Idaho Preliminary Notice FAQs

Unfortunately that's not the case. Mailed Washington Notices to Owners must be sent by registered or certified mail pursuant to Wash. Rev. Stat. §60.04.031(1). Which, to my understanding, both types of delivery methods require the recipient's signature. However, if the owner doesn't sign for the delivery, your responsibilities as a notifying party are met 3 days after mailing by the appropriate method.

The necessity of providing certain notices depends on the state in which the project was located. As not many states identify required notices as a notice of non-payment, especially one due 3 months from the furnishing of labor or material, it seems as if the notice at issue is a Tennessee notice of nonpayment. In Tennessee, § 66-11-145 states, in part, that: "Every remote contractor with respect to an improvement, except one-family, two-family, three-family and four-family residential units, shall serve, within ninety (90) days of the last day of each month within which work or labor was provided or materials, services, equipment, or machinery furnished and for which the remote contractor intends to claim a lien under this chapter, a notice of nonpayment . . . if its account is, in fact, unpaid." The requirement is further solidified in paragraph (b) of the same statutory subsection, which makes clear "[a] remote contractor who fails to provide the notice of nonpayment in compliance with this section shall have no right to claim a lien under this chapter" [other than with respect to retainage]. Accordingly, the statute describes the notice of nonpayment as a specifically required document that must be provided for a remote contractor to retain the ability to file a valid and enforceable lien. Whether or not the final deadline has passed, the notice is required to be provided prior to a remote claimant filing a lien.

As a general contractor on a private project in Louisiana, I believe you are referring to the Notice of Contract. Specifically the section that requires a "price of work." This exact scenario is actually covered by the statute. Under La. RS §9:4811(A)(4) the notice should "state the price of work or, if no price is fixed, describe the method by which the price is to be calculated and give an estimate amount." Therefore, as long as you provide that the work is being performed under a T&M contract, and include how payment is being calculated, along with a reasonable estimate of the total contract price; the notice should be sufficient.