California preliminary notice form, free and built to Civil Code 8202
California gives you 20 days from the day you first furnish work to give a preliminary notice, and without one a lien claim or a stop payment notice is not valid. Civil Code 8202 does not print the form. It lists what has to be on it, so this one is built item by item out of the statute with every subdivision named.
Section 8200(c) says compliance is a necessary prerequisite to the validity of a lien claim or stop payment notice, and 8200(d) says the same about a claim against a payment bond. Section 8204(a) sets the clock at not later than 20 days after the claimant has first furnished work. A late notice is still worth giving: 8204(a) says a claimant who did not give one is not precluded from giving it at any time thereafter, but is then entitled to claim only for work performed within 20 days prior to the service of the notice, and at any time thereafter.
Read the law: California Civil Code 8102, 8200, 8202, 8204 and 8206leginfo.legislature.ca.gov
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Cal. Civ. Code 8202 does not print a preliminary notice. It says what one has to contain and leaves the drafting to whoever serves it, so this form is built item by item and every line on it carries the subdivision that asks for it. Only the NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER statement is the statute's own words, reproduced from section 8202(a)(3). Print it and fill it in by hand, or use the builder below and get it back already filled in.
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A California preliminary notice, filled in
A roofing subcontractor three weeks into a re-roof, serving the notice that keeps a lien claim alive at all. This is the form where the usual shortcut is not available: Civil Code 8202 does not print a preliminary notice, it lists what one has to contain, so every line below names the subdivision that asks for it and you can check the sheet against the statute item by item.
- Three name and address blocks, because three people have to get thisOwner, direct contractor and construction lender, all three, under section 8200(a). The one exception is worth knowing before you fill any of it in: if your contract is with the owner, 8200(e)(2) says you give it to the construction lender only. A laborer does not have to give one at all. So the first decision on this form is not what to write, it is how many envelopes.
- Every field prints the subdivision that asks for itThe small line under each block, Civ. Code 8102(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3) and so on. Nowhere in California law is there an official preliminary notice form to copy, which means a notice is complete only if it contains what 8202 lists. Printing the subdivision beside each answer is how you can tell, at a glance, that nothing on the list was left out.
- The name sits over the address, not beside itThese are the fields the builder draws as a text box rather than a one line input, and the reason is on the envelope: this notice is served by mail, and a recipient block flattened into a single run of text is the one that gets mis-keyed by whoever addresses it. Press Return between the name and the street the way you would when addressing it by hand.
- Your relationship is the field that decides the envelopesSubcontractor to the direct contractor. That single line is why three blocks above it are filled in. Had it said direct contractor, the recipient list would collapse to the construction lender alone, and two of those three blocks would be blank and correct.
- Two descriptions of the work, one past and one futureWhat you supplied, and what you still have to supply. This is the part of the form most often filled in wrongly, because it is filled in as though the job were finished. It is not: the notice is due within 20 days of first furnishing, so on a typical job most of the work named on this sheet has not happened yet. Tear off and shingles behind you, ridge vent and gutters ahead.
- Two figures, and they are answers to different questions$8,450 is what is owed now, after all credits and offsets. $24,800 is the estimated total price of the work, which includes the part not yet done. Putting the same number in both, or putting a running balance in the first, is how a notice ends up contradicting the invoice it was meant to protect.
- The laborer line is blank, and blank is the right answer hereSection 8202(b) asks for it only where a subcontractor giving this notice has not paid all compensation due to a laborer. This one has paid, so the line stays empty and the sheet still prints the parenthetical under it. On a statutory form an empty field is part of the record: it says the question was asked and answered, which a field deleted from the page does not.
- 20 days, and a late notice is still worth servingSection 8204(a) sets the clock at not later than 20 days after the claimant first furnished work. What almost nobody says next is the rest of the same subdivision: a claimant who did not give one is not precluded from giving it at any time thereafter, but is then entitled to claim only for work performed within 20 days prior to service, and at any time after that. Late costs you the early part of the job. It does not cost you the job.
