Georgia Notice to Contractor

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   The Georgia form is a four item factual list, not a warning letter. Code Section 44-14-361.5(c) asks for your name, address and telephone number; the name and address of each person at whose instance you are furnishing; the project name and location as set forth in the notice of commencement; and a description of what you provide, with the contract price, anticipated value or amount due if you know it.

2. 2

   Two of those four items are copied from a document you did not write. The project name and location, and the owner and contractor addresses you send to, all come from the notice of commencement the owner or contractor filed with the clerk of the superior court, so get a copy of it before you draft.

3. 3

   The window is the later of two dates, not a single date. Subsection (a) gives 30 days from the filing of the notice of commencement, or 30 days following your first delivery of labor, services or materials to the property, whichever is later. On a project where the notice of commencement is filed after you start, the later date is the filing.

4. 4

   Only a claimant without privity of contract with the contractor is under this duty. Subsection (a) applies to a person having a right to a lien who does not have privity of contract with the contractor and is providing labor, services or materials for the improvement of property.

5. 5

   If nobody filed a notice of commencement, you owe no notice to contractor. Subsection (d) says the failure to file a notice of commencement renders the provisions of this Code section inapplicable.

6. 6

   Ask the contractor in writing for the notice of commencement and start a clock of your own. Subsection (b) requires the contractor to give a copy to any subcontractor, materialman or person who makes a written request, and failing to supply it within ten calendar days renders the Code section inapplicable to the party who asked.

7. 7

   Because no free official copy of the Georgia Code is reachable online, every value on this page is corroborated from two independent published sources that agree word for word, one of them a Georgia Court of Appeals opinion quoting the statute. Attorney review is available if you want a Georgia lawyer to confirm it.

Georgia Requirements for Preliminary Notice

• The Four Items Subsection (c) Prescribes

  Code Section 44-14-361.5(c) requires the name, address and telephone number of the person providing labor, services or materials; the name and address of each person at whose instance they are being furnished; the name of the project and location of the project set forth in the notice of commencement; and a description of the labor, services or materials being provided and, if known, the contract price or anticipated value, or the amount claimed to be due. No owner warning paragraph is prescribed.

• Thirty Days From the Later of Two Events

  Subsection (a) requires the notice within 30 days from the filing of the notice of commencement, or 30 days following the first delivery of labor, services or materials to the property, whichever is later. Attorney review available on this value: no free official Georgia Code copy is reachable, so the wording is taken from two independent sources that agree word for word, one of them a Georgia Court of Appeals opinion quoting subsection (a).

• Two Recipients, at the Notice of Commencement Addresses

  Subsection (c) sends the notice to the owner or the agent of the owner and to the contractor, at the addresses set forth in the notice of commencement. Both recipients, and those addresses specifically, rather than an address taken from a purchase order, an invoice or a website.

• Registered or Certified Mail, or Statutory Overnight Delivery

  Subsection (c) lists three methods and no others: registered mail, certified mail, or statutory overnight delivery. Code Section 44-14-361.5 prescribes no separate proof of service affidavit, so the mail receipt or the overnight delivery record is the proof you keep.

• Only Claimants Without Privity With the Contractor

  Subsection (a) applies to any person having a right to a lien who does not have privity of contract with the contractor and is providing labor, services or materials for the improvement of property, for the liens specified in paragraphs (1), (2) and (6) through (9) of subsection (a) of Code Section 44-14-361. A claimant who contracted with the contractor is not described by that sentence.

• No Notice of Commencement Means the Code Section Does Not Apply

  Subsection (d) provides that the failure to file a notice of commencement renders the provisions of this Code section inapplicable. Subsection (b) is the companion: the notice of commencement must be filed not later than 15 days after the contractor physically commences work, with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the project is located, and a copy must be posted on the project site.

• The Ten Calendar Day Written Request to the Contractor

  Subsection (b) requires the contractor to give a copy of the notice of commencement to any subcontractor, materialman or person who makes a written request of the contractor, and provides that failure to give a copy within ten calendar days of receipt of that written request renders the provision of this Code section inapplicable to the party making the request. Make the request in writing and keep it dated.

• Where the Clerk Indexes It, and Georgia's Two Notice Names

  Subsection (e) requires the clerk of each superior court to file the notice of commencement in that office's records and maintain an index separate from other real estate records, or an index with the preliminary notices specified in subsection (a) of Code Section 44-14-361.3, each notice of commencement indexed under the name of the true owner and the contractor as contained in it. Note the two names: the mandatory instrument here is the notice to contractor under Code Section 44-14-361.5, while the Code uses preliminary notice for the separate Code Section 44-14-361.3 filing, whose terms this page does not state.