Hawaii Payment Bond Claim — The 90-Day Notice to Contractor and Surety, the State's Priority and the One-Year Circuit Court Clock (HRS § 103D-324, 2026)
✓ Verified against Hawaii statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Hawaii mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
None — N/A
Mechanics Lien
45 days — From completion
Enforcement
3 months — From filing
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Why a Hawaii Public Job Runs on a Bond
Hawaii’s private-work lien is unusual: instead of recording a document, the claimant files an application in circuit court within 45 days of completion and wins a probable-cause hearing, as the Hawaii notice of mechanic’s lien guide explains. None of that reaches a Department of Education school, a University of Hawaii lab, a Harbors Division pier, an airport concourse or a City and County of Honolulu sewer job. Public land cannot be sold to pay a contractor’s debts, so the protection is the payment bond the prime delivers when the contract is signed. Hawaii puts the whole bond rule in one section of the procurement code, HRS § 103D-324 . Subsection (a) requires the bond, subsection (d) gives claimants the right to sue and sets the notice condition, and subsection (e) sets venue and the one-year limit. Three features stand out against other states. The notice goes to the contractor and the surety . The statute does not excuse first-tier claimants from it. And the State has priority on the bond ahead of every subcontractor and supplier. The Mechanics Lien Management Method handles a Hawaii public job as one notice, two recipients and one courthouse. Your notice clock starts at your last delivery. The suit clock is tied to the last work on the whole contract. The courthouse is set by the island where the project sits.
The Bond: Over $25,000, 100% of the Contract
Under HRS § 103D-324(a), unless the procurement policy board provides otherwise by rule, a performance bond and a payment bond (or a combined performance and payment bond) are delivered to the purchasing agency and become binding when the contract is executed. The requirement applies when the awarded contract exceeds $25,000 and is for construction , or when the purchasing agency obtains the chief procurement officer’s approval. The payment bond protects all persons supplying labor and material to the contractor for the contract work, and it equals 100 percent of the contract price . Two qualifications matter in practice. The bond can be executed by a surety company authorized in Hawaii or “otherwise secured in a manner satisfactory to the purchasing agency,” so the security on your job may be something other than a classic surety bond. And under subsection (b), the policy board may adopt rules letting an agency head reduce the bond amount. Ask the agency for a copy of the bond and the surety’s address before you need either. The bond is not a private fund for subcontractors. Under subsection (d), recovery is subject to the State’s priority on the bonds . If the sureties’ full liability cannot cover every claim, the State is paid first and the rest is split pro rata among claimants. When a prime fails mid-project, the agency’s completion costs come off the top.
The 90-Day Notice: To the Contractor and the Surety
HRS § 103D-324(d) makes written notice a condition precedent to any suit on the bond. It is due within 90 days from the date on which the claimant did the last labor or furnished the last material for which the claim is made. The statute states the notice as a condition of “any such suit” and does not split claimants into first tier and remote, as the federal Miller Act and states such as Alaska do. The safe reading for every Hawaii claimant, including a subcontractor hired by the prime, is to send it. Shipping makes the date tricky. Material that leaves the West Coast in March and is installed on Kauai in June was usually “furnished” when it was delivered to the job, not when it was installed. Pin your last-furnishing date from delivery tickets, not from the schedule.
The 90-Day Wait, the One-Year Limit and the Right Courthouse
Under HRS § 103D-324(d), a claimant not paid before 90 days have passed since its last labor or material may sue the contractor and its sureties on the bond for the unpaid balance. A suit filed sooner is premature. Under subsection (e), the suit is brought in the circuit court of the circuit in which the project is located : the First Circuit for Oahu, the Second for Maui, Molokai and Lanai, the Third for Hawaii Island, and the Fifth for Kauai and Niihau. No suit may be started after one year from the day the last labor was performed or material supplied for the work provided in the contract . The obligee named in the bond does not have to be joined. The limit is worded around the contract’s last work, not “by the claimant,” which is how the federal Miller Act phrases it. That reading can give an early-finishing sub more time, but it also makes the deadline depend on facts you do not control. The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the year from your own last furnishing, the earliest date it could run. If you are near that anniversary, bring the file to a Hawaii construction attorney instead of relying on the later date.
