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General contractors must file preliminary notice on private projects.
A construction preliminary notice may be filed after the 20-day deadline, but is only effective beginning 5 days after the preliminary notice is filed. Note, however that it can never be filed more than 10 days after a notice of completion is filed.
General contractors cannot file a preliminary notice on public projects. However, they must submit a notice of commencement.
Failure to submit a notice of commencement means lower-tiered subs don't have to file preliminary notices.
Subcontractors and suppliers must submit preliminary notice on private projects.
A construction preliminary notice may be filed after the 20-day deadline, but is only effective beginning 5 days after the preliminary notice is filed. Note, however that it can never be filed more than 10 days after a notice of completion is filed.
Subcontractors and suppliers must submit preliminary notice on public projects.
If Notice of Commencement is not filed, or is filed later than 15 days after the claimant first furnishes labor and/or materials to the project, no preliminary notice is specifically required.
Yes.
For Pre-Construction Liens: All parties providing pre-construction services must file a Notice of Preconstruction Services.
For Construction Liens: All parties are required to send a preliminary notice prior to any valid lien claim. This notice should generally be given within 20 days of first furnishing labor and/or materials to a construction project, and filed via the State Construction Registry (SCR).
For Pre-Construction Liens: Preliminary notice (Notice of Preconstruction Services) must be filed no later than 20 days after the party commences preconstruction services.
For Construction Liens: Preliminary notice must be filed within 20 days from the date of the claimant’s first furnishing of labor and/or materials to the project. However, in no case is a preliminary notice effective if filed more than 10 days after the filing of a Notice of Completion.
For Pre-Construction Liens: The failure to timely file a preliminary notice is fatal to any pre-construction lien claim.
For Construction Liens: The failure of a party to timely file the preliminary notice is not necessarily fatal to the lien claim. However, a party who files a late preliminary notice may not claim a lien for any work done prior to 5 days after the date on which the preliminary notice is filed. Thus, if the preliminary notice was filed on June 5, (more than 20 days after the claimant’s first furnishing) that claimant only has lien rights for work performed after June 10. Note, however, that a preliminary notice filed more than 10 days after a Notice of Completion is filed is completely without effect.
Preliminary notice by all potential lien claimants must be filed in the State Construction Registry.
Preliminary notice by all potential lien claimants must only be filed in the State Construction Registry – that provides the required notice to all parties.
In Utah, preliminary notice is considered delivered when filed in the State Construction Registry.
If you’re working on construction projects in Utah, you should be familiar with the State Construction Registry (SCR). You can find it here: http://scr.utah.gov.
This is a statewide database of construction projects in the state. You can get information on construction projects where you’re performing work, see who else is working on the project, and file certain notices.
It depends. In Utah, preliminary notice is generally required to preserve a claimant’s right to make a bond claim unless 1) the claimant is a laborer; 2) the Notice of Commencement is not filed, or is filed later than 15 days after the claimant first furnishes labor and/or materials to the project. It is likely advisable to send preliminary notice on all projects, however.
There is no specific statutory provision requiring preliminary notice prior to making a claim for payment directly against the public entity, however, it may be best practice to provide notice anyway to alert the public entity of the intent to claim payment.
Bond Claim: Preliminary notice must be filed by the later of either 1) 20 days after the claimant’s first furnishing labor and/or materials to the project, or 2) 20 days after the Notice of Commencement is filed if the claimant began furnishing labor and/or materials prior to the Notice of Commencement being filed. If Notice of Commencement is not filed, or is filed later than 15 days after the claimant first furnishes labor and/or materials to the project, no preliminary notice is specifically required.
Claim Against the Public Entity: No specific requirements, but it may be best practice to follow the above requirements, if notice is given.
If the preliminary notice is not sent within the above time period, it is effective starting 5 days after the notice is given.
The preliminary notice may be filed electronically through the Utah State Construction Registry.
Bond Claim: In Utah, preliminary notice should be given to the designated agent of the construction notice registry.
Claim Against Public Entity: No specific requirements, but it may be advisable to provide notice to the public entity, and if possible, to the construction registry.
