Alabama Notice to Owner — Ala. Code § 35-11-218 / § 35-11-215 / § 35-11-221 Lien Filing Guide (2026)
✓ Verified against Alabama statutes · Reviewed August 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Alabama mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
None (sub) — No pre-lien required for subs
Mechanics Lien
6 months — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
6 months — From filing
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What Is the Alabama Lien Framework and How Does the Lien Workflow Operate?
Alabama's lien framework is Title 35, Chapter 11, Article 5, Division 8 of the Code of Alabama (§ 35-11-210 et seq.), and it front-loads the work onto notices the owner receives before any lien is recorded. The workflow for a non-original-contractor is: (1) if the claimant is a materialman who wants a full-price lien, give the owner a pre-furnishing notice of the materials and prices under § 35-11-210 at the start of supply; (2) before filing, serve the Notice to Owner under § 35-11-218, stating the amount, what it is owed for, and from whom; (3) file the verified statement of lien with the judge of probate within the § 35-11-215 window — 4 months for most claimants, 30 days for laborers, 6 months for the original contractor — under § 35-11-213; and (4) commence the enforcement suit within 6 months of the maturity of the entire indebtedness under § 35-11-221. Alabama is distinctive in three respects: the pre-filing Notice to Owner that is a sequencing precondition rather than a days-counted deadline (file before serving it and the lien is void); the full-price versus unpaid-balance split, under which a supplier who did not give the pre-furnishing notice is capped at whatever the owner still owes the contractor, which can be zero; and the short 4-month filing window combined with a separate 6-month enforcement clock that runs from when the debt matured, not from filing.
Who Must Give Notice — and Who Holds Which Lien
Alabama sorts claimants by whether they contracted directly with the owner, because only the original contractor is exempt from the Notice to Owner and only the original contractor automatically holds a full-price lien. An original (general) contractor in direct contract with the owner does not have to give the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner — the owner already knows of its claim through the contract — and it holds a full-price lien for its entire contract amount under § 35-11-210; it files the verified statement with the judge of probate within 6 months of last furnishing and enforces within 6 months of the debt's maturity, and on any project costing $50,000 or more it must hold an Alabama general-contractor license under Title 34, Chapter 8. A claimant without a direct contract with the owner — a subcontractor, a lower-tier sub, a laborer, or a material supplier — must serve the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner before filing, is by default limited to the unpaid balance the owner owes the original contractor when notice is given, and to obtain the full price must additionally have given the owner a pre-furnishing notice under § 35-11-210; its filing window is generally 4 months (30 days for a journeyman or day laborer) from last furnishing.
The Notice to Owner & the Full-Price Lien — Alabama's Two Front-End Steps
Two Alabama steps come before the verified statement of lien is filed. First, the Notice to Owner under § 35-11-218: every claimant except the original contractor must give the owner (or the owner's agent) written notice that it claims a lien, setting forth the amount, what it is owed for, and from whom — and it must do so before filing the verified statement. This is not a days-counted deadline; it is a sequencing precondition, and a subcontractor or supplier that files first and serves the notice afterward (or never serves it) has an invalid lien. After the notice is given, any unpaid balance in the owner's hands is held subject to the claimant's lien. Second, the pre-furnishing notice under § 35-11-210 that converts an unpaid-balance lien into a full-price lien: a materialman not in privity with the owner is limited by default to the unpaid balance the owner owes the original contractor — which can be nothing if the owner has already paid — but by giving the owner written notice, before furnishing, of the materials to be furnished and their price, the materialman makes the owner responsible for the full price as specified, unless the owner objects in writing. A supplier on a project where the owner may pay the contractor early should send this pre-furnishing notice at the start of the job.
§ 35-11-213 Verified Statement, the § 35-11-215 Deadlines, and the § 35-11-221 Enforcement Window
The verified statement of lien is filed with the judge of probate of the county where the property lies, under § 35-11-213, within the § 35-11-215 window measured from the claimant's last furnishing: 6 months for an original contractor, 30 days for a journeyman or day laborer, and 4 months for materialmen, subcontractors, and every other claimant. The verified statement must contain the amount of the demand secured by the lien after deducting all just credits and offsets, a description of the property sufficient to identify it, and the name of the owner or proprietor, and it must be verified by oath. The action to enforce the lien must be commenced within 6 months of the maturity of the entire indebtedness under § 35-11-221 — a separate clock tied to when the debt became due and payable, not to the filing date — so a claimant who files the verified statement timely still loses the lien if it does not sue within the § 35-11-221 window. All filing clocks run from the claimant's own last day of furnishing, not the invoice date, a warranty call-back, or overall project completion; fixing the correct last-furnishing date and the debt's maturity date for the specific claimant is essential.
