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General contractors are not required to send notice on private projects.
A general contractor can file a Notice of Commencement within 15 days of a projects commencement to either the Clerk of Court or Register of Deeds in the property’s county.
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 are not necessarily required to send a preliminary notice on private projects.
However, to protect full lien rights in South Carolina, you may want to send a notice of furnishing labor or materials.
Subcontractors are not required to send a preliminary notice on public projects.
However, to protect a lien amount in South Carolina, you may want to send a notice of furnishing labor or materials.
It depends. General contractors may file a Notice of Commencement with the Clerk of Court or Register of Deeds for the county in which the property is located. While this notice is not mandatory, it provides some protection to the general contractor. If the Notice of Commencement is filed, the amount of liens filed by remote claimants (sub-subs, or suppliers to subs) may not exceed the amount the general contractor owes to the subcontractor with whom the remote claimant contracted.
When hired by someone other than the property owner, the potential lien claimant may deliver a Notice of Furnishing Labor or Materials to best preserve lien rights, prior to filing and serving the lien claim itself. Note that a remote claimant’s lien amount can be limited if the notice isn’t sent or is sent late – so the earlier a Notice of Furnishing is sent, the better.
In order to have effect, the Notice of Commencement must be filed by the general contractor within 15 days of the commencement of work.
There is no time limit by which the Notice of Furnishing Labor or Materials is required to be filed. However, the amount recoverable by lien of a remote claimant is limited to the amount owed by the general contractor to the party who hired the remote claimant.
If the general contractor fails to timely file the notice of commencement, his payment to a subcontractor does not reduce the amount recoverable by a lower-tiered party (however, in no case may the total amount of lien exceed the amount due by the owner).
The Notice of Furnishing Labor or Materials is not required to be filed by any specific point in time. Note, though, that the amount recoverable by lien of a remote claimant is limited to the amount owed by the general contractor to the party who hired the remote claimant – so earlier is better. Also, according to some sources, it may not matter anyway if the general contractor filed a notice of commencement.
The general contractor’s Notice of Commencement must be filed with the Clerk of Court or Register of Deeds for the county in which the project is located.
The Notice of Furnishing should be served by certified mail.
The general contractor’s Notice of Commencement must be filed with the Clerk of Court or Register of Deeds for the county in which the project is located.
Notice of Furnishing should be provided to the property owner (if the noticing party contracted with the GC); or to the owner and general contractor if the noticing party contracted with a party other than the owner or GC.
The Notice of Furnishing is considered delivered when sent by certified mail.
It depends. Any party without a contract with the general contractor must give preliminary notice in order to secure the right to make a claim for the full amount due. If the notice is not given, the claim is limited to the amount due to the hiring party by the general. However, if the general contractor fails to file a Notice of Project Commencement within 15 days after beginning the project, preliminary notices are not required, but it still probably best practice to send them.
South Carolina law does not provide a specific date by which the preliminary notice needs to be given. However, the sooner the notice is given, the better because claim cannot exceed the amount owed on the contract by the general contractor when the claimant. After notice is given, however, payment by the general contractor to a sub will not decrease the amount recoverable by the remote claimant.
A claim may still be made, but the claim may not exceed the amount due by the general contractor to the hiring party when the claim is made.
The preliminary notice may be served personally, sent by fax or email, or mailed via registered or certified mail.
Preliminary notice should be given to the general contractor who supplied the bond, and it is advisable to also give notice to the contracting public entity.
South Carolina is technically a non-notice state, that doesn’t specifically require preliminary notices to be provided by project participants on construction projects in the state. However, unlike some other non-notice states, South Carolina specifically contemplates preliminary notices that can have tangible, practical, and significant impacts to participants’ rights, if sent.
While South Carolina doesn’t mandate that preliminary notice be sent, it does provide for preliminary notices that have an effect if a participant chooses to send or file them. This means that despite not being required – sending preliminary notices in South Carolina is a good idea for more reasons than the fact that it’s always a good idea to send preliminary notice, even if not required.
Direct contractors may file a Notice of Commencement with the Clerk of Court or Register of Deeds for the county in which the property is located. While not mandatory, this notice provides some protection to the general contractor. If the notice of commencement is filed, the amount of liens filed by remote claimants (sub-subs, or suppliers to subs) may not exceed the amount the general contractor owes to the subcontractor with whom the remote claimant contracted. In essence the direct contractor can attempt to artificially turn South Carolina from a “full-price” lien state into an “unpaid balance” lien state.
The second voluntary preliminary notice that can have significant consequence is for sub-tier participants. Basically, this notice gives the sub-tier participants the ability to short circuit the direct contractor’s ability to limit their lien by filing a notice of commencement. If sub-subcontractors and suppliers to subcontractors do their research, finding out that a notice of commencement has been filed, they may in turn file a Notice of Furnishing Labor and Materials that can be served to the general contractor via certified mail with return receipt requested. If the sub-tier party delivers a notice of furnishing, payments by the owner to the contractor or by the contractor to the sub will not lessen the amount subject to lien of the sub-tier party.
Preliminary notices aren’t explicitly required in South Carolina; however, there are notices that should be sent before you file a mechanics lien. Find the South Carolina construction notices you need here. Our free forms were written by construction attorneys to meet the specific requirements in South Carolina.
The next step is to fill your form out. Be careful: making a mistake when preparing a construction notice could cost you your right to file a South Carolina mechanics lien if you need to.
Include all necessary information and make sure it’s completely accurate.
Deliver the notices as specified by South Carolina’s requirements. Notices are usually served via personal service, registered mail, or certified mail, return receipt requested.
Select Preliminary Notice document.
Provide basic job information.
Levelset sends the document for you. Postage included!