- The one block on here the legislature actually wroteThe NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER statement on sheet two, reproduced from section 8202(a)(3), capitals and all. Everything else on this form is our arrangement of what the statute requires; that block is the statute's own words and is not ours to improve, shorten or set in a smaller size.
- The 10 day duty inside that block belongs to the ownerIt tells the owner that if they record a notice of completion or cessation they must send a copy to their contractor and to you within 10 days, by registered or certified mail, and that failing to do it extends the deadline for recording a lien. It is read as the server's deadline about as often as not. It is not: a residential homeowner of a dwelling of four or fewer units is excused from it entirely, which is a sentence that only makes sense once you see whose duty it is.
A worked illustration of one state's form, not legal advice. California runs the clock from the day you first furnish work and section 8200(c) makes the notice a prerequisite to the validity of the lien claim, so the cost of getting this one wrong is the claim itself. Read the statute, or ask a California construction attorney, before you serve it on a real job.
Why there is no official California preliminary notice form
Every other statutory form on this site was cut out of a statute that prints one. Civil Code 8202 prints no form. It opens by saying the preliminary notice shall comply with the requirements of Section 8102, and shall also include, and then it lists what has to be there. The drafting is left to whoever serves it.
So this form is assembled from the list rather than copied. Section 8102(a) supplies six of the items: the name and address of the owner or reputed owner, of the direct contractor and of the construction lender if any, a description of the site sufficient for identification including the street address if any, the name, address and relationship to the parties of the person giving the notice, and, if that person is a claimant, a general statement of the work provided, the name of the person to or for whom it is provided, and a statement or estimate of the claimant's demand after deducting all just credits and offsets.
Section 8202(a) adds two more, a general description of the work to be provided and an estimate of the total price of the work provided and to be provided, and then 8202(a)(3) supplies the only words on the form that are the statute's own. Each rule on the form prints the subdivision it answers underneath it, so you can check the paper against the code line by line.
Getting a detail wrong is not automatically fatal. Section 8102(b) says notice is not invalid by reason of any variance from the requirements of this section if the notice is sufficient to substantially inform the person given notice of the information required. A missing street address is covered too: 8102(a)(4) says that if a sufficient legal description is given, the effectiveness of the notice is not affected by the fact that the street address is erroneous or is omitted.
The 20 days, and what a late notice still buys you
Section 8204(a): a preliminary notice shall be given not later than 20 days after the claimant has first furnished work on the work of improvement. The clock starts on your first day of work, not on the contract date and not on the day the job started.
Missing it does not end the matter. The same subdivision says a claimant who did not give a preliminary notice is not precluded from giving one at any time thereafter, and the claimant is then entitled to record a lien, give a stop payment notice and assert a claim against a payment bond only for work performed within 20 days prior to the service of the preliminary notice, and at any time thereafter. In other words, a notice served late cuts off everything you did more than 20 days before you served it. Serving it the day you notice the gap is always better than not serving it.
Design professionals get their own rule. Section 8204(b) says a design professional who has furnished services for the design of the work of improvement, and who gives a preliminary notice not later than 20 days after the work of improvement has commenced, is deemed to have complied with Section 8200 for the design services furnished or to be furnished.
Who has to get it, and how you are allowed to send it
Three people, under section 8200(a): the owner or reputed owner, the direct contractor or reputed direct contractor to which the claimant provides work either directly or through one or more subcontractors, and the construction lender or reputed construction lender if any. Two exceptions follow in 8200(e): a laborer is not required to give preliminary notice at all, and a claimant with a direct contractual relationship with an owner or reputed owner is required to give it only to the construction lender, if there is one.
Section 8106 allows three ways to give it: personal delivery, mail in the manner provided in Section 8110, or leaving the notice and mailing a copy in the manner provided in Section 415.20 of the Code of Civil Procedure. Mail is not ordinary mail. Section 8110 says notice by mail shall be given by registered or certified mail, express mail, or overnight delivery by an express service carrier.
