Mechanics lien vs payment bond claim
2026-09-04 · 6 min read
These are not two options you choose between. Which one you have is decided by who owns the property. Getting that wrong is how a claimant spends its window preparing a document that could never have been recorded.
| Best overall | Whichever your job actually has | Private property: lien. Public property: bond. |
| Best free option | Preliminary notice | A stamp preserves both remedies; skipping it forfeits either. |
| Best for a federal job | Miller Act bond claim | Notice within 90 days, suit within one year. |
Feature matrix
Our pick: the remedy the property type gives you — there is no choice to make
| Feature | Mechanics lien | Payment bond claim |
|---|---|---|
| Attaches to | The real property | The surety bond |
| Available on public work | — | Yes |
| Available on private work | Yes | Only if a bond exists |
| Pre-claim notice | Preliminary / pre-lien | Written notice to the prime |
| Federal notice window | — | 90 days from last work |
| Federal suit deadline | — | 1 year from last work |
| Pressure on the owner | High — title is encumbered | Indirect — the surety pays |
Why you cannot lien a courthouse
Public property is not subject to a mechanics lien, which would otherwise let a subcontractor encumber a school or a highway. The substitute is a statutory payment bond: the prime posts a surety, and unpaid claimants make a claim against it instead of against the land.
On federal contracts the Miller Act supplies the framework. A claimant that furnished labour or material and has not been paid in full within 90 days of its last work may bring a civil action on the payment bond. A claimant with a contract with a subcontractor but none with the prime must first give the prime written notice within those same 90 days, stating with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and who the work was furnished to.
The federal deadlines, precisely
Two dates matter and both run from your last day of labour or material — not from the invoice, not from the promise. Written notice to the prime: 90 days. Suit on the bond: no later than one year.
The notice must be served by a means that provides written third-party verification of delivery to the prime at a place it maintains an office or conducts business, or in the manner the statute otherwise allows. Keep the verification; it is the part that gets tested.
On a private job with a bond
Private jobs sometimes carry a payment bond too, particularly on larger developments. Where one exists you may have both remedies, with different notice requirements and different deadlines — and California is explicit that preliminary notice is a prerequisite to a claim against a payment bond, not only to a lien.
The practical rule is the same either way: serve the notice at mobilisation, and establish at award which regime the job is in. Work your dates on the deadline calculator, which carries both the state lien rules and the federal bond windows.
Buying checklist
- Who owns the property — public body or private owner?
- Is there a payment bond, and have you seen it?
- What notice does your tier owe, and to whom?
- Is your last-furnished date documented, not remembered?
- Have you diarised both the notice date and the suit date?
Sources
- 40 U.S.C. § 3133(b)(1)
On a federal job, a claimant that has not been paid in full within 90 days after its last labor or material may sue on the payment bond.
Read 2026-09-04
- 40 U.S.C. § 3133(b)(2)
A claimant with a contract with a subcontractor but none with the prime must give the prime written notice within 90 days of its last labor or material, stating the amount claimed and who it was furnished to.
Read 2026-09-04
- 40 U.S.C. § 3133(b)(4)
A Miller Act bond action must be brought no later than one year after the day the claimant last performed labor or supplied material.
Read 2026-09-04
- Cal. Civ. Code § 8200
Before recording a lien, giving a stop payment notice or claiming against a payment bond, a California claimant must give preliminary notice to the owner, the direct contractor and the construction lender. A laborer is exempt.
Read 2026-09-04
- Cal. Civ. Code § 8412
A California direct contractor must record its claim of lien before the earlier of 90 days after completion of the work of improvement, or 60 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation.
Read 2026-09-04
- Fla. Stat. § 713.08(5)
A Florida claim of lien may be recorded at any time during the work but not later than 90 days after the final furnishing of labor, services or materials by the lienor.
Read 2026-09-04