Three permitted means
Except as otherwise provided by statute, notice under this part shall be given by any of the following means:
(a) Personal delivery. (b) Mail in the manner provided in Section 8110. (c) Leaving the notice and mailing a copy in the manner provided in Section 415.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure for service of summons and complaint in a civil action.
Section 8106 governs every notice under the works-of-improvement part, the preliminary notice included. Personal delivery, mail as §8110 defines it, or the leave-and-mail procedure borrowed from civil summons practice. Three doors. Mail is the one most claimants use because it scales to three recipients in three cities and leaves a paper trail by design.
What counts as mail
Except as otherwise provided by this part, notice by mail under this part shall be given by registered or certified mail, express mail, or overnight delivery by an express service carrier.
Section 8110 is one sentence and it excludes ordinary first-class mail. Four methods qualify: registered mail, certified mail, express mail, and overnight delivery by an express service carrier. Each produces a record of deposit and a tracking trail; that is the common thread. Certified mail is the least expensive of the four and the one NoticeSent uses, with the USPS tracking number recorded for each recipient at submission.
What §8110 does not say is also worth noting. It does not require a return receipt, a signature, or delivery at all as a condition of the method; it names the class of mail. The next section says when the notice is complete.
When the notice is complete
Notice under this part is complete and deemed to have been given at the following times:
(a) If given by personal delivery, when delivered. (b) If given by mail, when deposited in the mail or with an express service carrier in the manner provided in Section 1013 of the Code of Civil Procedure. (c) If given by leaving the notice and mailing a copy in the manner provided in Section 415.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure for service of summons in a civil action, five days after mailing.
For a mailed notice, §8116(b) fixes the moment: deposit. The notice is complete and deemed to have been given when it goes into the mail or to the express carrier in the manner Code of Civil Procedure §1013 provides. Not when it is delivered, not when it is signed for, not when the owner reads it. A notice deposited on day 19 of the 20 in §8204(a) is given on day 19 under this rule.
The manner provided in Section 1013 is a cross-reference to the Code of Civil Procedure's general mailing rule; it is not quoted on this page and is a matter to raise with an attorney if the manner of deposit is ever contested. The practical instruction it implies is simple: deposit properly, and keep the proof of when.
The evidence to keep
Because the rule turns on deposit, the deposit record is the evidence. For certified mail that means the USPS acceptance record with its date and the tracking number for each piece, the document exactly as mailed, and the addresses it went to. Three recipients means three of each. The dispute that needs this record typically arrives months after the mailing, when the receipt has left the truck and the person who mailed it has left the company. NoticeSent keeps the document, each tracking number and the submission timestamp on a permanent archive page, and records delivery scans as USPS reports them.
Personal delivery and leave-and-mail
Both remain available under §8106 and both have their own completion rule in §8116: personal delivery when delivered, leave-and-mail five days after mailing. Personal delivery to three parties in three places is rarely practical, and it leaves the claimant to create the proof. The leave-and-mail method exists for a recipient who cannot be reached otherwise and follows civil-procedure rules this page does not quote. NoticeSent offers the mail method only.
Three envelopes
(1) The owner or reputed owner. (2) The direct contractor or reputed direct contractor to which the claimant provides work, either directly or through one or more subcontractors. (3) The construction lender or reputed construction lender, if any.
Section 8200(a) names the recipients, and each is given the notice separately. One certified piece to the owner, one to the direct contractor, one to the lender if there is one, each with its own tracking number and its own deposit record. The recipients page covers the two exceptions in §8200(e) that shorten the list for laborers and for claimants who contracted with the owner.
Sending it through NoticeSent
You answer the wizard, review the notice with every §8102 and §8202 line filled and the boldface statement in place, verify the addresses, and pay $39. The pieces are submitted for certified mailing within minutes, the tracking numbers are recorded at submission, and the archive page holds the record. Optional add-ons: signature proof on every piece, and a ready-to-sign affidavit of mailing. If your 20 days are short, the late notice page explains what §8204(a) says about the window after day 20, and the calculator prints the date from your first-furnishing date.
Frequently asked
Can I email or fax a California preliminary notice?
Not under the sections quoted here. Section 8106 lists personal delivery, mail in the manner provided in §8110, and the leave-and-mail method of Code of Civil Procedure §415.20. It opens with except as otherwise provided by statute; whether any other provision reaches your situation is a question for an attorney.
Do I need a return receipt?
Nothing in the pinned text of §8110 or §8116 names a return receipt. Section 8110 requires registered or certified mail, express mail, or overnight delivery by an express service carrier, and §8116(b) makes mail notice complete when deposited. Certified mail with tracking is what NoticeSent sends; signature proof is an optional add-on for those who want the delivery signature on file.
Is the notice given when it arrives or when I mail it?
For mail, when deposited. Section 8116(b): if given by mail, when deposited in the mail or with an express service carrier in the manner provided in Section 1013 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Personal delivery is complete when delivered (§8116(a)); the leave-and-mail method is complete five days after mailing (§8116(c)).