Thank you for reaching out to the Levelset legal community. If you are in need of specific advice for a current legal situation, you may want to consider reaching out to a licensed attorney in your state directly at their office. This forum is public, so it may not be the right place to discuss a sensitive legal issue. Levelset provides a list of attorneys in each state here: https://www.levelset.com/payment-help/experts/experts-by-state/ . From that directory you may find a law firm in your area to call privately.
You should speak with a construction attorney as soon as possible to discuss your options, including strategies to mitigate your damages.
The preliens (technically called "preliminary notices" or "prelims") may not be a problem. Most prelims that are filed are never acted upon and simply expire. A construction attorney could help navigate this process with a lender.
Per Utah Code 38-1a-501, a notice of lien must be recorded within 180 days after "final completion of the origincal contract" (or a shorter time is a notice of completion is filed). Determining the date of "final completion" depends on many factors including whether the contractor hired directly by the owner or was a subcontractor, and other factors. Utah law provides various remedies for owners who are affected by wrongful, untimely, and/or excessive liens. Those include: (1) temporarily bonding around the lien which would let you proceed with the loan process - that process lets you move fast, but can be expensive; (2) litigating the issues, which would include asking the court for an order removing the lien and for damages (plus costs and fees) - that process can also be expensive, and takes time; and (3) working directly with the contractor - if the contractor can be shown that the lien was filed in error and he contractor's liability, and will agree to remove the lien voluntarily, that would be the fastest, simplest, and cheapest option.
Utah has a unique mechanics lien scheme, and accordingly, a unique preliminary notice scheme. In Utah liens are segmented into “pre-construction liens” and “construction liens.” Both types of potential lien require preliminary notice. Utah is also one of the states, along with Iowa, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina (kind of) that has an electronic state notice repository through which notice should or must be filed.
In Utah, a preliminary notice – whether for reconstruction services or construction services – must be filed in the State Construction Registry.
All project participants providing pre-construction work, and who may be entitled to file a preconstruction lien, must file a notice of preconstruction service with the registry no later than 20 days after the person commences providing preconstruction service for the anticipated improvement on the real property. A failure to provide this notice renders the participant unable to file a valid and enforceable pre-construction lien.
With respect to construction liens, all project participants are required to send a preliminary notice prior to any valid lien claim. This notice should generally be given within 20 days of first furnishing labor and/or materials to a construction project, and filed via the State Construction Registry (SCR), but if given late may still be effective to protect some amount of the labor or material provided. The deadline related to a preliminary notice filed pursuant to construction work can be confusing. While, as noted above, the general deadline is 20 days after first furnishing labor or materials to the project, if a Notice of Completion has been filed, then the preliminary notice is required to be filed with the registry within 10 days after that Notice of Completion has been filed (even if that is less than 20 days after the noticing party’s first furnishing). If the notice is filed late, lien rights will begin 5 days after to the date preliminary notice is sent.
Utah’s preliminary notice scheme is complicated. That’s why the first step in the process is to read the guide to preliminary notices in Utah. This article walks you through everything you need to know about preliminary notices, including when you need to send it, the SCR, and what information you need to include in it.
The next step is to download a free preliminary notice form. Utah’s mechanics lien laws include specific requirements for the language and the formatting included on construction notices. Our free forms were written by construction attorneys to meed those requirements. Download a free Utah preliminary notice form here.
This is the trickiest part. Because your notice works to preserve your lien rights, it’s important that you get everything right when filling out your notice form in Utah. Making a mistake at this stage could rob you of your lien rights. Double check the information you include, and make sure it’s all 100% accurate.
Utah is unique because you don’t send your notice to the GC or the owner; you file your notice with the State Construction Registry (SCR). The SCR is a statewide database of all construction projects where you can find information about construction projects, find out who’s working on your project, or file important construction notices.
For pre-construction liens, you must file notice within 20 days after pre-construction services are furnished. For construction liens, you must file notice within 20 days of first furnishing or 10 days after a notice of completion is filed.
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