Private projects
General contractors are not required to send notice on private projects.
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General contractors are not required to send notice on private projects.
General contractors are not required to send preliminary notice on public projects.
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.
Subcontractors and suppliers must provide notice on private projects.
This deadline is extended for laborers, who have 30 days after wages were due, and not paid, to serve notice. Additionally, subs must provide a sworn statement like the GC on residential projects, prior to receipt of payment.
A prime contractor is not generally required to give any preliminary notice in Michigan, but must provide a list of subcontractors and suppliers, if requested. Any party who does not have a direct contract with the property owner (or owner’s agent) must provide a Notice of Furnishing within 20 days of first furnishing labor or materials to the project.
On a residential project, a Sworn Statement must be provided to the owner (by a prime contractor) and to the prime contractor (by a subcontractor) before being paid any progress or final payment. The statement lists all subcontractors, sub-subs, suppliers, and laborers, with whom the party has contracted and lists amounts unpaid to them, if any.
A Notice of Furnishing is required to be given no later than 20 days after first furnishing labor or materials to the project. If the lien claimant is a laborer, the notice must be given within 30 days from when wages were due. However, quicker noticing may be advisable because the owner is not liable for amounts already paid to the contractor prior to receiving the notice. The Sworn Statement should be provided whenever payment is due or requested on a residential project.
If the Notice of Furnishing is not provided timely, all is not necessarily lost. The failure to give the notice within the proper time period is not fatal to a lien claim in Michigan, but will reduce the amount of the lien by any amount paid by the owner for that work prior to the receipt of the notice.
The Notice of Furnishing should be served on the owner’s designee (or owner if no person is designated by the notice of commencement) and the general contractor either by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested.
Yes. The Notice of Furnishing must also be served on the general contractor.
If you are a claimant with no contract with the general contractor, preliminary notice is required. This means all second-tier (and below) subcontractors and suppliers are required to provide preliminary notice in order to retain the ability to make a claim against the payment bond in the event of nonpayment.
Preliminary notice must be sent within 30 days of first furnishing labor and/or materials.
When preliminary notice is required, the failure to timely give notice is fatal to a bond claim.
Preliminary notice should be sent by certified mail, but any method may be used if actual delivery is proved.
Preliminary notice must be sent to the general contractor.
First, it's worth noting that California is a state that uses project completion, rather than last furnishing date, to set mechanics lien deadlines. CA equipment rental companies will have up to 90 days after completion of the overall project to file their lien claims. More discussion on that here: (1) When is the deadline to file a California Mechanics Lien?; (2) California Mechanics Lien Deadline | When Does the Clock Begin to Tick? ; and (3) Confusing Dates: What’s the Difference Between Date of Last Furnishing and Date of Substantial Completion?
Still, for determining last furnishing in other situations and states: A given project's last furnishing date is tied to when the labor, materials, or equipment were last furnished to the project, not to the relevant contract terms. So, if some equipment comes back early, the deadline should generally still be based on when the equipment was last used at the project site.
The lien is still valid, but if the homeowner was prejudiced by the late delivery of the lien, then the lien can be reduced by the amount of the prejudice . You should consult with an attorney to determine what the next should be under these circumstances.
Michigan requires most project participants to provide a preliminary notice, but the notice and the deadline can change depending on the project type, and the role of the particular participant furnishing the notice. And, in fact, while not a “preliminary notice” in the usual sense, some notice requirements even extend to the property owner him/herself. Michigan is one of the few states that specifically requires the filing of a notice of commencement, and provides consequences for the failure to do so.
On most projects, parties who contract directly with the property owner are not required to deliver a preliminary notice, although if requested to do so a direct contractor must provide a list of subs and suppliers on the project. On residential projects, however, providing notice is specifically required of direct contractors. Prior to receiving any progress or final payment, the contractor must provide the property owner with a sworn statement listing all sub-tier parties with whom the contractor has contracted and the amounts unpaid to them, if any. This sworn statement notice is to allow the property owner to keep track of liabilities down the payment chain, to gain project visibility, and to serve as a check for the receipt of lien waivers from sub-tier parties. Likewise, the sworn statement is also required of subcontractors on residential projects, is delivered to the GC, and lists the sub-tier parties with whom the sub contracted, and amounts due (if any).
Additionally, those who do not have direct contact with the property owner (or the owner’s agent) are required to deliver a Notice of Furnishing within 20 days of the first furnishing of labor or materials on the project. This is a “traditional” preliminary notice requirement, and generally what people are referring to when Michigan preliminary notices, or the rules and requirements surrounding them, ae being discussed.
Michigan also has preliminary notice rules for parties performing work on public projects. Every 2nd-tier subcontractor or below, that is everybody who didn’t contract with either the public entity or the general contractor, must deliver a preliminary notice within 30 days of first furnishing labor or materials.
First, read the guide to preliminary notices in Michigan. The guide introduces you to the notice of furnishing form, including what you need to include, who you need to send it to, when it needs to be sent, and how it needs to be sent.
Next, download a copy of the Michigan preliminary notice. Michigan mechanics lien law is strict when it comes to the language and formatting for construction notices. Levelset’s free forms were written by construction attorneys to meet those requirements, making this part easy for you to get right.
The next step is to fill the form out. To ensure you secure your right to file a mechanics lien, be careful to include al the required information and make sure that information is 100% accurate. Failure to do this could forfeit your Michigan lien rights.
Lastly, it’s time to deliver the Michigan preliminary notice. You have two delivery options: either by personal service or certified mail, return receipt requested.
Send your notice to the owner or the owner’s designee within 20 days of first furnishing. Laborers have 30 days from when payment was due.
Select Preliminary Notice document.
Provide basic job information.
Levelset sends the document for you. Postage included!