Mississippi Payment Bond Claim — The 90-Day Remote-Claimant Notice, the Coverage Tiers and the One-Year Suit Bar (Miss. Code Ann. § 31-5-51, 2026)
✓ Verified against Mississippi statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Mississippi mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
None (owner) — Sub: pre-notice
Mechanics Lien
12 months — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
1 year — From filing
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Why Mississippi Public Work Runs on a Bond
On a private Mississippi job, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier files a claim of lien with the chancery clerk within 90 days after its last furnishing under the 2014 construction lien law, Miss. Code Ann. § 85-7-405. The Mississippi notice of commencement guide covers the owner filing that comes first. A Jackson Public Schools building, an MDOT bridge in DeSoto County, a dormitory at Ole Miss or Mississippi State, or a Gulfport port project is different. Public property cannot be liened, and the claimant’s security is the contractor’s payment bond. Mississippi’s bond statute follows the federal Miller Act closely: the same 90-day wait before a first-tier suit, the same rule that only a remote claimant owes a notice, and a one-year suit bar counted from the claimant’s own last day. It differs in two places. The remote claimant may notify the contractor or the surety, and the statute spells out exactly which tiers the bond protects. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats a Mississippi public job as a one-date file . Both the 90-day notice and the one-year suit bar run from your own last labor or material, so the date you record when the last load leaves the yard drives everything.
The Bond: Full Contract Amount, With a $25,000 Lump-Sum Exception
Miss. Code Ann. § 31-5-51(1) requires a contractor on a contract for the construction, alteration or repair of any public building or public work to furnish two bonds: a performance bond and a payment bond, each in an amount not less than the contract amount . The payment bond secures those who furnish labor and material for the work. Section 31-5-51(5) carves out small jobs. On a contract under $25,000 , the owner may elect to pay in a lump sum after completion and acceptance by the governing agency, and then neither bond is required. On those jobs, confirm in writing whether a bond exists before you extend credit, because there may be nothing to claim against. The statute does not expressly list equipment rental. It protects those who furnish “labor or material.” An equipment lessor should not assume coverage. Read the bond form, and talk to counsel before relying on it for a rental-only claim.
Who the Bond Protects, and Who Owes the 90-Day Notice
Section 31-5-51(4) limits the bond, subject to the notice rules, to three groups: The notice comes from § 31-5-51(3). A person with a direct contract with a subcontractor but no contract with the bonded contractor must give written notice to the contractor or the surety within 90 days from the last day it performed labor or delivered material. 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 done. Delivery is by personal delivery or certified mail, return receipt requested , postage prepaid, at any place the contractor or surety maintains an office or conducts business. The statute lets you pick either recipient. Send to both anyway. The surety pays the claim, and the contractor is the one that can resolve it before suit.
The 90-Day Wait and the One-Year Bar
Under § 31-5-51(2), a claimant that has not been paid in full within 90 days after its last labor or material may sue on the payment bond for the amount unpaid when the suit is filed. Where approval of the claim by the public authority, its architect or its engineer is required, the claim must be approved, or approval must be withheld because of the contractor’s unreasonable acts. If the claim is subject to contract conditions between the parties, the action is abated until they are met. Section 31-5-53 sets the outside date. A suit on the payment bond must be commenced within one year after the last day the claimant performed labor or supplied material, and not later. It may be filed in the county where the contract or any part of it was performed, or in a county where process can be served on the principal or the surety. The performance bond, which protects the public owner, runs instead from final payment on the contract. Because the year runs from your own last day, it can close while the project is still under construction. A site-work subcontractor that finished in month three of a two-year hospital build has to sue by month fifteen. If you are inside 90 days of that date with an unpaid balance, the file belongs with a Mississippi construction attorney now.
Every Mississippi Public-Project Claim Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the 90-day notice and the one-year suit bar from the last-furnishing date you enter. Private-work rules are on the Mississippi lien statutes page, with the calculator on the Mississippi mechanics lien hub . The last row covers federal prime contracts in Mississippi, such as Keesler Air Force Base, Columbus Air Force Base, Naval Air Station Meridian and Camp Shelby. Those run under the federal Miller Act. Its timing matches Mississippi’s closely, but its second-tier notice must go to the prime contractor, not to the surety.
Confirm Your Tier, Send the Notice, Sue Inside the Year
Mississippi Public Works Workflow Get the bond and the surety’s name from the public owner, confirm you are within the three protected tiers, send the 90-day notice to the contractor and the surety by certified mail if you work for a subcontractor, and file suit well inside one year of your last labor or material. Pair it with these resources: Because the claim ends in a lawsuit, connect early with a Mississippi construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network, or request a formal attorney review of the claim file.
Your Last Day Starts Both Clocks
The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 90-day notice and the one-year suit bar on every Mississippi public job. Miss the deadline and you lose your claim rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the notice deadline for a Mississippi payment bond claim?
Ninety days from the claimant's last labor or material, and only for a claimant that has a direct contract with a subcontractor but no contract with the bonded contractor. Under Miss. Code Ann. § 31-5-51(3), that claimant gives written notice stating with substantial accuracy 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.
Who gets the Mississippi bond claim notice?
The contractor or the surety. Section 31-5-51(3) lets the claimant give written notice to either one, by personal delivery or by certified mail, return receipt requested, postage prepaid, at any place the contractor or surety maintains an office or conducts business. Sending the notice to both is the safer practice, because the surety is the party that pays and the contractor is often the party that has stopped paying.
When is the deadline to sue on a Mississippi public works bond?
One year after the last day the claimant performed labor or supplied material. Miss. Code Ann. § 31-5-53 says suit on the payment bond must be commenced within that year and not later. It may be brought in the county where the contract or any part of it was performed, or in a county where process can be served on the principal or the surety. The performance bond, which protects the public owner, runs one year from final payment instead.
When can a first-tier claimant sue on a Mississippi payment bond?
After 90 days have passed since its last labor or material without full payment. Section 31-5-51(2) also requires that the claim have been approved where approval by the public authority or its architect or engineer is required, or that approval be withheld because of the contractor's unreasonable acts. If the claim is subject to contract conditions between the parties, the action is abated until those conditions are met.
Who is protected by a Mississippi payment bond?
Three groups, under Miss. Code Ann. § 31-5-51(4): subcontractors and material suppliers of the contractor; sub-subcontractors and material suppliers of those subcontractors; and laborers who performed work on the project site. A supplier to a supplier, or a claimant three tiers below the contractor, falls outside that list, so confirm your tier before relying on the bond.
Which Mississippi public jobs require a payment bond?
Miss. Code Ann. § 31-5-51(1) requires a contractor on a contract for the construction, alteration or repair of a public building or public work to furnish a performance bond and a payment bond, each in an amount not less than the contract amount. Under § 31-5-51(5), on a contract under $25,000 the owner may instead pay in a lump sum after completion and acceptance by the governing agency, and then no bonds are required.
Can you file a construction lien on a Mississippi public project?
No. Public property cannot be sold to satisfy a contractor's debt, so the 90-day claim of lien filed with the chancery clerk under the 2014 construction lien law, Miss. Code Ann. § 85-7-405, is a private-property remedy. On a bonded Mississippi public job, the bond claim is the remedy. The two windows happen to be the same length, 90 days from last furnishing, but they are counted for different filings.