Arizona Payment Bond Claim — A Second-Tier Claimant Owes the Contractor Two Notices, the 20-Day Notice Still Applies on Public Work, and the Delivery Rule Changes on CMAR Jobs (A.R.S. § 34-223, 2026)
✓ Verified against Arizona statutes · Reviewed September 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Arizona mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
20 days — Prelim from first furnishing
Mechanics Lien
120 days — From completion
Enforcement
6 months — From filing
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Why the Lien Habits Only Half Carry Over
On a private Arizona job, a subcontractor or supplier serves a preliminary twenty-day notice on the owner, the original contractor, the lender, and its customer, then records a lien if payment stops. A school district gymnasium, a city fire station, or a county flood-control channel is different. Public property generally cannot be liened, so the Legislature requires a payment bond instead, written solely for the protection of claimants supplying labor or materials to the contractor or its subcontractors. The rules sit in Title 34, Chapter 2, Article 2 . Section 34-222 requires the bonds on work for counties, cities, towns, their officers, boards and commissions, and a long list of districts: irrigation, power, electrical, drainage, flood protection and flood control, tax-levying public improvement districts, and county or city improvement districts. State agencies reach the same bonds through the State Procurement Code, A.R.S. § 41-2574 , on construction awards over $100,000. Section 34-223 then sets the claim procedure. The trap is that Arizona keeps one lien habit and drops another. The twenty-day notice survives , as a condition of the bond claim for second-tier claimants. The recipient list does not : every bond notice goes to the contractor. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats an Arizona public job as a two-notice file from the first delivery.
What § 34-223 Actually Requires
The first clause of subsection A is the general right of action. Any claimant that furnished labor or material on the bonded contract and has not been paid in full 90 days after its last furnishing may sue on the bond for the unpaid balance. That 90 days is a waiting period. A subcontractor or supplier in direct contract with the prime owes no notice of any kind. The proviso adds the two notices, and it binds only a claimant with no contract with the contractor: a second-tier subcontractor, or a supplier selling to a subcontractor. The twenty-day notice must carry the information in § 33-992.01(C)(1) through (4): a general description of the labor or materials with an estimate of the total price, the claimant’s name and address, the name of the party that contracted for the work, and a description of the jobsite sufficient to identify it. The ninety-day notice must state with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party to whom the material was supplied or for whom the labor was performed. Both go to the contractor . The statute does not name the surety or the public owner.
Bid Contracts vs. CMAR, Design-Build and Job-Order Contracts
Arizona has a parallel set of bond sections for alternative project delivery. Contracts for construction-manager-at-risk , design-build and job-order-contracting construction services are bonded under § 34-610 , and claims on those bonds follow § 34-611 . The skeleton is the same: 90 days unpaid before suit, the two notices to the contractor for a second-tier claimant, and one year from last furnishing to sue. Three details differ. First, the 90-day notice under § 34-611(A) must be served by registered or certified mail , while § 34-223(A)(2) accepts any means that provides written, third-party verification of delivery . Second, § 34-223 borrows subsections E, F and H of the twenty-day notice statute, while § 34-611 borrows only E and H. Third, a § 34-610 bond is furnished only when the contract or an amendment commits the contractor to a fixed price or a guaranteed maximum price, and it covers construction, not design, preconstruction, finance, maintenance or operations services. The practical rule: find out how the owner procured the prime contract before sending anything, and use certified mail with a return receipt for the 90-day notice either way. That one method satisfies both statutes.
Every Arizona Public-Work Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System runs the 20-day notice from first furnishing, and the 90-day notice, the day-91 suit date, and the one-year limitation from last furnishing. Private-work rules are on the Arizona lien statutes page, with the calculator on the Arizona mechanics lien hub . The last two rows are federal. Work under a prime contract with the Army Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, or GSA is Miller Act work under 40 U.S.C. § 3133. The Miller Act has no twenty-day notice, and its suit is filed in U.S. District Court.
