Oregon Payment Bond Claim — Every Claimant, First Tier Included, Sends a Notice of Claim to the Contractor AND the Contracting Agency Within 180 Days, and Suit Runs Two Years (ORS 279C.600, 2026)
✓ Verified against Oregon statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Oregon mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
8 days (res) — Info Notice to Owner
Mechanics Lien
75 days — From completion
Enforcement
120 days — From filing
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Why Oregon Public Work Runs on a Bond
On a private Oregon job, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier works under ORS chapter 87, starting with the notice of right to a lien under ORS 87.021 and ending with a lien recorded within 75 days. A Portland Public Schools modernization, an Oregon State University lab, a Clackamas County water project or an ODOT bridge on I-5 is different. Public property cannot be liened, so Oregon’s public contracting code, ORS chapter 279C, puts a payment bond in front of the claimant instead. Oregon’s version breaks the usual pattern in two directions. It is stricter on who gives notice: every claimant, including the first-tier sub, and to two recipients, the contractor and the public agency. It is more generous on time: 180 days to give notice and two years to sue, both counted from the claimant’s own last day. A claimant used to a federal Miller Act calendar has plenty of time and still loses the claim by sending nothing, or by sending it only to the GC. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats an Oregon public job as a two-recipient file for every tier. The day a payment is meaningfully late, the notice of claim goes out twice: once to the contractor and once to the agency.
What ORS 279C.600 and 279C.605 Actually Require
Start with who owes it . The statute names the first tier, a person in direct contract with the bonded contractor, and the second tier, a person in direct contract with any subcontractor, and it uses the word including. There is no first-tier exemption. A claimant further down the chain should give the same notice and talk to counsel about standing early. Next, the recipients : the contractor and the contracting agency. The surety is not one of them, though the form asks for its name if known. That places Oregon among the twenty-three exceptions on the Little Miller Act deadlines map , alongside Michigan as the states that pair the contractor with the public body. Then the clock and delivery . ORS 279C.605(1) requires the notice by registered or certified mail or hand delivery no later than 180 days after the day the claimant last provided labor or furnished materials. The contractor may be served at any place it maintains an office or conducts business, or at its residence. The claimant must sign the notice.
The Statutory Form, Blank by Blank
ORS 279C.605(3) says the notice must be in writing substantially in the statutory form. Read as a checklist, the form asks for: A supplier or subcontractor claims against the payment bond . The public works bond under ORS 279C.836 is a separate $30,000 bond filed with the Construction Contractors Board that pays claims the Bureau of Labor and Industries orders for unpaid workers. It is the wrong target for a lumber invoice.
Every Oregon Public-Improvement Claim Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the 180-day notice and the two-year suit date from the last-furnishing date you enter. Private-work rules are on the Oregon lien statutes page, with the calculator on the Oregon mechanics lien hub . The last two rows cover federal prime contracts in Oregon, such as U.S. Army Corps of Engineers work on the Columbia and Willamette river dams, the Portland VA Medical Center, and Kingsley Field in Klamath Falls. Those run under the federal Miller Act , with a 90-day notice for second-tier claimants only and a one-year suit window. An Oregon sub working both kinds of jobs needs two calendars, and the Oregon one is the longer.
Two Years to Sue, in the Agency’s Name
ORS 279C.610(3) requires the action no later than two years after the person last provided labor or materials . A claimant that gave the notice may sue in an Oregon circuit court or in the federal district court for the district. The suit is brought on the relation of the claimant and in the name of the contracting agency that let the contract, and it may be prosecuted to final judgment for the claimant’s benefit. Two years is generous, and it is easy to waste. Payment bond claims are paid in practice when the surety investigates a timely, well-documented notice. The suit date matters most on jobs where the bond is contested or several claimants are chasing the same penal sum. Calendar it on the day the notice goes out, and have an Oregon construction attorney review the file once the surety has had a reasonable period to respond. ORS 279C.615 gives labor and material liens priority over other liens and claims created by the related sections, and ORS 279C.620 treats medical providers who cared for a contractor’s injured employees as having performed labor on the contract.
