Illinois Preliminary Notice FAQs

A traditional preliminary notice will never be required from a general contractor. However, GC’s are required to provide a Sworn Statement on all private projects, and provide statutory notice language in addition to the sworn statement on owner-occupied, single-family, residential projects.

As far as all other potential claimants are concerned, a preliminary notice (aka Notice to Owner, 60-Day Notice) is only required on owner-occupied, single-family residential projects to secure the right to file an Illinois mechanics lien.

• Determining if the property is an owner-occupied residence may prove tricky. Check out the Expert Center response to this contractor’s question: Is a residence considered owner occupied if the owners are not living there during remodeling

Warning to those working on Home Repairs or Remodeling in Illinois, which is subject to the Illinois Home Repair and Remodeling Act, must deliver a “Home Repair: Know Your Consumer Rights” pamphlet prior to the start of work. While not sending this document will not impact a party’s contractual or mechanics lien rights, it will give the homeowner a remedy to sue the contractor under the consumer fraud act for an unspecified amount of damages. Read about this requirement in Illinois Legislature Amendment May Save Mechanics Lien Rights for Home Remodelers.

• Note: there is also a 90-Day Notice of Intent to Lien required before filing your Illinois mechanics lien claim, for more on Illinois NOIs, see: IL Notice of Intent to Lien Overview & FAQs

A general contractor’s Sworn Statement and/or Owner-Occupant Warning Notice must be provided before any payment is made.

A Notice to Owner should be sent within 60 days of first furnishing labor or materials to the project.

All Illinois preliminary notices are required to be sent to the property owner, or their agent. However, it’s always a good idea to send the notice to the general contractor as well.

• Owner-Occupant Warning Notice- if there is more than one owner that resides on the property, if served on one, it is deemed to be served on all owners.

Sworn Statement 

• Names & addresses of all parties furnishing labor, services, or materials to the project

• Amounts due or to become due to each party listed

• Made under oath or verified by affidavit

GC Owner-Occupant Warning Notice

The following statement in 10pt, bold type:

THE LAW REQUIRES THAT THE CONTRACTOR SHALL SUBMIT A SWORN STATEMENT OF PERSONS FURNISHING LABOR, SERVICES, MATERIAL, FIXTURES, APPARATUS OR MACHINERY, FORMS OR FORM WORK BEFORE ANY PAYMENTS ARE REQUIRED TO BE MADE TO THE CONTRACTOR

Notice to Owner

To be valid, the notice must be in at least 10pt, bold type, and contain the following:

• Claimant’s name & address

• Hiring party’s name & address

• Date of first furnishing labor and/or materials to the project

• General description of labor and/or materials provided

• The following warning statement in bold-faced font as required by 770 ILCS 60/5(b)(ii):

The subcontractor providing this notice has performed work or delivered material to your home improvement contractor. These services or materials are being used in the improvements to your residence and entitle the subcontractor to file a lien against your residence if the labor, services, material, fixtures, apparatus, or machinery, forms or form work are not paid for by your home improvement contractor. A lien waiver will be provided to your contractor when the subcontractor is paid, and you are urged to request this waiver form your contractor when paying for home improvements.

→ Download a free Illinois 60-Day Notice to Owner form here

The Sworn Statement and Owner-Occupant Warning Notice are typically incorporated into the construction contract. If not, there is no specific provision regarding delivery, so the following methods are considered best practice.

All other notices should be sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, with delivery restricted to the addressee only; or by personal delivery.

All Illinois preliminary notices, if sent by certified mail, are considered served upon deposit in the mail. However, actual receipt is still required to be valid; and that burden lies with the notifying party.

• See: Mailing Construction Notices: Is notice served when mailed or delivered?

A general/direct contractor’s failure to provide the Sworn Statement or Owner-Occupant Warning Notice is fatal to the claimant’s lien rights.

If a subcontractor fails to provide the Notice to Owner within 60 days of first furnishing, the claimant’s lien rights are waived “to the extent the owner has not been prejudiced by payments made before receipt of the notice.” In other words, the claim of a sub who failed to provide timely notice will be limited to the unpaid balance that the owner has yet to pay the original contractor.

See the answer to this IL sub’s question in the Expert Center, for more on this:

• Skipped the preliminary 60-day notice, now what?

No. Illinois does not require any preliminary notice to be given to preserve the right to make a bond claim on a public project, nor to make a claim on the contract funds due to the general contractor.

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