Section 8108 says where to send it: the person's residence, the person's place of business, or one of the addresses the section then lists, which for an owner is the address shown on the direct contract, the building permit or a construction trust deed, for a construction lender the address on the construction loan agreement or construction trust deed, and for a contractor or subcontractor the address on the building permit, on the contractor's contract, or on the records of the Contractors' State License Board.
Timing is generous once it is out of your hands. Section 8116(b) says notice given by mail is complete and deemed to have been given when deposited in the mail or with an express service carrier. Posting it on day 20 counts as day 20.
One notice per person, and what it covers
Section 8206(a) says a claimant need give only one preliminary notice to each person to which notice must be given with respect to all work provided by the claimant for a work of improvement. You do not re-serve it every month.
Section 8206(b) is the exception to watch. If a claimant provides work pursuant to contracts with more than one subcontractor, the claimant shall give a separate preliminary notice with respect to work provided pursuant to each contract. Two subcontracts on the same building means two notices.
Section 8206(c) protects you if the job grows: a preliminary notice that contains a general description of work provided by the claimant through the date of the notice also covers work provided after the date of the notice, whether or not it is within the scope of the general description in the notice.
Proving later that you actually gave it
Section 8118(a) says proof that notice was given is made by a proof of notice declaration stating the type or description of the notice given, the date, place and manner of notice with facts showing it was given in the manner required by statute, and the name and address of the person to which notice was given with the title or capacity in which they were given notice.
If you mailed it, 8118(b) wants the paperwork attached: documentation from the United States Postal Service showing that payment was made to mail the notice using registered or certified mail or express mail, or the same from an express service carrier for an overnight service, or a return receipt, delivery confirmation, signature confirmation, tracking record or other proof of delivery or attempted delivery, or in the event of nondelivery the returned envelope itself.
That is the practical reason to send it by a method with a receipt even where personal delivery would be quicker. Keep the receipt with a copy of the notice for each of the three recipients, because the declaration is written about each of them separately.
Questions people ask
Is this the official California preliminary notice form?
There is no official form. Civil Code 8202 prescribes what a preliminary notice must contain and leaves the drafting to whoever serves it, so the form here is built to the section item by item, with the subdivision that asks for each item printed under it. The only part reproduced word for word is the NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER statement, which 8202(a)(3) prints and requires in boldface type.
What happens if I give the notice more than 20 days after I started?
You can still give it. Section 8204(a) says a claimant who did not give a preliminary notice is not precluded from giving one at any time thereafter, but is then entitled to record a lien, give a stop payment notice and assert a claim against a payment bond only for work performed within 20 days prior to the service of the notice, and at any time thereafter. Everything earlier than that is lost.
Do I have to give a preliminary notice if I contracted directly with the owner?
Only to the lender. Section 8200(e)(2) says a claimant with a direct contractual relationship with an owner or reputed owner is required to give preliminary notice only to the construction lender or reputed construction lender, if any. If there is no construction lender, there is nobody left to give it to.
Can I send it by regular first class mail?
No. Section 8106 allows personal delivery, mail in the manner provided in Section 8110, or leaving the notice and mailing a copy under Code of Civil Procedure 415.20. Section 8110 defines mail here as registered or certified mail, express mail, or overnight delivery by an express service carrier.
What is the laborer line on the form for?
Section 8202(b). If the preliminary notice is given by a subcontractor who has not paid all compensation due to a laborer, the notice shall include the name and address of the laborer and of any person or entity described in Section 8024(b) to which payments are due. Section 8024(b) covers a person or entity that receives part of a laborer's compensation by agreement with the laborer or the collective bargaining agent, such as a benefit trust fund. Leave the line blank if it does not apply to you.
Do I have to serve a new notice every month, or for extra work?
No on both counts. Section 8206(a) says one notice per person covers all work you provide for the work of improvement, and 8206(c) says a notice describing the work through its own date also covers work provided afterwards, whether or not it is within the scope of that description. The one case that needs a second notice is 8206(b): separate contracts with more than one subcontractor need a separate notice for each contract.
Once the job is running and you are getting paid on it, the paperwork that comes next is the waiver: see the California statutory lien waiver forms, and conditional vs unconditional lien waiver for which of the two to sign.