Notice of Commencement: Which States Require It and How It Changes Your Mechanics Lien Deadline
✓ Verified against state statutes · Reviewed August 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
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What Is a Notice of Commencement
A Notice of Commencement is a document filed at the very beginning of a construction project, by the party at the top of the payment chain, either the property owner or the general contractor. It is a public announcement that a project exists and a roster of who is involved: it names the owner, the general contractor, the property, and in several states a designated person or agent to be served with notices. For an unpaid subcontractor, supplier, or laborer downstream, that roster is the map needed to protect a lien, because it identifies exactly whom to serve and at what address. The Notice of Commencement is not a national requirement. Most states do not use one at all. It exists in only about seven states, and even among those the mechanics differ, some recording it in county land records and requiring it posted at the jobsite while others host it in a statewide online registry. Wherever it exists, it is load-bearing: the recorded Notice of Commencement is frequently the event that starts the claimant's own deadline, and it is often the only place the owner and general-contractor service information is officially published. The direction matters most: a Notice of Commencement flows down the chain, while a claimant's protective notice flows up the chain, and confusing the two documents is where claimants get hurt.
How Does a Notice of Commencement Work
The sequence is the same in every state that uses one. First, at project start, the owner or general contractor records the Notice of Commencement in the county land records where the property sits, and in most of these states also posts a copy at the jobsite; in the two registry states the equivalent project information is entered into a statewide online system. That recording or posting is the starting gun. Second, the recording triggers a duty on lower-tier claimants. A subcontractor or supplier not in a direct contract with the general contractor must respond by serving its own notice on the parties identified in the Notice of Commencement, called a Notice to Contractor in Georgia, a Notice of Furnishing in Ohio and Michigan, and a preliminary notice filed in the state registry in Iowa and Utah. Third, the responsive notice must be served the right way, on the right parties, within the deadline, and the Notice of Commencement is where the right parties and right addresses come from. In Florida the logic runs a step further: the Notice of Commencement also fixes the priority date for every lien on the project, so all lien claims relate back to its recording rather than to each claimant's own start date.
Which States Require a Notice of Commencement
About seven states use an owner or general-contractor Notice of Commencement or a direct functional equivalent. Florida (Fla. Stat. Section 713.13) records it by the owner, posts it at the site, and makes it central to both lien priority and the 45-day Notice to Owner. Georgia (O.C.G.A. Section 44-14-361.5), when the Notice is filed, forces a 30-day Notice to Contractor from non-privity claimants. Ohio (R.C. Section 1311.04) records it on non-residential work, and subs serve a 21-day Notice of Furnishing on the designee. Michigan (MCL 570.1108) records and posts it, and subs and suppliers serve a 20-day Notice of Furnishing. Iowa (Iowa Code Section 572.13A) uses the Mechanic's Notice and Lien Registry on owner-occupied one-to-two family homes. Utah (Utah Code Section 38-1a-401) registers construction in the State Construction Registry, where claimants file a 20-day preliminary notice. Mississippi (Miss. Code Section 85-7-401 et seq.) lets the owner file a Notice of Commencement under its 2014 lien statute. Everywhere else the answer is no: California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Washington, Arizona, and the large majority of states have no owner Notice of Commencement. North Carolina runs a close cousin, where the owner designates a lien agent at project start and claimants must serve a Notice to Lien Agent.
How Does a Notice of Commencement Change Your Lien Deadline
In a Notice of Commencement state, the recorded Notice either creates a deadline that would not otherwise exist or supplies the information that starts one. Georgia is the sharpest example of a created deadline. Absent a filed Notice of Commencement, a Georgia claimant is not required to send a Notice to Contractor at all, but the instant the owner files a valid Notice of Commencement, a claimant without a direct contract with the general contractor must serve a Notice to Contractor within 30 days of the later of first furnishing or the filing of the Notice of Commencement, or lien rights are lost. Ohio and Michigan create a triggered deadline through the Notice of Furnishing: in Ohio a subcontractor must serve it within 21 days of first furnishing on the designee named in the recorded Notice, and Michigan runs the same structure on a 20-day clock, with a claimant-friendly wrinkle that if the owner fails to provide the Notice of Commencement on request, the failure to serve a timely Notice of Furnishing is excused. Florida's Notice of Commencement does not shorten the 45-day Notice to Owner deadline but is where the owner and lender service information lives and fixes lien priority by relation-back. In Iowa and Utah the claimant's preliminary notice must be filed in the state registry, within 10 days of first work in Iowa and within 20 days of commencing work in Utah, where a late filing forfeits lien rights for everything furnished before five days after the notice is filed.
