Question 1

Who must receive an Arizona preliminary twenty day notice?

Accepted Answer

Four parties, under A.R.S. section 33-992.01(B): the owner or reputed owner, the original contractor or reputed contractor, the construction lender if any or reputed construction lender if any, and the person with whom the claimant has contracted for the purchase of the labor, professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools. The fourth is what makes Arizona different from the three-recipient states, and it is the one most often missed, because serving your own customer feels redundant when you invoice them every month. Subsection A defines the terms: an original contractor is one with a direct contractual relationship with the owner, and a construction lender is a mortgagee or deed of trust beneficiary whose funds defray the cost of the work, or an assignee or successor of either.

Question 2

Who is excused from giving an Arizona preliminary twenty day notice?

Accepted Answer

One class, named at the very start of subsection B: a person performing actual labor for wages. Everyone else who furnishes labor, professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools for which a lien might otherwise be claimed is inside the requirement, and Arizona does not give a direct contractor the reduced obligation some states do. Two other people never reach the question. Section 33-981(C) denies lien rights altogether to a person required to be licensed as a contractor who holds no valid license under title 32, chapter 10, and section 33-981(E) does the same for a person furnishing professional services without a valid certificate of registration under title 32, chapter 1.

Question 3

How must an Arizona preliminary twenty day notice be delivered?

Accepted Answer

By mail, and by one of three classes only. Subsection F permits mailing by first class mail sent with a certificate of mailing, by registered mail, or by certified mail, postage prepaid in all cases, addressed to the person to whom notice is to be given at that person's residence or business address. It then fixes the moment of service: service is complete at the time of the deposit of notice in the mail, so a notice posted on the last available day is served that day even though it arrives later. Note what subsection F does not list. Hand delivery is not among the methods the subsection names, so the safe course in Arizona is to use one of the three mail routes and keep what the post office gives you.

Question 4

Does Arizona require proof that the notice was mailed?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is a condition of enforcement rather than good practice. Section 33-981(D) says 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. That section gives two routes. The first is an acknowledgment of receipt in substantially the statutory form, signed by the person acknowledging receipt with their title if they sign for someone else, showing the date of receipt and the address. The second applies if the recipient never completes it, or fails to complete and return it thirty days from the date of mailing: an affidavit of the person who did the mailing, showing the time, place and manner, the name and address of each recipient and the capacity in which notice was given, with the certificate of mailing or the certification or registration receipt attached.

Question 5

Which statements does Arizona require inside the notice?

Accepted Answer

Three blocks of prescribed language, on top of the five content items. The first opens the notice: in accordance with Arizona Revised Statutes section 33-992.01, this is not a lien and this is not a reflection on the integrity of any contractor or subcontractor. The second is headed Notice to Property Owner and warns that if bills are not paid in full a mechanic's lien leading to the loss, through court foreclosure proceedings, of all or part of the property may be placed against it, then offers the owner three protections: a conditional waiver and release under section 33-1008 before paying, an unconditional waiver and release under that section after paying, or any other appropriate method or device. The third, in the largest type on the document, tells the owner about the ten day duties in subsections J and K. Subsection D also directs that the acknowledgment of receipt language from section 33-992.02 be inserted into the notice itself.

Question 6

How can an Arizona claimant find the owner, contractor and lender details?

Accepted Answer

Ask in writing, and the statute makes someone answer. Subsection J gives the owner or other interested party ten days from a written request by a person intending to give the notice, or ten days from receipt of the notice, to furnish a written statement with the jobsite description, the name and address of the owner or reputed owner, of the original contractor or reputed contractor and of the construction lender or reputed construction lender, and a copy of any payment bond recorded under section 33-1003 with the surety and bonding agent details. Your request has to identify you, your address, the jobsite and the general nature of what you are supplying. Subsection K then adds the sanction: silence does not excuse you from serving on time, but it stops the owner from raising any inaccuracy in your notice as a defense.

Question 7

Can one Arizona notice cover a whole job?

Accepted Answer

Usually, with two triggers that force another one. Subsection G says a claimant need give only one notice to each of the four recipients covering everything furnished for that building, structure or improvement. The exceptions are a price move and a split in the contracting chain: if the actual estimated total price exceeds by thirty percent or more the total price stated in any prior notice, or if the items are furnished under contracts with more than one subcontractor, the notice requirements must be met for all the additional items. Subsection H gives you headroom in the other direction, providing that a notice is not defective because the claimant later furnishes items outside the general description, or exceeds the estimate by less than thirty percent.

Question 8

When does an Arizona notice have to be served, and what if it is late?

Accepted Answer

Subsection C requires it not later than twenty days after the claimant has first furnished labor, professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools to the jobsite, so the clock runs from your first delivery to the site rather than from your contract or your invoice. Subsection E handles lateness, and it shrinks rather than bars. A person who elected not to serve is not precluded from serving later, not later than twenty days after furnishing other items to the same jobsite, but is then entitled to claim a lien only for the items furnished in the twenty days before service of the notice and at any time afterward. On a long-running supply account that can turn a large claim into a small one, so serving today still protects everything from today onward.

Arizona Preliminary Twenty Day Notice

Find out where you stand in Arizona

Introduction

Key Things to Know

Key decisions before you file

Customize your Preliminary Notice Template with DocDraft

Arizona Requirements for Preliminary Notice

Four Recipients Under Section 33-992.01(B)

Your Own Customer Is a Statutory Recipient

Only Actual Labor for Wages Is Carved Out

Mail Only, and Service Is Complete on Deposit

Proof of Service Is a Condition of Enforcement

Three Blocks of Prescribed Language, Plus the Subsection D Form

The Owner Owes You the Job Details on Ten Days Notice

One Notice Per Job, Until the Price Moves Thirty Percent

Frequently Asked Questions