South Carolina Payment Bond Claim — Remote Claimants Notify the Bonded Contractor Alone Within 90 Days, and a Notice of Furnishing Protects the Full Amount (S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-3030, 2026)
✓ Verified against South Carolina statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
South Carolina mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
None — N/A
Mechanics Lien
90 days — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
6 months — From filing
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Why South Carolina Public Work Runs on a Bond
On a private South Carolina job, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier works under the lien chapter, S.C. Code Ann. § 29-5-10 et seq., with a lien served and filed within 90 days of last furnishing and, on larger projects, the notice of project commencement that tells lower tiers whom to notify. A Charleston County school, a Clemson research building, a Greenville water plant, or an SCDOT interchange on I-26 is different. Public property cannot be liened, so South Carolina replaces the lien with a payment bond the contractor must post before work starts. Three statutes carry the rule. Section 11-35-3030 , in the Consolidated Procurement Code, covers state construction. Section 29-6-250 requires a full-amount bond from any governmental body, including counties, cities, school districts and other local political subdivisions, on contracts over $50,000, and § 29-5-440 supplies the claim procedure for bonds no other section governs. Section 57-5-1660 covers SCDOT highway contracts. The remote-claimant notice language is nearly identical in all three. The Mechanics Lien Management Method treats a South Carolina public job as a two-notice file for any supplier below the first tier: a notice of furnishing on the first delivery to protect the amount, and the 90-day bond notice after the last delivery to protect the right to sue.
What § 11-35-3030(2)(c) Actually Requires
Start with who owes it . The statute defines a remote claimant as a person with a direct contract with a subcontractor or supplier of a bonded contractor, and no express or implied contract with the bonded contractor. That is the second-tier sub, the supplier to a sub, and the equipment rental house renting to a sub. A party that contracts directly with the bonded contractor owes no notice. Next, the recipient . It is the bonded contractor, served personally or by registered or certified mail at any place it maintains a permanent office for the conduct of its business, or at its current address in the records of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The surety and the public owner are not named. That places South Carolina among the twenty-three exceptions on the Little Miller Act deadlines map . On local work under § 29-5-440 the text lists only certified or registered mail, so use the mail on every job and treat hand delivery as an extra, not a substitute. Last, the content : the amount claimed as unpaid, stated with substantial accuracy, and the name of the party the claimant furnished to. The statutes also say the notice must generally conform to § 29-5-20(B), so the safe notice carries all six items of a notice of furnishing as well.
The Notice of Furnishing Decides How Much You Can Recover
South Carolina adds a cap that most states do not have. A remote claimant’s recovery on the bond may not exceed the amount the bonded contractor still owes the claimant’s customer, unless the claimant has provided a notice of furnishing to the bonded contractor. After the bonded contractor receives that notice, its later payments to the customer do not lessen what the remote claimant can recover. The total of all claims still cannot exceed the penal sum of the bond. The practical effect is a race. A drywall supplier selling to a sub on a $6 million school job that waits until the sub defaults may find the general contractor has already paid the sub in full. With no notice of furnishing on file, the cap is the balance owed to the sub, which can be nothing. The same supplier that mailed the notice with its first delivery keeps its full unpaid balance protected from that day forward. Section 29-5-20(B) sets the content: (1) the claimant’s name; (2) the party it contracted with or was employed by; (3) a description of the labor, services, or materials and the contract price or value, with specially fabricated materials stated separately; (4) a description of the project sufficient to identify it; (5) the first and last dates of furnishing, actual or scheduled; and (6) any amount claimed due. Send it by certified or registered mail to the bonded contractor.
Every South Carolina Public-Project Claim Deadline in One Table
The Mechanics Lien Management State System calendars the 90-day notice and the one-year suit date from the last-furnishing date you enter. Private-work rules are on the South Carolina lien statutes page, with the calculator on the South Carolina mechanics lien hub . The last two rows cover federal prime contracts in South Carolina, such as work at Fort Jackson, Joint Base Charleston, Shaw Air Force Base, Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island, and the Savannah River Site. Those run under the federal Miller Act , and the federal second-tier notice goes to the prime contractor. The day count matches South Carolina’s; the statute, the court and the cap rules do not.
First-Tier Claimants: No Notice, but a 90-Day Wait
A subcontractor or supplier in direct contract with the bonded contractor has the right to sue on the bond if it has not been paid in full before the expiration of 90 days after its last labor, material or rental equipment. It sends no statutory notice. The first 90 days are a waiting period, and the one-year limit runs from the same last day, so a first-tier claimant has roughly nine months in which suit is both allowed and timely. Section 11-35-3030(2)(d) requires the suit to be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction for the county or circuit where the construction contract was to be performed, and the public owner named as obligee does not have to be joined. Under § 29-6-290, no contract provision may derogate a claimant’s rights against a payment bond established by law, so a pay-if-paid clause in the subcontract does not shorten the statute. One wrinkle is the definition of bonded contractor . It includes a subcontractor that furnishes its own payment bond. On a job where a large mechanical sub is bonded, a supplier to that sub may be first tier on one bond and remote on another. A South Carolina construction attorney can sort out which bond and which notice apply when there are two.