The Unpaid-Balance Limitation, the Owner's Exposure, and Lien Waivers
Alabama's unpaid-balance limitation is the single most important economic feature of its lien law for subcontractors and suppliers. Under § 35-11-210, a claimant not in privity with the owner has a lien only on the amount the owner still owes the original contractor when the claimant gives notice — so a sub or supplier on a project where the owner has paid the contractor in full may hold a perfectly valid lien that secures nothing. The escape hatch is the pre-furnishing notice: a materialman that notifies the owner of its materials and prices before furnishing them obtains a full-price lien, making the owner responsible for that full price unless the owner objects in writing and directs the contractor not to use the material. On the owner's side, the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner has teeth: once it is given, any unpaid balance in the owner's hands is held subject to the claimant's lien, so an owner that keeps paying the contractor after receiving Notices to Owner can find that the funds it paid out were already encumbered. On the waiver side, an Alabama contractor or subcontractor may give ordinary conditional and unconditional lien waivers in exchange for progress and final payments and should never sign an unconditional waiver before the corresponding payment has cleared; the timing of waivers and the order of notices should be checked before anything is signed or filed.
Filing Fees and Where to File
The Alabama verified statement of lien is filed with the judge of probate of the county where the property is located — one of Alabama's 67 counties. Because the lien is perfected by recording the verified statement rather than by a court petition, the principal cost is the judge of probate's recording fee (a modest per-document and per-page charge that varies by county), plus the cost of serving the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner and any § 35-11-210 pre-furnishing notice. The larger cost comes only if the lien is contested: enforcing the lien under § 35-11-221 is a civil suit to establish and foreclose the lien in the appropriate Alabama circuit court, which adds a civil filing fee plus service costs, and a contested foreclosure with a disputed unpaid balance, a disputed pre-furnishing notice, or a priority fight with a lender can run several thousand dollars in attorney time. Confirming the correct judge of probate before filing is a basic Alabama intake step — and confirming that the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner was served before filing, that any materialman seeking a full-price lien sent the § 35-11-210 pre-furnishing notice, that the verified statement names the correct owner and is filed within the 4-month (or 30-day) window, and that the § 35-11-221 enforcement deadline is calendared from the debt's maturity is the most important one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Alabama Notice to Owner under Ala. Code § 35-11-218 and when must it be given?
Under Ala. Code § 35-11-218, every person entitled to a mechanics' or materialmen's lien EXCEPT the original contractor must, before filing its verified statement of lien in the office of the judge of probate, give the owner or proprietor (or the owner's agent) written notice that it claims a lien on the building or improvement, setting forth the amount of the claim, for what it is owed, and from whom it is owing. The notice is not a deadline measured in days — it is a precondition to filing: a subcontractor, supplier, laborer, or other non-original-contractor that files its verified statement WITHOUT first having served this Notice to Owner has an invalid lien, even if the verified statement is otherwise perfect and timely. After the notice is given, any unpaid balance in the owner's hands is held subject to the claimant's lien. Because the consequence of skipping the notice is total loss of the lien, the safe practice is to serve the Notice to Owner before — never after — filing the verified statement. The original contractor in direct contract with the owner is the only claimant exempt, because the owner already knows of that claim through their contract.
What is the difference between Alabama's full-price lien and unpaid-balance lien under § 35-11-210?
Alabama splits the lien into two amounts under Ala. Code § 35-11-210. An original (general) contractor in direct contract with the owner has a lien for the FULL contract price of the labor and materials it furnished. A materialman or subcontractor NOT in privity with the owner is, by default, limited to the UNPAID BALANCE — the amount the owner still owes the original contractor when the claimant gives its notice — so if the owner has already paid the contractor in full, an unpaid-balance lien may be worth nothing. A materialman can convert its claim into a full-price lien by giving the owner a written notice BEFORE furnishing materials that specifies the material to be furnished and the price, after which the owner becomes responsible for the full price unless the owner objects in writing and notifies the contractor not to use that material. This pre-furnishing § 35-11-210 notice is different from, and in addition to, the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner that every non-original-contractor must give before filing. A supplier that wants protection against an owner who has already paid the contractor should send the pre-furnishing notice at the start of the job.
When and where must an Alabama verified statement of lien be filed under § 35-11-213 and § 35-11-215?
