Arkansas Payment Bond Claim — The 90-Day Notice, the Circuit Clerk Filing and the Earlier-Of Suit Deadline (Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-508, 2026)
✓ Verified against Arkansas statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Arkansas mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
75 days — Notice to Owner
Mechanics Lien
120 days — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
15 months — From filing
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Why Arkansas Public Work Runs on a Bond
On a private Arkansas job, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier files a lien with the circuit clerk within 120 days after its last furnishing under Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-117, after the owner notices covered in the Arkansas notice to owner guide . A Little Rock school, an ARDOT bridge in Benton County, a University of Arkansas building in Fayetteville or a Fort Smith water plant is different. Public property cannot be liened, and the claimant’s security is the contractor’s payment bond. Arkansas spreads its public bond law across two chapters. Title 22, §§ 22-9-401 to 22-9-404, makes every public works bond answer for labor and materials. Title 18, §§ 18-44-503 to 18-44-508, sets the threshold, the filing rule, the notice and the suit deadline. The second group is where the dates live, and it is the one many checklists skip. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats an Arkansas public job as a two-date file . The 90-day notice date is set by your own last delivery. The one-year suit date is set by the contractor: final payment or the day it stopped work, whichever comes first. Both go on the calendar the day the job is set up.
The Bond: Full Contract Price Over $50,000, Filed at the Courthouse
Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-503(a) requires every contractor on a public construction contract exceeding $50,000 to give the contracting public body a payment bond equal to the amount of the contract . The rule reaches the State of Arkansas and its political subdivisions, counties, municipalities, school districts, other local taxing units and their agencies. Under § 18-44-506, the surety must be a solvent corporate surety licensed to do business in Arkansas. Coverage is broad. Section 18-44-503(b) says the bond covers all claims for labor and materials necessary or used for the contract, and lists construction worker wages, supervisory and administrative salaries, temporary facilities, equipment and hand-tool rental , building permits, testing fees, fuel, bond and insurance premiums and taxes. Section 22-9-401(b) adds food for workers and payments owed to the state on wages earned on the job. Under § 22-9-403, that liability is part of the bond even if the bond form leaves it out. The feature most claimants miss is § 18-44-507. The contractor must file the payment bond with the circuit clerk of the county where the work is performed before construction begins. If it does not, the public body owes the contractor nothing until the bond is filed and a file-marked copy is delivered. For a supplier, that means the bond, the bond number and the surety’s name are a public record at the…
Who Owes the 90-Day Notice
Section 18-44-508(d)(1) puts the notice burden on one group: a claimant with no contractual relationship with the contractor that furnished the payment bond. That claimant must give written notice to the contractor and its surety within 90 days after it last performed labor or furnished material or services for the claim. Under § 18-44-508(d)(2), the notice must state the amount claimed and the name of the party to whom the materials were furnished or for whom the labor was performed. It must be served by a method that provides written third-party verification of delivery to the contractor at its residence or a place it maintains an office or does business, or in any manner allowed for service of process under the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. Certified mail with a return receipt, or a courier with signature tracking, gives the verification. Send the surety’s copy the same way, to the address on the bond you pulled from the circuit clerk. A first-tier claimant that owes no notice should still send one: it puts the surety on alert while the money is still in the job.
The One-Year Suit Deadline Runs From the Contractor, Not From You
Section 18-44-508(a) lets anyone with a valid claim against the payment bond sue the corporate surety . Under § 18-44-508(b), the action on a payment bond must be brought within one year of the earlier of two dates: final payment on the construction contract, or the date the principal on the bond ceases work on the contract. The performance bond, which protects the public owner, gets two years on the same test under § 18-44-508(c). Neither trigger is your own last day. On a long school build, a site-work supplier that delivered in the first month may have far more than a year from its last invoice before final payment, but if the prime defaults and leaves the job, the year starts the day it leaves. Watch for signs the contractor has stopped work, and ask the public owner in writing when final payment was or will be made. Section 18-44-508(e) adds a venue rule: a civil action under the subchapter may not be brought outside Arkansas . If you are within 90 days of either trigger with an unpaid balance, the file belongs with an Arkansas construction attorney now.
