Maryland Preliminary Notice Rules
At a Glance
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Preliminary Notices Are Generally Required
Notices are not required for general contractors. They are, however, required for subcontractors who are not in direct contact with the property owner.
GC's Not Required to Send Notice
Preliminary Notices are not required for general contractors.
Subcontractors Must Send Notice
Notice of lien claim must be served on owner within 120 days after last providing labor or materials.
Suppliers Must Send Notice
Notice of lien claim must be served on owner within 120 days after last providing labor or materials.
Notice Cannot be Sent Late
If preliminary notice is required, the failure to provide the required notice within the 120 day time period is fatal to a mechanics lien claim in Maryland.
Send to Owner
In Maryland the pre-lien notice must only be sent to the property owner. If there are multiple owners of the property, sending to one owner is sufficient. However, if the work of improvement was on a condominium, the notice must be given to all individual condo owners.
Preliminary Notice Not Required
Maryland does not specifically require preliminary notice to be provided by participants on public works projects in order to be able to make a claim against a payment bond. However, on a state project, a subcontractor is required to inform the state procurement officer if the sub is aware the general received payment, but is late in making payment to the sub.
N/A
On public jobs, any claims for non-payment are made against the general contractor's bond. Since GCs will not make a claim against their own bond for non-payment, they do not have bond claim rights, and have no preliminary notice requirement.
No Notice Required from Subs
Maryland does not specifically require preliminary notice to be provided by participants on public works projects in order to be able to make a claim against a payment bond. However, on a state project, a subcontractor is required to inform the state procurement officer if the sub is aware the general received payment, but is late in making payment to the sub.
No Notice Required from Suppliers
Maryland does not specifically require preliminary notice to be provided by participants on public works projects in order to be able to make a claim against a payment bond. However, on a state project, a sub-tier party is required to inform the state procurement officer if the sub is aware the general received payment, but is late in making payment down the chain.
In Maryland, like in many states, preliminary notices are not required for general contractors or other parties with a direct contractual relationship with the property owner. Maryland does, however, require preliminary notice from subcontractors, suppliers, and others who did not directly contract with the property owner. This notice is kind of more similar to a notice of intent than a traditional preliminary notice since it must be sent within 120 days from the date that the project participant last provided labor or supplies, and can sometimes be called a “notice of lien” despite not being an actual lien itself.
For single-family residential properties, there are some special deadline requirements. The notice must not only be sent within 120 days from the last day, the participant last provided labor or supplies but additionally prior to the property owner, making full payment to the general contractor.
It’s further important to note that liens filed on owner-occupied single-resident properties are also limited to a specific worth dependent on the contract (between the property owner and the general contractor) amount due at the time the property owners received preliminary notice. While there are many reasons that it is best to send preliminary notices early in the project, since the ultimate goal is to provide visibility into project participants, it is worth additional attention when the amount available to be secured by a lien claim depends on the amount left to be paid when notice is received. This means that while Maryland can be an unpaid balance lien state, there is a mechanism in place for subcontractors and suppliers to ensure that is not the case and to be fully protected.
