Pennsylvania Payment Bond Claim — Only a Second-Tier Claimant Owes Notice, It Goes to the Prime Alone, and the One-Year Suit Clock Lives in a Different Title (8 P.S. § 194, 2026)
✓ Verified against Pennsylvania statutes · Reviewed September 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Pennsylvania mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
Formal notice — Subs must file Formal Notice
Mechanics Lien
6 months — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
2 years — From filing
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Two Bond Statutes, One Rule, and a Deadline Somewhere Else
A Pennsylvania subcontractor on private work lives by the Mechanics’ Lien Law of 1963: a formal notice of intention at least 30 days before filing, and a lien claim within six months of completing its work. None of that reaches a school district addition, a municipal water authority plant, or a PennDOT bridge, because public property cannot be liened. The substitute is the prime contractor’s payment bond , and Pennsylvania splits it across two statutes. The Public Works Contractors’ Bond Law of 1967 , 8 P.S. §§ 191–202, covers counties, municipalities, school districts, authorities, and state-aided institutions. Act 57 of 1998 repealed the Bond Law as it relates to Commonwealth agencies, whose construction contracts now fall under the Commonwealth Procurement Code , 62 Pa.C.S. § 903. The claim procedure in the two is nearly identical. What neither contains is a suit deadline. That lives in the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5523(3), which gives one year for an action upon any payment bond. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats Pennsylvania public work as three documents read together: the bond statute that applies to the owner, the one-year limitations section, and the bond itself.
What Section 4 Actually Requires
Subsection (a) is not a notice requirement. It is a waiting period : a claimant can sue only once it has gone unpaid for 90 days after its last labor or materials. Subsection (b) is the only notice in the statute, and it binds only a claimant with no contractual relationship with the prime . That means a second-tier subcontractor, or a supplier to a subcontractor. A first-tier subcontractor or a supplier selling directly to the prime owes no statutory notice at all. The notice must state with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party for whom the work was performed or to whom the material was furnished. It goes to the prime contractor , at any place where the prime regularly maintains an office for business. The statute does not name the surety or the public owner. Commonwealth agency contracts follow the same structure under 62 Pa.C.S. § 903(d), with one wording difference in the service rule, covered below.
Which Statute Governs Your Job
The owner decides the statute, and the statute sets the bond threshold. Section 3 of the Bond Law requires a performance bond and a payment bond, each at 100 percent of the contract amount, on any public construction contract exceeding $5,000 , including highway work. The definition of a contracting body is broad, reaching state-aided institutions that receive State funds for construction and every level of local government, though Act 57 of 1998 carved Commonwealth agencies out of it. Section 3.1 supersedes section 3 for counties, school districts, intermediate units, area vocational-technical schools, cities, boroughs, incorporated towns, townships, home-rule municipalities, and municipal authorities. For those owners the threshold is $10,000 . The prime may post an irrevocable letter of credit from a federal or Commonwealth chartered lending institution, or a restrictive or escrow account, instead of a surety bond. Section 4 applies equally to claims against that “other financial security.” 62 Pa.C.S. § 903 governs Commonwealth agency contracts. A payment bond at 100 percent of the contract price is required when the contract exceeds $100,000 , and the department adjusts that figure every year by the Composite Construction Cost Index. Between $25,000 and $100,000 the agency requires performance security of at least 50 percent, not a payment bond. Under all three provisions,…
Every Pennsylvania Public-Work Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System tracks the 90-day notice, the 90-day waiting period, and the one-year suit date from a single last-furnishing date. The private-work rules sit at Pennsylvania lien statutes , with the calculator on the Pennsylvania mechanics lien hub . The last two rows follow a different statute. Work under a prime contract signed with the Army Corps of Engineers, the VA, or GSA is Miller Act work under 40 U.S.C. § 3133. Its notice structure looks like Pennsylvania’s, since second-tier claimants notify the prime within 90 days, but suit goes to federal court.
Serving the Notice and Getting the Bond
Under the Bond Law, the notice is served by registered or certified mail , postage prepaid, addressed to the prime at any office it regularly maintains for business. It may also be served in any manner a summons may be served, and the server need not be a public officer. The Procurement Code version, 62 Pa.C.S. § 903(d)(3), keeps the same structure but says registered mail . When a Commonwealth agency is the owner, use registered mail or process-style service. The bond itself is a public document with a statutory access route. Section 6 of the Bond Law requires the contracting body to furnish a certified copy of the payment bond or other security, and of the contract, to anyone who submits an affidavit saying they furnished labor or material and have not been fully paid. The fee is set to cover the actual cost of the copy. The certified copy is prima facie evidence of the contents, execution, and delivery of the original, so the request made during the 90-day waiting period also produces evidence for trial. Pennsylvania also has a separate public-work payment remedy that is easy to confuse with the bond claim: the prompt payment subchapter of the Procurement Code, 62 Pa.C.S. §§ 3931–3939. It entitles a performing subcontractor to payment from the contractor it contracted with, and § 3935 adds penalty and attorney-fee provisions. That is a claim against the party that hired…
Generate the Pennsylvania Bond Notice From One Project Record
Pennsylvania Bond Claim Notice Generator Produce the § 194(b) or § 903(d)(2) written notice to the prime contractor with the amount claimed and the party you furnished to, the section 6 affidavit requesting a certified bond copy, and a calendar with the day-91 earliest suit date and the one-year § 5523(3) deadline. Pair it with the property search tool to confirm the public owner and which statute applies, the bond claim hub for how Pennsylvania compares to other Little Miller Act states, mechanics lien vs. bond claim for choosing the right remedy early, the mechanics lien deadlines by state pillar, and the lien waiver center before signing a release that also waives bond rights. When the prime disputes the claim or the surety goes quiet, connect with a Pennsylvania construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network.