Under Ala. Code § 35-11-213, the verified statement of lien must be filed in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the property is located, verified by oath, and must contain the amount of the demand secured by the lien after deducting all just credits and offsets, a description of the property sufficient to identify it, and the name of the owner or proprietor. Under Ala. Code § 35-11-215, the time to file runs from the claimant's last item of work or material and depends on the claimant's role: an original contractor has 6 months, every journeyman and day laborer has 30 days, and every other person entitled to a lien — materialmen, subcontractors, and suppliers — has 4 months. The clock runs from the last day the claimant actually furnished labor or materials, not from the invoice date, a later warranty or punch-list visit, or overall project completion. Filing in the wrong county, naming the wrong owner, miscounting the last-furnishing date, or — for a non-original-contractor — filing before serving the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner are the most common ways Alabama claimants lose otherwise valid liens.
How long does an Alabama mechanics' lien last and when must suit be filed under § 35-11-221?
Under Ala. Code § 35-11-221, an action to enforce a mechanics' or materialmen's lien must be commenced within 6 months after the maturity of the entire indebtedness secured by the lien. The 'maturity of the entire indebtedness' is tied to the payment terms of the underlying agreement — generally the date the debt became due and payable — not to the date the verified statement was filed. This makes the enforcement clock different from the filing clock: a claimant who files its verified statement within the § 35-11-215 window still must file a separate lawsuit to enforce the lien within 6 months of when the debt matured, and letting that window pass dissolves the lien even though the verified statement was timely. The enforcement action is a civil suit to establish and foreclose the lien, brought in the appropriate Alabama circuit court. Partial payments, settlement talks, and the owner's promises do not, by themselves, pause or restart the 6-month enforcement clock. A claimant who files a valid verified statement but never brings the enforcement suit loses the lien, though the underlying debt may remain collectible through an ordinary breach-of-contract action.
Who must give the Alabama Notice to Owner, and is the original contractor exempt?
Every person entitled to an Alabama mechanics' or materialmen's lien EXCEPT the original contractor must give the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner before filing the verified statement. That covers subcontractors at every tier, material suppliers, equipment lessors, and laborers who are not in direct contract with the owner. The original contractor — the party that contracted directly with the owner — is exempt because the owner is already on notice of that contractor's claim through the contract itself; the original contractor still must file its verified statement within the 6-month § 35-11-215 window and enforce within the 6-month § 35-11-221 window. A subcontractor or supplier should treat the § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner as the first step in the lien process, not an afterthought, because filing the verified statement first and serving the notice second — or never serving it — invalidates the lien. Separately, a materialman who wants a full-price lien must also give the owner a pre-furnishing notice under § 35-11-210, a distinct notice with a distinct purpose, and many materialmen need both.
What must an Alabama Notice to Owner and verified statement of lien contain?
The § 35-11-218 Notice to Owner must state, in writing to the owner or proprietor or the owner's agent, that the claimant claims a lien on the building or improvement, and must set forth the amount claimed, for what the claim is owed (the labor or materials furnished), and from whom it is owing (the party that owes the claimant); it must be given before the verified statement is filed. The § 35-11-213 verified statement of lien, filed afterward with the judge of probate, must contain the amount of the demand secured by the lien after deducting all just credits and offsets, a description of the property on which the lien is claimed sufficient to identify it, and the name of the owner or proprietor, and it must be verified by oath. A materialman seeking a full-price lien should also have given the separate § 35-11-210 pre-furnishing notice specifying the materials and prices. Getting the owner's name and the property description correct — verified against current probate and tax records — matters because the verified statement is indexed against the named owner, and naming the wrong owner or misdescribing the property can defeat the lien.
How does Alabama handle public projects and federal projects?
No mechanics' lien attaches to public property in Alabama. On state, county, municipal, and public-authority construction, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier pursues the prime contractor's payment bond required by the Alabama Little Miller Act, found in Title 39 of the Code of Alabama (§ 39-1-1 et seq.), which requires performance and payment bonds on public construction contracts and gives an unpaid claimant a bond claim conditioned on timely written notice to the contractor and on filing suit within the statutory window. On federal projects — and Alabama has a substantial federal footprint, including Redstone Arsenal at Huntsville, Maxwell Air Force Base at Montgomery, Fort Novosel in Dale County, and Anniston Army Depot — the federal Miller Act at 40 U.S.C. § 3131 et seq. governs, requiring payment bonds on federal construction contracts over $100,000 and giving unpaid subcontractors and suppliers a bond claim on their own 90-day notice and one-year suit timing. A claimant on a public or federal job should pursue the bond, not a void lien against public land, and should calendar the bond-claim notice and suit deadlines, which differ from the private-project lien deadlines under Chapter 11 of Title 35.