owner? Thanks Darlene Poynter

1 reply

Oct 25, 2019
In Georgia it is a requirement that a notice of commencement be filed by either the owner, the owner's agent, or the general contractor. Practically speaking, filing a notice of commencement is very frequently handled by the GC. There are consequences if a notice of commencement is not filed, but these consequences are an expansion of lien rights, not a prohibition on filing a lien. Generally, participants on Georgia construction projects are required to provide a preliminary notice to contractor in order to retain lien rights if they did not contract with either the owner or the GC. If a notice of commencement is not filed, however, the preliminary notice is not required to be provided, and a sub-tier claimant is able to file a lien whether or not they provided a preliminary notice. This opens the property owner up to "hidden" liens. It never hurts to provide a preliminary notice, however. Even if not specifically required to retain lien rights (if the notice of commencement is not filed) the preliminary notice can provide visibility on the project, speed up payment, and open channels for communication that may not otherwise exist.
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