Nevada Payment Bond Claim — Remote Claimants Owe the Contractor Two Notices, One 30 Days After They Start and One 90 Days After They Finish, and Suit Runs One Year (NRS 339.035, 2026)
✓ Verified against Nevada statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Nevada mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
31 days (comm) — Notice of Right
Mechanics Lien
90 days — From completion
Enforcement
6 months — From filing
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Why Nevada Public Work Runs on a Bond
On a private Nevada job, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier works under NRS chapter 108, starting with the 31-day notice of right to lien under NRS 108.245 and ending with a recorded lien. A Clark County School District campus, a UNLV or UNR building, a Washoe County water project or a Las Vegas fire station is different. Public property cannot be liened, so Nevada’s chapter 339 puts a payment bond between the claimant and the public owner instead. The Nevada statute is short, six sections, and it was modeled closely on the federal Miller Act. That makes it look familiar, and the familiar parts are accurate: a 90-day notice for remote claimants and a one-year suit window. The part that catches claimants is the piece the federal act does not have. A Nevada remote claimant owes a second, earlier notice , due 30 days after it starts work or deliveries. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats a Nevada public job as a start-of-job file for every claimant below the first tier. The 30-day notice goes out with the first delivery ticket, before anyone knows whether the job will pay.
What NRS 339.035 Actually Requires
Start with who owes it . The notices bind a claimant in direct contract with a subcontractor and with no contract, express or implied, with the bonded contractor. A first-tier subcontractor or supplier that contracted with the general contractor owes neither. Under NRS 339.035(1) it may sue on the bond in its own name once it has gone unpaid for 90 days after its last labor or material. Next, the two notices . The first, within 30 days after first furnishing, tells the contractor the nature of the materials or labor, identifies the person who contracted for them, and identifies the site. The second, within 90 days after last furnishing, is the claim itself. The statute says each notice must state with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the person for whom the work was performed or to whom the material was supplied. Then the recipient and delivery . Both notices go to the contractor that gave the bond, by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, addressed to any place the contractor maintains an office or conducts business, or its residence. That places Nevada among the exceptions on the Little Miller Act deadlines map , alongside Michigan, which also pairs a 30-day start-of-work notice with a 90-day claim notice.
The Two Notices, Field by Field
Nevada does not prescribe a form, so the content comes straight from the statute. Read as a checklist: The amount line on the 30-day notice is awkward, since nothing is owed yet. Use the contract or purchase order value, or the expected value of the materials, and say so. The goal is a notice a court reads as substantially accurate, not a guess the contractor can attack later.
Every Nevada Public-Works Claim Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the 30-day notice from your first-furnishing date and the 90-day notice and one-year suit date from your last. Private-work rules are on the Nevada lien statutes page, with the calculator on the Nevada mechanics lien hub . The last two rows cover federal prime contracts in Nevada, such as work at Nellis and Creech Air Force Bases, the Nevada National Security Site, and Bureau of Reclamation projects at Hoover Dam. Those run under the federal Miller Act , which has the 90-day notice and one-year suit but no 30-day start-of-work notice. A Nevada sub working both kinds of jobs needs both calendars.
NDOT Highway Work Uses a Different Chapter
NRS 339.025 applies to contracts “except one subject to the provisions of chapter 408 of NRS,” the Department of Transportation’s highway statute. An NDOT job on I-15, US-95 or the I-80 corridor runs on a different bond and a different procedure. Under NRS 408.357, the NDOT labor and material bond equals the full contract amount, not half. Under NRS 408.363(1), any person who furnished labor, materials or supplies to the contractor or its subcontractors and wants the bond’s protection files a claim in triplicate with the Department within 30 days from the date of final acceptance of the contract. The claim must be executed and verified before a notary public and state that it has not been paid. One copy stays with NDOT and the others go to the contractor and the surety. Under NRS 408.363(2), the claimant then has six months after final acceptance to sue the surety, and failing to sue in that time bars the claim. Final acceptance is NDOT’s act, not the claimant’s, so a supplier on a highway job has to watch for it. Ask the prime or the NDOT resident engineer for the expected acceptance date well before the job closes.
Suing on the Bond: Wait 90 Days, Then One Year
NRS 339.035(1) gives the right of action only to a claimant that has not been paid in full before 90 days have passed since its last labor or material. NRS 339.055(2) bars any action brought more than one year after the same date. In practice that gives a working window of about nine months, from day 91 to day 365. Venue is fixed by NRS 339.055(1): the appropriate court of the political subdivision where the contract was to be performed. The venue follows the jobsite, not the contractor’s or the surety’s home office. The claimant sues in its own name and may prosecute the action to judgment and execution. Before filing, request a certified copy of the bond and the contract from the contracting body under NRS 339.045. The applicant submits an affidavit that it supplied labor or material and has not been paid, and pays a fee to cover the copy. The certified copy is prima facie evidence of the bond’s contents. If the surety denies a timely claim, have a Nevada construction attorney review the file well before day 365.
