The 20-day preliminary notice: the California form that protects your right to get paid

Most payment problems on a California job start months before anyone stops paying. They start in the first three weeks, when a one-page form doesn't go out.

What the preliminary notice is

The preliminary notice, often called the "20-day notice", tells the owner, the GC and the construction lender that you're working on the project and expect to be paid. California ties your strongest payment protections to it. Civil Code section 8200 makes it "a necessary prerequisite" to a valid mechanics lien, and it's required for stop payment notices too. Payment bond claims have a narrow back-up route if you miss it (Civil Code section 8612), but it's not one to rely on.

It isn't a claim and it isn't a threat. GCs on California jobs receive them every day, and sending one says nothing bad about your relationship with them.

Who sends it, and to whom

If you don't have a contract directly with the owner, which describes nearly every sub and supplier, you send it to three parties:

• the owner, or reputed owner
• the direct contractor, meaning the contractor that holds the contract with the owner
• the construction lender, if there is one

A contractor with a direct contract with the owner only has to send it to the construction lender. Laborers don't have to send one at all.

The 20 days

Civil Code section 8204 says the notice must go out no later than 20 days after you first furnish work to the project. "Work" includes labor, materials and equipment, so the clock can start the day your first delivery lands, before your crew does.

Late isn't hopeless, but it's expensive. You can still serve the notice. Your lien, stop payment notice and bond rights then cover only the work you furnished in the 20 days before you served it, plus everything after. On a job you've been on for two months, a late notice can quietly write off the first six weeks.

How to serve it

Use the statutory form, and serve it in a way the statute allows and you can prove. Civil Code section 8110 permits registered or certified mail, express mail, or overnight delivery by an express carrier. Personal delivery works too. First-class mail doesn't. Keep the proof of service in the job file.

Getting the names right matters as much as the date. Ask the GC in writing for the owner's legal name and address and the lender's details before you start. The direct contractor has to make them available to anyone giving preliminary notice (Civil Code section 8208), and the building permit and recorded documents for the property are good cross-checks.

The habits that prevent the problem

1. Put "send preliminary notice" on the start-up checklist for every job, keyed to your first delivery date, not your first day on site.
2. Send one on every job, not only the ones that look risky. Jobs that go wrong rarely look risky in week one.
3. Use it to stay informed. With some exceptions, an owner who records a notice of completion or cessation has to send a copy to everyone who gave them a preliminary notice (Civil Code section 8190). Once that notice is recorded, your lien deadline shrinks to 30 days from recording, so you want to hear about it. More in our article on lien deadlines.

What your subcontract should say

Look for a clause requiring the GC to give you the owner's and lender's names and addresses at the start. Watch for language that discourages notices or asks you to waive lien rights in advance. Under Civil Code section 8122 a contract can't waive or impair your lien rights except through the statutory release forms, but it's still better not to sign language that says otherwise.