Washington does not set a day-count deadline for the Notice to Owner. Instead the notice protects only what is furnished after a date measured back from the mailing — sixty days for most jobs, ten for new construction of a single-family residence. The rest of the section says who is in, who is out, and what the notice must look like.
Who must give it, and who is exempt
"Every person furnishing professional services, materials, or equipment for the improvement of real property" (RCW 60.04.031(1)) — except persons who contract directly with the owner or the owner's common law agent, laborers whose claim is based solely on performing labor, and subcontractors who contract directly with the prime contractor (60.04.031(2)). The last exemption falls away on the repair, alteration or remodel of an existing owner-occupied single-family residence (60.04.031(3)(b)).
Who receives it
"The owner or reputed owner" always; "this notice shall also be given to the prime contractor … unless the potential lien claimant has contracted directly with the prime contractor" (60.04.031(1)).
The lookback instead of a deadline
The notice "only protects the right to claim a lien for professional services, materials, or equipment supplied after the date which is sixty days before" mailing by certified or registered mail — "ten days before" for new construction of a single-family residence (60.04.031(1)). Mail later and the earlier supplies fall outside the lien; there is no cure for them.
On owner-occupied repair work, the lien is limited to amounts not yet paid to the prime contractor when the notice is received — actual receipt, or three days after certified or registered mailing excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays (60.04.031(3)(b)).
What it must say
The 60.04.031(4) form, both sides: NOTICE TO OWNER; "IMPORTANT: READ BOTH SIDES OF THIS NOTICE CAREFULLY."; "PROTECT YOURSELF FROM PAYING TWICE"; the To, Date, Re, From and AT THE REQUEST OF lines; "THIS IS NOT A LIEN"; the residential and commercial blocks; and the reverse side headed IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YOUR PROTECTION. The statute calls for ten-point type.
The contractor's own disclosure
Separately, a contractor agreeing to perform work on residential property or other work with a value over the statutory thresholds gives the customer the RCW 18.27.114 disclosure statement before starting; the contractor keeps the signed copy for three years and it is a prerequisite to the contractor's own lien (18.27.114(2), (4)). That is a signed form, not a mailing.