Track the Pennsylvania Bond Clock Automatically
The Mechanics Lien Management lien generator produces the written notice to the prime and the certified-copy affidavit from one project record. The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the 90-day notice, the day-91 suit date, and the one-year limitation. Miss the deadline and you lose your bond rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for a Pennsylvania payment bond claim notice?
A claimant that has a direct contract with a subcontractor of the prime contractor, but no contract with the prime, must give written notice to the prime contractor within 90 days from the date it performed the last of its labor or furnished the last of its materials. The rule appears in section 4(b) of the Public Works Contractors' Bond Law of 1967, 8 P.S. § 194(b), for local public work, and in 62 Pa.C.S. § 903(d)(2) for Commonwealth agency contracts. The notice must state with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party for whom the work was performed or to whom the material was furnished.
Does a first-tier subcontractor need to send notice on a Pennsylvania bond claim?
No statutory notice is required. Section 4(a) of the Bond Law and 62 Pa.C.S. § 903(d)(1) let any claimant that performed labor or furnished material and was not paid in full within 90 days after its last furnishing bring an action on the payment bond in its own name. The written notice requirement in subsection (b) applies only to a claimant with no contractual relationship, express or implied, with the prime contractor. Many first-tier subcontractors send a written demand anyway, because it costs nothing and fixes the amount in dispute.
Who receives a Pennsylvania bond claim notice?
The prime contractor that gave the payment bond. Pennsylvania's statutes name no other recipient. The notice does not have to be sent to the surety or to the public owner to be valid, although sending copies to both is sensible practice. Under the Bond Law it is served by registered or certified mail to any office the contractor regularly maintains for business, or in any manner a summons may be served, without a public officer. For Commonwealth agency contracts, § 903(d)(3) says registered mail, so a claimant relying on mail alone should use registered mail on those jobs.
How long do you have to sue on a Pennsylvania payment bond?
One year. Neither the Bond Law nor 62 Pa.C.S. § 903 contains its own suit deadline. The limit comes from the Judicial Code, 42 Pa.C.S. § 5523(3), which requires an action upon any payment or performance bond to be commenced within one year. Suit also cannot come too early: the bond statutes allow an action only by a claimant not paid in full before 90 days have passed since its last labor or materials. Calendar the one-year date from last furnishing so that the waiting period and the limitations period are both measured from a date you control.
Which Pennsylvania public projects require a payment bond?
Under section 3 of the Bond Law, a prime contract exceeding $5,000 for a public building, public work, or public improvement, including highway work, requires a 100 percent payment bond. Section 3.1 sets a $10,000 threshold for counties, school districts, intermediate units, vocational-technical schools, cities, boroughs, incorporated towns, townships, home-rule municipalities, and municipal authorities, and lets the prime post an irrevocable letter of credit or a restrictive or escrow account instead of a bond. Commonwealth agency contracts fall under 62 Pa.C.S. § 903, which requires a 100 percent payment bond above $100,000, a figure the statute adjusts annually for construction costs.
How do you get a copy of the payment bond on a Pennsylvania public project?
Ask the contracting body. Section 6 of the Bond Law requires the contracting body to furnish a certified copy of the payment bond or other financial security, and of the contract, to anyone who submits an affidavit stating that they furnished labor or material for the work and have not been fully paid. The applicant pays a fee set to cover the actual cost of the copy. A certified copy is prima facie evidence of the contents, execution, and delivery of the original bond and contract, so it doubles as trial evidence.
Can you file a mechanics lien on a Pennsylvania public project?
Generally no. Public property is not subject to a mechanics lien, which is why the legislature requires a payment bond on public work and makes it solely for the protection of claimants supplying labor or materials to the prime contractor or any of its subcontractors. The private-work procedure under the Mechanics' Lien Law of 1963, with its formal notice of intention and six-month filing window, does not apply. On a project where the prime contract was signed with a federal agency, the federal Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. § 3133, governs instead, with suit in U.S. District Court.