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General contractors are required to send notice on private projects. On residential projects, a pre-construction notice to owner required before work.
On all projects, a notice of intent to lien is required 10 days before filing a lien.
General contractors are not required to send notice on public projects.
Since GCs will not make a claim against their own bond for non-payment, they do not have bond claim rights, and have no preliminary notice requirement.
Subcontractors and suppliers are required to send notice on private projects.
On all projects, a notice of intent to lien is required 10 days before filing a lien.
Subcontractors and suppliers are not required to send notice on public projects.
The preliminary notice that may be required on private projects in Arkansas depends on the type of project.
Pre-Construction Notice
An Arkansas Pre-Construction Notice is required on all residential projects of 4 or fewer units. The general contractor is required to provide this notice. However, if not provided, no liens may be filed against the property. Additionally, subcontractors and suppliers may provide this notice, which will be effective for all subs and suppliers on the project. Thus, it’s best practice for all claimants to provide their own Pre-Construction Notice to safeguard their lien rights, instead of relying on others to do so.
Notice to Owner & Contractor
On all other private construction projects in Arkansas, anyone who didn’t contract directly with the property owner must provide a Notice to Owner & Contractor.
Note: Separate from the above notice requirements, all potential lien claimants must provide the property owner with a Notice of Intent to Lien. More on that here: Arkansas Notice of Intent FAQs & Guide.
Pre-Construction Notice
The Pre-Construction Notice, as the name implies, must be provided prior to the commencement of work on the project.
Notice to Owner & Contractor
The Arkansas Notice to Owner & Contractor must be provided no later than 75 days after the claimant’s last date of furnishing labor and/or materials to the project.
Pre-Construction Notice
This notice must be served to the property owner or the owner’s authorized or registered agent.
Notice to Owner & Contractor
This one is fairly self-explanatory, this notice must be served to both the owner (or owner’s agent) and the prime contractor on the project.
Pre-Construction Notice
An Arkansas Pre-Construction Notice must include:
• Notice language in boldface, capital letters found under Ark. Code §18-44-115(a)(7);
• Property address;
• Date;
• Contractor’s signature; &
• Owner’s signature (not required if notice is delivered by certified mail)
→ Download a free Arkansas Pre-Construction Notice form here
Notice to Owner & Contractor
The Arkansas Notice to Owner & Contractor must include:
• A general description of labor, service, or materials furnished;
• Amount due and unpaid;
• Claimant’s name & address;
• Hiring party’s name & address
• Description of the property; &
• Notice language in boldface, capital letters found under Ark. Code §18-44-115(b)(6)(E).
→ Download a free Arkansas Notice to Owner & Contractor form here
Pre-Construction Notice
This notice may be served by personal service, certified mail with return receipt requested, or included in the prime contract itself. Note, however, if the notice is served by certified mail, then the owner’s signature is not required for the notice to be valid.
Notice to Owner & Contractor
A Notice to Owner & Contractor may be served by personal service, certified mail return receipt requested with delivery restricted to the addressee or agent of the addressee, or by any means that provides written, third-party verification of delivery at any place where the recipient maintains an office, conducts business, or resides.
Note: If delivery is refused or unclaimed, the notice must be immediately sent to the owner by first class mail, and the unopened mail marked unclaimed or refused will serve as proof of service as of the postmark date.
If the notices are served by certified mail, the notice is considered served upon deposit in the mail and verified by a return receipt signed by the addressee or the agent of the addressee, or a returned envelope, postal document, or affidavit by a postal employee reciting or showing refusal of the notice by the addressee or that the item was unclaimed.
The preliminary notice is considered delivered when sent, and verified by a return receipt signed by the addressee or the agent of the addressee, or a returned envelope, postal document, or affidavit by a postal employee reciting or showing refusal of the notice by the addressee or that the item was unclaimed.
