Oklahoma Preliminary Notice FAQs

About Oklahoma Preliminary Notice

Oklahoma has a fairly traditional preliminary notice scheme, with a few wrinkles. While preliminary notice is generally required in Oklahoma for parties there than those who contract directly with the property owner, there are some situations in which the requirement may not be obvious.

Generally, construction participants who did not contract directly with the property owner of the improved property are required to send preliminary notice in Oklahoma when one of the two following circumstances applies:

1) the property includes an owner occupied dwelling; or
2) the project is non-residential and the claimant’s aggregate claim is greater than $10,000

If one of these two circumstances applies, the participant is required to give preliminary notice to the general contractor and the property owner. It is not specifically clear if general contractors or others contracting directly with the property owner are required to give the property owner preliminary notice on an owner-occupied project. But, as with other projects, providing preliminary notice is a good idea even when not required, so it may be worthwhile for direct contractors to give notice when working on or supplying materials an owner-occupied residence out of an abundance of caution.

The specificity of the rules above means that there is a peculiar aspect of Oklahoma’s preliminary notice requirement that residential projects that are not “owner-occupied” do not require preliminary notice – even if the claim amount exceeds the $10,000 floor that otherwise applies to commercial projects.

Oklahoma defines a residential project (distinct from an owner-occupied residential project), and accordingly, a project to which the preliminary notice requirements do not apply, as a single or multi-family residence of four or fewer units, none of which are occupied by an owner. It is unclear from the statute, however, whether “occupied” means that the property is the full-time residence (or domicile) of the owner, or just that it is the owner who uses the property, such that second, or other vacation homes would count. However, given that courts have decided that an owner who resided in a residence when it was damaged and only left temporarily so that it could be repaired, is considered to be occupying the property and deserving of notice, it seems like a party must be “residing in” a residence for it to count as owner-occupied. Mel Stevenson & Associates, Inc. v. Giles, 103 P.3d 631 (Okla.Civ.App. Div. 2) (2004)

There is one other very intriguing aspect of Oklahoma’s preliminary notice requirements, however, that does not really have much of an analogue in other states. If the project participant gives the general contractor a written request, delivered by certified mail, return receipt requested (or any other way sufficient for delivery of preliminary notice), asking for the name and last known address of the property owner, the contractor must respond with that information within 5 days of receiving the request. If the contractor fails to respond, the project participant making the request is not required to provide the owner a preliminary notice.