Nebraska Payment Bond Claim — The Four-Month Notice, the 90-Day Wait and the One-Year Suit Bar (Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-118.01, 2026)
✓ Verified against Nebraska statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Nebraska mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
None — N/A
Mechanics Lien
4 months — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
2 years — From filing
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Why Nebraska Public Work Runs on a Bond
On a private Nebraska job, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier records a construction lien within 120 days after its final furnishing under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-137, and the Nebraska notice of right to assert a lien guide covers the residential notice that can come first. An Omaha school, a Lincoln water main, a county bridge in Sarpy County or a University of Nebraska building is different. Public property cannot be liened, and the claimant’s security is the contractor’s payment bond. Nebraska’s bond statute is a close copy of the federal Miller Act . It has the same 90-day wait before suit and the same rule that only a remote claimant owes a notice. The differences are in the numbers: the notice window is four months instead of 90 days, and the suit bar runs from final settlement of the prime contract instead of the claimant’s last furnishing. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats a Nebraska public job as a two-date file . The four-month notice date is set by your own last delivery. The one-year suit date is set by the public owner’s final settlement. Both go on the calendar the day the job is set up.
The Bond: Full Contract Price, With Small-Job Exceptions
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-118(1) requires the State of Nebraska and its agencies, county boards, cities, villages, school districts and other public boards to take a payment bond from the contractor on contracts for erecting, furnishing or repairing a public building, bridge, highway or other public structure or improvement. The bond must be in a sum not less than the contract price , with a corporate surety, and it covers labor plus material and equipment rental actually used or rented on the work. Section 52-118(2) exempts state projects with a total cost of $15,000 or less and local projects of $10,000 or less , unless the public body writes a bond requirement into the specifications. On those small jobs, confirm in writing whether a bond exists before you extend credit. Under § 52-118(3), the bond is filed with, approved by and kept by the public body that awarded the contract, and the contract may not be signed until it is. That public body is where to ask for a copy with the surety’s name and the bond number.
Who Owes the Four-Month Notice
The 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 done. It is served by registered or certified mail , postage prepaid, addressed to the contractor at any place it keeps an office, conducts business or resides, or in any other manner a notice may be served. The statute names only the contractor. Many checklists list Nebraska as a 120-day notice to the prime and the surety, but the surety is not a required recipient and the window is four months, not 120 days. Send the surety a copy anyway: it is the party that pays, and a copy costs one more certified letter.
The 90-Day Wait and the One-Year Bar
Section 52-118.01 gives the right to sue to a person who has not been paid in full within 90 days after its last labor or material. The claimant may sue for the unpaid balance at the time suit is filed and take the action to judgment and execution. Section 52-118.02 sets the outside date: no suit may be commenced more than one year after the date of final settlement of the principal contract , and the action is brought in the name of the claimant. An annotation to that section describes final settlement as a determination, made and recorded under established administrative practice by the officer or department in charge, that the contract is complete and final payment is due. Final settlement is a date you do not control. Ask the public owner, in writing, when it was or will be recorded. If you are within 90 days of the one-year mark with an unpaid balance, the file belongs with a Nebraska construction attorney now.
Every Nebraska Public-Project Claim Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the four-month notice from your last furnishing and the one-year bar from the final settlement date you enter. Private-work rules are on the Nebraska lien statutes page, with the calculator on the Nebraska mechanics lien hub . The last row covers federal prime contracts in Nebraska, such as Offutt Air Force Base and Army Corps of Engineers work on the Missouri River. Those run under the federal Miller Act, whose second-tier notice is 90 days, shorter than Nebraska’s four months. A supplier working both kinds of jobs should calendar the shorter federal date on federal work.
Send the Notice and Calendar Final Settlement
Nebraska Public Works Workflow Get the bond from the awarding public body, send the four-month notice to the contractor by certified mail (copy to the surety) if you work for a subcontractor, wait out the 90 days, and file suit well inside one year of final settlement. Pair it with these resources: Because the claim ends in a lawsuit, connect early with a Nebraska construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network, or request a formal attorney review of the claim file.
Four Months Is Not 120 Days
The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the four-month notice, the 90-day wait and the one-year suit bar on every Nebraska public job. Miss the deadline and you lose your claim rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the notice deadline for a Nebraska payment bond claim?
Four months 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 Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-118.01, that claimant gives written notice to the contractor stating with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the party it supplied or worked for. A claimant in direct contract with the bonded contractor owes no notice.
Who gets the Nebraska bond claim notice?
The contractor that furnished the bond. Section 52-118.01 requires service by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the contractor at any place it keeps an office, conducts business or resides, or in any other manner in which a notice may be served. The statute does not name the surety or the public owner as recipients. Sending a copy to the surety is still sensible, because the surety is who pays.
When can you sue on a Nebraska public works bond?
Not before 90 days have passed since your last labor or material without full payment, and not more than one year after the date of final settlement of the principal contract. Section 52-118.01 opens the right to sue after the 90 days, and § 52-118.02 closes it one year after final settlement. The suit is brought in the name of the claimant.
What is final settlement on a Nebraska public contract?
An annotation to Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-118.02 describes final settlement under a public building contract as a determination, made and recorded under established administrative practice by the officer or department in charge, that the contract has been completed and final payment is due. It is a project event recorded by the public owner, not the claimant's last day, so ask the owner in writing for the date.
Which Nebraska public jobs require a payment bond?
Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-118 requires the state, its agencies, county boards, cities, villages, school districts and other public boards to take a payment bond of not less than the contract price on contracts for public buildings, bridges, highways and other public structures or improvements. No bond is required on a state project with a total cost of $15,000 or less, or a local project of $10,000 or less, unless the specifications require one.
Can you file a construction lien on a Nebraska public project?
No. The § 52-118 bond exists for public work to which the general mechanics' lien laws do not apply and where laborers and suppliers have no lien. The Nebraska Construction Lien Act's 120-day recording rule under § 52-137 is for private property. On a bonded public job, the bond claim is the remedy.
Does the Nebraska bond cover equipment rental?
Yes. Section 52-118 conditions the bond on payment for labor and for material and equipment rental actually used or rented in erecting, furnishing or repairing the public structure or improvement, or in performing the contract. An equipment lessor that rented to a subcontractor follows the same four-month notice rule as a remote supplier.