Who must serve it, and on whom
Section 33-992.01(B) is broad: "Except for a person performing actual labor for wages, every person who furnishes labor, professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools for which a lien otherwise may be claimed" must serve the notice "as a necessary prerequisite to the validity of any claim of lien." It goes to four recipients:
- The owner or reputed owner.
- The original contractor or reputed contractor — the contractor with a direct contractual relationship with the owner (§33-992.01(A)(2)).
- The construction lender, if any, or reputed construction lender.
- The person with whom the claimant has contracted.
Section 33-981(D) closes the loop: a person required to give the notice may enforce lien rights "only if he has given such notice and has made proof of service pursuant to section 33-992.02." Section 33-981(C) separately provides that a person required to be licensed as a contractor who does not hold a valid license does not have those lien rights; NoticeSent prepares and mails the notice and does not determine lien eligibility.
When: not later than 20 days after first furnishing
Under §33-992.01(C) the notice "shall be given not later than twenty days after the claimant has first furnished labor, professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools to the jobsite."
A late notice is not worthless. Section 33-992.01(E) says a person who did not give the notice may still give one "not later than twenty days after furnishing other labor, professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools to the same jobsite," and is then "entitled to claim a lien only for such labor, professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools furnished within twenty days before the service of the notice and at any time thereafter." The earlier work is what a late notice loses.
| Event | Date | Rule |
|---|---|---|
| First furnished to the jobsite | September 1 | Day 0 |
| Last day to give notice with full coverage | September 21 | Day 20 (§33-992.01(C)) |
| Notice given later | any date | Covers work from 20 days before service, and after (§33-992.01(E)) |
The free deadline calculator applies this to your own first-furnishing date.
What the notice must contain
Section 33-992.01(C) requires:
- A general description of what is furnished or to be furnished and an estimate of the total price.
- The claimant's name and address.
- The name of the person who contracted for the purchase.
- A description of the jobsite "sufficient for identification" — legal description, subdivision plat, street address, or location with respect to commonly known roads or landmarks.
- The bold-faced statement that this is not a lien and not a reflection on any contractor, followed by the "Notice to Property Owner" paragraph about conditional and unconditional waivers under §33-1008.
Subsection (D) sets out a form the notice must follow "substantially," including two paragraphs that must be printed in type at least as large as the largest type on the document: the owner's duty, within ten days of receipt, to furnish information correcting inaccuracies (subsection J), and the owner's duty to provide payment-bond information if a bond has been recorded under §33-1003. The form ends with the acknowledgment of receipt language from §33-992.02. Subsection (I) says a notice is not defective merely for failing to use bold or largest-size type. NoticeSent renders the statutory form with the acknowledgment block on it and cites the sections on the document.
One notice per job — unless the estimate grows by 30% or more
Section 33-992.01(G) provides that one notice covers everything the claimant furnishes for the building, structure, or improvement, unless the actual estimated total price exceeds the noticed estimate by thirty percent or more, or the claimant furnishes under contracts with more than one subcontractor. Subsection (H) says a notice is not defective because later work falls outside the general description or exceeds the estimate by less thanthirty percent. An estimate on the high side avoids a second notice.
How it may be served
Section 33-992.01(F): the notice "may be given by mailing the notice by first class mail sent with a certificate of mailing, registered or certified mail, postage prepaid in all cases, addressed to the person to whom notice is to be given at the person's residence or business address." Then the sentence that matters for the calendar: "Service is complete at the time of the deposit of notice in the mail."
Proof of mailing: the acknowledgment, or the affidavit
Section 33-992.02 accepts two forms of proof for a mailed notice:
- An acknowledgment of receipt, in the form the section sets out, signed by the recipient — which is why the acknowledgment block is printed on the notice itself.
- If the recipient does not complete and return the acknowledgment within thirty days from the date of mailing: an affidavit of the person making the mailing, showing the time, place, and manner of mailing, the name and address of each person mailed to, and — for certified or registered mail — the receipt of certification or registration attached.
This is the reason NoticeSent captures the certified tracking number at dispatch and offers a ready-to-sign affidavit of mailing as an add-on: the affidavit path needs exactly the facts the archive already records.
The owner's ten-day duty, and amended notices
Under §33-992.01(J), within ten days after receiving the notice (or a written request from someone intending to file one), the owner or other interested party must furnish the jobsite description, the names and addresses of the owner, original contractor, and lender, and any recorded payment-bond information. Subsection (K) says the owner's failure does not excuse a claimant from giving timely notice, but does stop the owner from raising inaccuracies as a defense. If corrected information arrives after the notice was given, the claimant must give an amended notice within thirty days; NoticeSent does not currently generate amended notices.