What Happens If You Ignore the Notice of Commencement
In a Notice of Commencement state, ignoring the recorded Notice usually means missing the responsive-notice deadline it triggered, and missing that deadline commonly forfeits or caps the lien even when the claimant never missed the recording deadline. A Georgia claimant who does not serve a Notice to Contractor within 30 days of a filed Notice of Commencement can lose lien rights outright. An Ohio or Michigan subcontractor who does not serve the Notice of Furnishing loses the lien or has it cut back to only the narrow window of work immediately before late service. A Utah claimant who files its preliminary notice after 20 days forfeits lien rights for everything furnished before five days after filing. The reason this is so dangerous is a timing illusion. The lien-recording deadline in these states is often generous, measured in months from completion or last furnishing, while the responsive-notice window opened the day the claimant started work. A claimant watching only the recording date sees plenty of runway and relaxes, unaware that its lien was already barred weeks earlier by a missed Notice to Contractor or Notice of Furnishing. The recording deadline is not the first deadline in a Notice of Commencement state; the responsive notice is.
How Is a Notice of Commencement Different From a Preliminary Notice
A Notice of Commencement and a preliminary notice are opposite documents from opposite ends of the project. A Notice of Commencement flows down: the owner or general contractor files it once, at the top, to announce the project and identify the parties. A preliminary notice or Notice to Owner flows up: the subcontractor or supplier serves it to preserve its own lien rights. The connection is timing. In Notice of Commencement states the two are linked, because the recorded Notice of Commencement provides the parties and addresses for the responsive notice and frequently starts the clock on it. In the many states with no Notice of Commencement, the preliminary notice stands alone and runs on its own deadline from the claimant's own start date, with nothing at the top of the project to key it to. The correct sequence wherever both exist is always the same: read the Notice of Commencement first, then serve the claimant's own notice against the information in it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a Notice of Commencement?
A Notice of Commencement is a document the property owner or general contractor records at the very start of a construction project. It publicly announces that a project is underway and identifies the owner, the general contractor, the property, and the people and addresses a claimant must serve to protect its lien rights. Only a handful of states use one: Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Utah, and Mississippi. In those states the Notice of Commencement is not paperwork a claimant can ignore, because it often starts or resets the clock on the notice the claimant must send to keep its lien alive.
Do I file the Notice of Commencement, or does the owner?
The owner or the general contractor files the Notice of Commencement, not the subcontractor or the supplier. It is a top-of-the-chain document. A lower-tier claimant's job is the opposite: to read the recorded Notice of Commencement for the owner's and general contractor's names and service addresses, and then serve its own responsive notice, a Notice to Contractor in Georgia, a Notice of Furnishing in Ohio and Michigan, or a preliminary notice in the state registry in Iowa and Utah, within the state's deadline.
How does a Notice of Commencement change my lien deadline?
It can create a deadline that would not otherwise exist. In Georgia, if the owner files a valid Notice of Commencement, a claimant without a direct contract with the general contractor must serve a Notice to Contractor within 30 days of the later of first furnishing or the Notice of Commencement filing, or lose lien rights entirely. In Ohio a subcontractor must serve a Notice of Furnishing within 21 days of first furnishing, and in Michigan within 20 days, on the designee named in the Notice. In Florida the Notice of Commencement establishes lien priority and supplies the owner and lender information needed to serve the Notice to Owner within 45 days of first furnishing.
Which states require a Notice of Commencement?
About seven states use an owner or general-contractor Notice of Commencement or a direct equivalent: Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Iowa through the Mechanic's Notice and Lien Registry, Utah through the State Construction Registry, and Mississippi. The large majority of states do not use one at all; in California, Texas, New York, Illinois, Washington, Arizona, and most others there is no owner Notice of Commencement, and lien rights turn instead on the claimant's own preliminary notice, if the state requires one, plus the recording and enforcement deadlines. North Carolina runs a related lien-agent system.
What happens if I ignore a Notice of Commencement?
In a Notice of Commencement state, ignoring the recorded Notice usually means missing the responsive-notice deadline it triggers, and missing that deadline commonly forfeits or caps the lien even though the claimant never missed the recording deadline. The trap is that the recording deadline can still be months away while the responsive-notice window opened the day the project started, so a claimant who is only watching the lien-recording date can be barred long before that date arrives.
How is a Notice of Commencement different from a preliminary notice or a Notice to Owner?
A Notice of Commencement flows down the chain: the owner or general contractor files it to announce the project. A preliminary notice or Notice to Owner flows up the chain: the subcontractor or supplier serves it to preserve lien rights. They are opposite documents from opposite ends of the project. In Notice of Commencement states the two are linked in time, because the recorded Notice provides the parties and addresses for the responsive notice and frequently starts the clock on it. Reading the Notice of Commencement first, then serving the claimant's own notice, is the correct sequence wherever both exist.