Pre-Construction Notice
Failure of the prime contractor to provide this notice prior to the commencement of work is not only fatal to that contractor’s lien rights, but will also bar any actions under breach of contract or quantum meruit.
As mentioned above, if the prime contractor fails to provide this notice prior to commencement, any subcontractor or supplier may provide the notice at a later time. If provided late, the notice will secure lien rights for all claimants (except the prime contractor) starting from the date the service is completed.
Notice to Owner & Contractor
Failure to provide the Notice to Owner & Contractor within 75 days of the claimant’s last date of furnishing labor or materials to the project is fatal to that claimant’s lien rights.
Arkansas does not require any preliminary notice to preserve a claimant’s right to make a public payment bond claim.
It is, however, the claimant’s duty to verify that a bond has been provided on a public project. If the claimant does not check, and no bond was provided, the claimant has no action against the contracting public entity or the individual owner(s) of the general contractor.
It is unclear if the claimant would have recourse if no bond was provided, but the claimant did check.
• See: Always Get a Copy of the Payment Bond If You’re on a Public Project
Arkansas has a very interesting and relatively complex and unique preliminary notice scheme. Generally, notice requirements are separated between residential projects of 4 units or less, and commercial projects (including “residential” projects of 5 or more units). Notice requirements and deadlines differ depending on which type of project a participant is furnishing labor or material to.
Commercial projects (including “residential” projects of 5 or more units) have relatively straightforward notice requirements. On these projects, all parties who did not contract directly with the property owner and architects, engineers, surveyors, appraisers, landscapers, or abstractors who did contract with the property owner, are required to give notice within 75 days of last furnishing labor or materials to the project. Additionally, if a lien claim is ultimately required, a notice of intent to lien is required to be provided at least 10 days prior to filing the lien claim. These notices are required from all project participants.
Residential projects in Arkansas, on the other hand, have much more confusing notice requirements. On residential projects, a direct contractor is required to provide a Pre-Construction Notice to Owner prior to starting work. If the direct contractor doesn’t provide this notice, not only is that contractor barred from later filing a valid lien claim, s/he is also not allowed to begin any action to enforce any provision of his/her contract with the property owner. Additionally, a contractor who fails to provide the preliminary notice can be fined up to $1000.
A unique aspect of the Arkansas preliminary notice scheme, however, is that while the general contractor’s notice to owner works to the benefit of the sub-contractors and material suppliers, his failure to give the required notice affects their lien rights. The only party required to provide preliminary notice on residential projects is the general contractor, but if no notice is provided on the project, everybody’s lien rights are extinguished.
In other words, with respect to sub-tier parties on an Arkansas residential project, at least one preliminary notice must be given to the property owner, but it doesn’t really matter who it is from. And, if a notice is given by another party, it protects all sub-tier participants’ rights to file a lien, but only protects the labor or material furnished by each sub-tier participant after the notice was given. This means, of course, the only way to guarantee that all labor or material furnished to the project is protected, is for each sub-tier party to provide their own notice prior to work.
Additionally, if a lien claim is ultimately required, a notice of intent to lien is required to be provided at least 10 days prior to filing the lien claim. The notice of intent to lien is required from all project participants.
First, download a free preliminary notice form for Arkansas. You can find both the pre-construction notice to owner and the notice to owner and contractor form on the Construction Payment Resources page for Arkansas.
Our free forms were written by construction attorneys to meed the language and formatting requirements under Arkansas construction law. We make this part easy.
Take extra care when filling the form out. That’s because making a mistake on your preliminary notice could invalidate your right to file an Arkansas mechanics lien down the line. Check everything twice to ensure the informations is 100% accurate.
The pre-construction notice should be sent either by personal service or certified mail, return receipt requested. The notice to owner and contractor should be sent via personal service, certified mail, return receipt requested, restricted delivery, or overnight delivery service.
Send the notice to the proper parties within the 75 day deadline.
Select Preliminary Notice document.
Provide basic job information.
Levelset sends the document for you. Postage included!