Every Hawaii Public-Project Deadline in One Table
Private-work rules live on the Hawaii lien statutes page, and the calculator is on the Hawaii mechanics lien hub . The federal row matters in Hawaii more than almost anywhere. Military construction at Pearl Harbor, Hickam, Schofield Barracks, Kaneohe Bay and the Pacific Missile Range Facility runs under the federal Miller Act, where only second-tier claimants send notice and the year runs from the claimant’s own last furnishing. A supplier working both state and federal jobs on Oahu needs two rule sets. The mechanics lien vs. bond claim guide sets them side by side.
Get the Bond, Send Two Notices, File in the Right Circuit
Hawaii Public Works Workflow Request the payment bond and the surety’s address at the start. Within 90 days of your last delivery, send the notice to the contractor and the surety by registered or certified mail. If you are still unpaid after 90 days, sue in the circuit where the project sits, inside one year. Pair it with these resources: Because the claim ends in a circuit court suit against the surety, connect early with a Hawaii construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network, or request a formal attorney review of the claim file.
Two Recipients, 90 Days, No Second Chance
The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 90-day notice, the 90-day wait and the one-year suit clock on every Hawaii public job. Miss the deadline and you lose your claim rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for a Hawaii payment bond claim notice?
Ninety days from the date the claimant performed its last labor or furnished the last of its material for which the claim is made. HRS § 103D-324(d) makes written notice a condition precedent to any suit on the payment bond. The notice must state 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.
Who receives the Hawaii bond claim notice?
Both the contractor and the surety. HRS § 103D-324(d) requires the notice to be served by registered or certified mail on the contractor and the surety at any place they maintain an office or conduct business, or in any manner the law authorizes for serving a summons. Sending it only to the prime, or only to the state agency, does not satisfy the statute.
Does a first-tier subcontractor have to send the Hawaii notice?
Treat the answer as yes. Unlike the federal Miller Act and many state versions, which excuse claimants in direct contract with the prime, HRS § 103D-324(d) states the notice as a condition precedent to any such suit without carving out first-tier claimants. A subcontractor or supplier hired directly by the prime should send the 90-day notice to the contractor and the surety just as a second-tier supplier would.
When is the deadline to sue on a Hawaii public works payment bond?
No suit may be started after one year from the day on which the last of the labor was performed or material was supplied for the work provided in the contract (HRS § 103D-324(e)). Suit may not be filed until 90 days have passed since the claimant's own last labor or material. It is brought in the circuit court of the circuit where the project is located, and the public agency named in the bond need not be joined.
Which Hawaii public contracts require a payment bond?
Under HRS § 103D-324(a), unless the procurement policy board provides otherwise by rule, a payment bond equal to 100 percent of the contract price is required when the awarded contract exceeds $25,000 and is for construction, or when the purchasing agency obtains the chief procurement officer's approval. The policy board may adopt rules letting the head of a purchasing agency reduce the bond amount (HRS § 103D-324(b)).
What happens if the Hawaii payment bond is too small to pay every claim?
The State is paid first. HRS § 103D-324(d) makes every claimant's recovery subject to the State's priority on the bonds. If the sureties' full liability is not enough to pay all claims, the remainder after the State's amount is distributed pro rata among the claimants. On a troubled job where the agency also has claims against the prime, the pot for subcontractors and suppliers can shrink.
Can I file a mechanic's lien application on a Hawaii school or harbor project?
No. The HRS § 507-43 lien application is a private-property remedy, and public property is not subject to it. On a Department of Education school, a University of Hawaii building, an airport or harbor project, or a City and County of Honolulu job, the security is the contractor's payment bond. Federal work at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Schofield Barracks or Marine Corps Base Hawaii runs under the federal Miller Act.