When the Bond Is Missing or Waived
Under ORS 279C.380(1)(b) the payment bond equals the full contract price and exists solely to protect claimants under ORS 279C.600. Under ORS 279C.380(5) the requirement applies to public improvement contracts estimated at more than $100,000, or more than $50,000 for highways, bridges and other transportation projects. The surety must hold a certificate of authority to write surety business in Oregon. Bonds can be excused in an emergency declared under the agency’s rules (ORS 279C.380(4)), and contracts or classes of contracts can be exempted under ORS 279C.390. When a bond was required and the agency did not take one, ORS 279C.625 makes the public body and the officers who authorized the contract jointly liable for the labor and materials. That is a rare remedy and a fact-heavy one. Ask the agency for a copy of the payment bond as soon as you sign onto a public job; the answer tells you whether you have a surety to claim against or a public body to look to instead.
Generate the Oregon Notice of Claim in the Statutory Form
Oregon Public Improvement Notice Generator Produce the ORS 279C.605(3) notice of claim with every statutory blank filled, addressed to the contractor and the contracting agency for signature. Your calendar gets the 180-day notice cutoff and the two-year suit date from your last furnishing. Pair it with these resources: When the surety denies the claim or the agency disputes whether a bond was required, connect with an Oregon construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network.
Two Letters, Every Tier, Within 180 Days
The Mechanics Lien Management lien generator produces the ORS 279C.605 notice of claim for both the contractor and the contracting agency. The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 180-day notice and the two-year suit date together. Miss the deadline and you lose your claim rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for an Oregon payment bond claim notice?
No later than 180 days after the day the claimant last provided labor or furnished materials, under ORS 279C.605(1). The clock runs from the claimant's own last day on the job, not from completion of the project. A claim for required contributions to an employee benefit plan gets 200 days after the employee last provided labor, under ORS 279C.605(2).
Who do you serve with an Oregon bond claim notice?
Both the contractor and the contracting agency. ORS 279C.600(1)(b) conditions the right of action on a written notice of claim to the contractor and the contracting agency, and the statutory form in ORS 279C.605(3) is addressed to the contractor and the public body by name. The surety is not a named recipient, though the notice must identify it if known. Serving only the contractor, which is what most claimants do in other states, leaves half of the Oregon condition unmet.
Do first-tier subcontractors have to send an Oregon bond notice?
Yes. ORS 279C.600(1) expressly includes any person having a direct contractual relationship with the contractor furnishing the payment bond, as well as a person in direct contract with any subcontractor. Unlike the federal Miller Act and most Little Miller Acts, which excuse first-tier claimants from notice, Oregon makes the notice of claim a condition for every claimant. A first-tier subcontractor that relies on its contract with the prime has no right of action on the bond without it.
How must the Oregon notice of claim be delivered?
By registered or certified mail, or by hand delivery, under ORS 279C.605(1). The notice may be sent or delivered to the contractor at any place it maintains an office or conducts business, or at its residence. The person making the claim must sign the notice under ORS 279C.605(5). Keep the mail receipts or a signed delivery acknowledgment for both recipients.
What must an Oregon bond notice of claim say?
ORS 279C.605(3) sets a form the notice must substantially follow. It is addressed to the contractor and the public body by name, and states the claimant's name, a brief description of the labor or materials and who performed or furnished them, the amount of the claim, and whether it is against the payment bond or the public works bond. It also names the principal and, if known, the surety, gives a brief description of the work, and names the contractor or subcontractor the labor or material was supplied to. It must be signed.
How long do you have to sue on an Oregon payment bond?
Two years after the claimant last provided labor or materials, under ORS 279C.610(3). The action may be filed in an Oregon circuit court or in the federal district court for the district. It is brought on the relation of the claimant and in the name of the contracting agency that let the contract. Two years is one of the longest bond suit periods in the country, double the federal Miller Act's one year.
What happens if an Oregon public agency forgot to require a payment bond?
The public body and the officers who authorized the contract become jointly liable for the labor and materials. Under ORS 279C.625, if a payment bond was required and the officers failed or neglected to require one, the State of Oregon and its authorizing officers are jointly liable on a state contract, and the public body and its authorizing officers are jointly liable on a contract let for any other public body. The bond requirement applies to contracts over $100,000, or over $50,000 on transportation work, under ORS 279C.380(5).