Every Arkansas Public-Project Claim Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the 90-day notice from your last furnishing and the one-year suit date from the final payment or work-stoppage date you enter. Private-work rules are on the Arkansas lien statutes page, with the calculator on the Arkansas mechanics lien hub . The last row covers federal prime contracts in Arkansas, such as Little Rock Air Force Base, Pine Bluff Arsenal and Fort Chaffee. Those run under the federal Miller Act, whose suit year counts from the claimant’s own last furnishing. A supplier working both kinds of jobs needs two different suit calculations.
Pull the Bond, Send Two Notices, Watch the Contractor
Arkansas Public Works Workflow Get a file-marked copy of the bond from the county circuit clerk. If you work for a subcontractor or supplier, send the 90-day notice to both the contractor and the surety with delivery verification. Then track final payment and any work stoppage, and file suit in Arkansas well inside the year. Pair it with these resources: Because the claim ends in a lawsuit against the surety, connect early with an Arkansas construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network, or request a formal attorney review of the claim file.
The Suit Year Can Start Before You Know It
The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 90-day notice and the earlier-of suit deadline on every Arkansas public job. Miss the deadline and you lose your claim rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the notice deadline for an Arkansas payment bond claim?
Ninety days after the claimant's last labor, material or services, and only for a claimant that has no contract with the bonded contractor. Under Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-508(d), that claimant gives written notice to the contractor and its surety stating the amount claimed and the name of the party it supplied or worked for. A subcontractor or supplier in direct contract with the bonded contractor owes no notice under the statute.
Who gets the Arkansas bond claim notice?
Both the bonded contractor and its surety. Section 18-44-508(d) requires the notice to go to the contractor and the surety, delivered by any method that gives written third-party verification of delivery to the contractor's residence or a place it keeps an office or does business, or in any manner allowed for service of process under the Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure. Certified mail with a return receipt meets the verification requirement.
When is the deadline to sue on an Arkansas public works bond?
One year from the earlier of two dates: final payment on the construction contract, or the date the bonded contractor ceases work on the contract. Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-508(b) sets that rule for actions on a payment bond, and § 18-44-508(e) requires the action to be brought in Arkansas. The deadline is not counted from the claimant's own last day on the job, so a supplier that delivered early in a long project has less time than the date of its last invoice suggests.
Which Arkansas public jobs require a payment bond?
Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-503(a) requires a payment bond equal to the contract amount on any public construction contract exceeding $50,000 let by the State of Arkansas, its political subdivisions, counties, municipalities, school districts, other local taxing units, or their agencies. The bond must be issued by a solvent corporate surety licensed in Arkansas under § 18-44-506.
Where do you find the payment bond on an Arkansas public project?
In the circuit clerk's office of the county where the work is performed. Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-507(a) requires the contractor to file the payment bond there before construction begins, and § 18-44-507(b) relieves the party letting the contract of any duty to pay the contractor until the bond is filed and a file-marked copy is delivered. The filed bond names the surety you must notify.
What does an Arkansas public works bond cover?
All claims for labor and materials necessary or used for the public construction contract. Section 18-44-503(b) lists, among other items, construction worker wages, supervisory and administrative salaries, temporary facilities, equipment and hand-tool rental or purchase, building permits, testing fees, fuel, bond and insurance premiums, and taxes on the work. Section 22-9-401(b) adds food for workers and payments owed to the state on wages earned on the project.
Can you file a mechanics lien on an Arkansas public project?
No. Public property cannot be sold to satisfy a contractor's debt, so the 120-day lien filing rule under Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-117 applies to private property only. On a bonded Arkansas public job the claim runs against the payment bond, and Ark. Code Ann. § 22-9-403 makes the § 22-9-401 labor-and-materials liability part of every public works bond whether or not the bond spells it out.