Half a Bond, and Who It Covers
NRS 339.025(1)(b) lets the contracting body fix the payment bond at any amount not less than 50 percent of the contract amount. An agency can set a higher figure, but the statute does not make it. Where the bond is at the 50 percent floor, the penal sum is the ceiling on what the surety owes all claimants combined. The bond protects claimants supplying labor or materials to the contractor or any of its subcontractors. Section 339.035(2) speaks only of a claimant in direct contract with a subcontractor. A supplier to a sub-subcontractor, or a third-tier claimant generally, has no clear textual path. That claimant should send both notices anyway and get legal advice on standing early. On State Public Works Division contracts, NRS 339.025(2) adds a layer. Each subcontractor performing work worth more than $50,000 or 1 percent of the project, whichever is greater, must furnish its own bond to the Division. A supplier to that subcontractor may have a second bond to look to. Ask for it.
Generate Both Nevada Notices
Nevada Public Works Notice Generator Produce the NRS 339.035(2)(a) 30-day notice at the start of the job and the 90-day notice of claim at the end, both addressed to the bonded contractor for certified mailing. Your calendar gets the 30-day, 90-day and one-year dates from the furnishing dates you enter. Pair it with these resources: When the surety denies the claim or the contractor disputes your tier, connect with a Nevada construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network.
One Notice When You Start, One When You Finish
The Mechanics Lien Management lien generator produces both NRS 339.035(2) notices to the bonded contractor. The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 30-day, 90-day and one-year dates together. Miss the deadline and you lose your claim rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for a Nevada payment bond claim notice?
A claimant with no contract with the bonded contractor owes two notices under NRS 339.035(2). The first is due within 30 days after it furnished the first materials or performed the first labor. The second is due within 90 days after it performed the last labor or furnished the last materials it claims payment for. Both go to the contractor by registered or certified mail. A first-tier claimant in direct contract with the contractor owes neither notice.
Who do you serve with a Nevada bond claim notice?
The contractor that gave the payment bond, and no one else. NRS 339.035(2) requires the notices to be served on the contractor, mailed in an envelope addressed to the contractor at any place it maintains an office or conducts business, or at its residence. The statute does not name the surety or the public body as recipients. Many claimants copy the surety as a practical step, but the mailing that preserves the claim is the one to the contractor.
Do first-tier subcontractors have to send a Nevada bond notice?
No. Under NRS 339.035(1), a claimant that performed labor or furnished material on a bonded public work contract and has not been paid in full within 90 days after its last labor or material may sue on the bond in its own name. The notice conditions in subsection 2 apply only to a claimant with a direct contract with a subcontractor and no contract, express or implied, with the bonded contractor. The first tier must still wait out the 90 days before filing suit.
What happens if a Nevada remote claimant misses the 30-day notice?
The statute does not soften it. NRS 339.035(2) says a remote claimant may bring an action on the payment bond only if it served the 30-day notice and the 90-day notice. It contains no partial-recovery or lookback rule of the kind Nevada's private lien statute uses for a late notice of right to lien. A remote supplier that started deliveries more than 30 days ago without sending the first notice should talk to a Nevada construction attorney before relying on the bond.
How long do you have to sue on a Nevada payment bond?
One year from the date the claimant performed the last labor or furnished the last materials it is suing for, under NRS 339.055(2). The action must be brought in the appropriate court of the political subdivision where the contract was to be performed, under NRS 339.055(1). The 90-day wait in NRS 339.035(1) means the working window for a first-tier claimant is roughly day 91 through day 365 after last furnishing.
How big is a Nevada public works payment bond?
At least 50 percent of the contract amount, in an amount the contracting body fixes, under NRS 339.025(1)(b). The bond is required before award of any contract over $100,000 for new construction, repair or reconstruction of a public building or other public work, and it protects claimants who supplied labor or materials to the contractor or any of its subcontractors. On a troubled job, a half-size bond can run out before every claimant is paid, which is one more reason to give notice early.
Is an NDOT highway project handled differently in Nevada?
Yes. NRS 339.025 excludes contracts subject to chapter 408, the Nevada Department of Transportation's highway statute. Under NRS 408.357 the NDOT bond equals the full contract amount. Under NRS 408.363, a person who furnished labor or materials and wants the bond's protection files a verified, notarized claim in triplicate with the Department within 30 days from the date of final acceptance of the contract. Suit against the surety must be commenced within six months after final acceptance.