Getting the Bond and Using the Payment Statute
Section 34-222(D) requires the bonds to be filed in the office of the contracting body that awarded the contract, and § 34-223(C) gives claimants a way to get them. On written application stating that you supplied labor or materials and have not been paid, the contracting body must furnish a certified copy of the bond and the contract , for a fee covering the actual cost. The copy is prima facie evidence of the original. The surety must hold a certificate of authority from the Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions, and § 34-222(C) bars individual sureties. Arizona’s public-work payment statute, A.R.S. § 34-221 , gives subcontractors a second set of tools before a bond claim is needed. Subsection G requires the contractor, and each subcontractor down the chain, to pay within seven days after receiving each progress payment unless otherwise agreed in writing, and subsection K adds interest at 1 percent per month starting on the eighth day. Under subsection H, a subcontractor may ask the purchasing agency in writing to be notified within five days after each progress payment to the contractor. That notification request is worth filing on every Arizona public job. It tells you when the prime was paid, which starts the seven-day clock, and a pattern of paid-but-not-passed-down progress payments is the earliest warning that a bond claim is coming. Subsection G…
Generate the Arizona Bond Notices From One Project Record
Arizona Bond Claim Notice Generator Produce the § 34-223(A)(1) preliminary twenty-day notice to the contractor at first delivery, the § 34-223(A)(2) or § 34-611(A) ninety-day notice with the amount claimed, the § 34-223(C) application for a certified bond copy, and a calendar with the day-90 notice deadline, the day-91 earliest suit date, and the one-year suit deadline. Pair it with the property search tool to confirm the public owner, the bond claim hub to compare Arizona with other Little Miller Act states, mechanics lien vs. bond claim for choosing the remedy early, the mechanics lien deadlines by state pillar, and the lien waiver center before signing a release that also waives bond rights. When the contractor disputes the claim or the surety goes quiet, connect with an Arizona construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network.
Track the Arizona Bond Clock Automatically
The Mechanics Lien Management lien generator produces the twenty-day notice, the ninety-day notice, and the certified-copy application from one project record. The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 20-day and 90-day notices, the day-91 suit date, and the one-year limitation. Miss the deadline and you lose your bond rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What notices does an Arizona payment bond claim require?
A claimant with a direct contract with a subcontractor, but no contractual relationship with the contractor that furnished the bond, must give the contractor two written notices under A.R.S. § 34-223(A). The first is a preliminary twenty-day notice containing the information required by § 33-992.01(C)(1) through (4). The second is a ninety-day notice, given within 90 days after the claimant last performed labor or furnished material, stating with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party to whom the material was furnished or for whom the labor was performed.
Does a first-tier subcontractor need to send notice on an Arizona bond claim?
No. Section 34-223(A) gives every claimant that furnished labor or material on a bonded contract, and was not paid in full within 90 days after its last furnishing, the right to sue on the payment bond. The two notices are required only of a claimant with no contractual relationship, express or implied, with the contractor, which means a second-tier subcontractor or a supplier to a subcontractor. A subcontractor or supplier in direct contract with the contractor owes neither notice, although a written demand is still good practice.
Is the Arizona 20-day preliminary notice required on public projects?
For a second-tier claimant pursuing a payment bond claim, yes. Section 34-223(A)(1) makes a written preliminary twenty-day notice a condition of the bond claim, borrowing the content rules of § 33-992.01(C)(1) through (4) and subsections E, F and H. The notice goes to the contractor, is due within 20 days after first furnishing to the jobsite, and must describe the labor or materials with an estimated total price, identify the claimant and the party that ordered the work, and describe the jobsite. A late notice covers only what was furnished within 20 days before it was served and afterward.
How must the Arizona 90-day bond notice be delivered?
It depends on the delivery method of the prime contract. On a conventional bid contract under § 34-223(A)(2), the notice may be given by any means that provides written, third-party verification of delivery to the contractor at any place the contractor maintains an office or conducts business, or at its residence. On construction-manager-at-risk, design-build and job-order-contracting work, § 34-611(A) requires registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the contractor at the same kinds of locations. Certified mail with a return receipt satisfies both.
How long do you have to sue on an Arizona payment bond?
One year from the date the claimant bringing the suit last performed labor or supplied materials. Section 34-223(B) requires the suit to be brought in the claimant's name and bars any suit commenced after that year, and § 34-611(B) applies the same rule to CMAR, design-build and job-order contracts. Suit also cannot come too early, because the right to sue arises only when the claimant has not been paid in full 90 days after its last furnishing. Every Arizona payment bond must allow the prevailing party to recover reasonable attorney fees, which cuts both ways.
Which Arizona public projects require a payment bond?
Under A.R.S. § 34-222(A), unless a statute specifically exempts the work, a contractor must furnish a performance bond and a payment bond, each equal to the full contract amount, before any contract is executed for construction, alteration or repair of a public building, work or improvement of a county, city or town, and of irrigation, power, electrical, drainage, flood control, public improvement and county or city improvement districts. State agencies follow § 41-2574, which requires the bonds when a construction award exceeds the $100,000 amount set in § 41-2535. Bonds must be written by a surety company authorized in Arizona.
How do you get a copy of the payment bond on an Arizona public project?
Make a written application to the contracting body. Under § 34-223(C), the contracting body and the agent in charge of its office must furnish a certified copy of the bond and the contract to anyone who states that they supplied labor or materials and have not been paid, that they are being sued on the bond, or that they are the surety. The applicant pays a fee set to cover the actual cost of preparing the copies. The certified copy is prima facie evidence of the contents, execution and delivery of the original. Section 34-222(D) requires the bonds to be filed in the office of the contracting body.