SCDOT Work: Half a Bond, and a Different Suit Clock
Highway contracts over $10,000 follow § 57-5-1660. The contractor furnishes a payment bond of not less than 50% of the contract , half the coverage required on a state building. The remote claimant notice is the same: 90 days from last furnishing, to the contractor, by certified or registered mail, with the amount claimed and the name of the customer. The suit limit is not the same. On SCDOT work no suit may be commenced after one year from the date of the final settlement of the contract . That date belongs to the department and the prime, and a supplier will not know it unless it asks. Request it in writing once the notice is out, and file well before it if there is any doubt.
Generate the South Carolina Notices From Your Delivery Dates
South Carolina Public Project Notice Generator Produce the § 29-5-20(B) notice of furnishing and the 90-day bond notice, both addressed to the bonded contractor. Your calendar gets the 90-day notice cutoff, the earliest suit date, and the one-year suit deadline from your last furnishing. Pair it with these resources: When the surety denies the claim or the year is running short, connect with a South Carolina construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management network.
Send the Notice of Furnishing on Day One
The Mechanics Lien Management lien generator produces the South Carolina notice of furnishing and the 90-day bond notice for the bonded contractor. The Mechanics Lien Management deadline calculator tracks the notice and the one-year suit date together. Miss the deadline and you lose your claim rights entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the deadline for a South Carolina payment bond claim notice?
Ninety days from the date the claimant last performed labor or furnished material or rental equipment, under S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-3030(2)(c) on state construction and § 29-5-440 on other bonded work. Only a remote claimant owes the notice. A remote claimant is a party with a contract with a subcontractor or supplier of the bonded contractor and no contract, express or implied, with the bonded contractor itself. The clock runs from the claimant's own last day, not from completion of the project.
Who do you serve with a South Carolina bond claim notice?
The bonded contractor, and the statutes name no one else. Section 11-35-3030(2)(c) directs the notice to the bonded contractor at any place it maintains a permanent office for the conduct of its business, or at its current address in the records of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation. The surety and the public owner are not named recipients. Sending a courtesy copy to the surety costs little, but the copy to the bonded contractor is the one the statute counts.
Do first-tier subcontractors have to send a bond notice in South Carolina?
No. A subcontractor or supplier with a direct contract with the bonded contractor owes no statutory notice. Its condition is time: it has the right to sue on the bond only if it has not been paid in full before the expiration of 90 days after its last labor, material, or rental equipment. That 90 days is a waiting period, not a notice deadline, and the one-year suit limit still runs from the same last day.
What is a notice of furnishing on a South Carolina bond claim?
A separate, earlier notice sent by certified or registered mail to the bonded contractor that conforms to S.C. Code Ann. § 29-5-20(B). Without it, a remote claimant's recovery on the bond is capped at what the bonded contractor still owes the claimant's customer. Once the bonded contractor receives the notice of furnishing, later payments it makes to that customer do not reduce what the remote claimant can recover. Section 29-5-20(B) lists six items: the claimant's name, its customer, a description and price of the labor or materials, the project, the first and last furnishing dates, and any amount due.
How long do you have to sue on a South Carolina payment bond?
One year after the claimant's last date of furnishing or providing labor, services, materials, or rental equipment, under § 11-35-3030(2)(c) and (d) and § 29-5-440. Suit must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction for the county or circuit where the construction contract was to be performed, and the public owner named as obligee does not have to be joined. On SCDOT highway contracts under § 57-5-1660, the year runs instead from the date of final settlement of the contract.
When does South Carolina require a payment bond on public work?
On state construction contracts, § 11-35-3030(2)(a) requires a payment bond equal to 100% of the contract price, excluding operation, maintenance, and finance costs, and the governmental body may waive it only on contracts of $50,000 or less if the State is protected. Under § 29-6-250, any governmental body, including local political subdivisions, that contracts to improve real property for more than $50,000 must require a labor and material payment bond in the full amount of the contract. SCDOT highway contracts over $10,000 require a payment bond of at least 50% of the contract under § 57-5-1660.
How do you get a copy of the payment bond in South Carolina?
Ask the governmental body that let the contract. Under S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-3030(3)(b), any person may obtain a certified copy of the bond on payment of the cost of reproduction and postage, and a certified copy is prima facie evidence of the bond's contents, execution, and delivery. The bond names the principal and the surety you will sue, and its penal sum tells you how much coverage there is for every unpaid claimant on the job.