Georgia notice to contractor form, free and built to O.C.G.A. 44-14-361.5
If you are on a Georgia job and you do not have a contract with the general contractor, a written notice to contractor within 30 days is the thing that makes your lien good. Code section 44-14-361.5 does not print the form. Subsection (c) lists what the notice has to set forth, so this one is built item by item, with the item of the statute that asks for each group of answers printed underneath them.
Subsection (a): to make good the liens specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (6) through (9) of subsection (a) of Code Section 44-14-361, 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 shall give a written notice to contractor 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. Whichever is later, so a notice of commencement filed after you were already on the job does not shorten the time you have.
Read the law: O.C.G.A. 44-14-361, 44-14-361.3, 44-14-361.5 and O.C.G.A. 9-10-12codes.findlaw.com
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O.C.G.A. 44-14-361.5 does not print a notice to contractor. Subsection (c) says what one has to set forth and leaves the drafting to whoever sends it, so this form is built item by item, and under each group of answers is the item of subsection (c) that asks for them, in the statute's own words. Print it and fill it in by hand, or use the builder below and get it back already filled in.
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Why there is no official Georgia notice to contractor form
Most statutory forms on this site were cut out of a statute that prints one. Section 44-14-361.5 prints nothing. Subsection (c) says a notice to contractor shall be sent by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the owner or the agent of the owner and to the contractor at the addresses set forth in the notice of commencement setting forth, and then it lists four items and stops.
So the paper here is assembled from that list rather than copied out of the code. The four items are the only words on it that are the statute's own, and each one is printed as the caption under the answers it asks for, so you can hold the form against the section and check it line by line.
The four items are the name, address and telephone number of the person providing labor, services, or materials; the name and address of each person at whose instance the labor, services, or materials 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 of the labor, services, or materials to be provided or the amount claimed to be due, if any.
Nothing in the section forgives a missing item the way some states do, so fill in every one of them. Where the statute says if known or if any, say so on the paper rather than leaving the line empty.
The 30 days, and which day they start on
Subsection (a) gives you 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.
Both halves matter. If the notice of commencement was filed before you ever set foot on the job, your 30 days run from your first delivery. If you were already working when it was filed, they run from the filing. The later of the two is the one that counts, which means a notice of commencement filed late does not cost you time.
Subsection (b) tells you when the notice of commencement itself is due: not later than 15 days after the contractor physically commences work on the property, filed with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the project is located, with a copy posted on the project site.
How to send it, and what statutory overnight delivery means
Subsection (c) allows registered mail, certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. Ordinary first class mail is not on that list, and neither is email or hand delivery.
Statutory overnight delivery is defined in a different code section, O.C.G.A. 9-10-12(b), and it takes all three of its conditions, not one. The notice has to be delivered through the United States Postal Service or through a commercial firm which is regularly engaged in the business of document delivery or document and package delivery. The terms of your engagement of that service have to call for the document to be delivered not later than the next business day following the day it is received for delivery. And you have to receive from the Postal Service or the firm a receipt acknowledging receipt of the document which receipt is signed by the addressee or an agent of the addressee.
That last condition is the one people miss. A tracking number showing delivered is not a receipt signed by the addressee or an agent of the addressee. Section 9-10-12(a) also says that wherever a Georgia statute calls for registered mail, certified mail may be used instead.
Keep what comes back. The green card, the signed receipt, the certified mail number and a copy of what you sent are the whole of your proof that the notice went out inside the 30 days.
No notice of commencement, no notice to contractor
Subsection (d) is short and it is worth reading twice: the failure to file a notice of commencement shall render the provisions of this Code section inapplicable. If nobody ever filed one, the notice to contractor requirement does not apply to you.
That is not a reason to skip the search. It is a reason to do it. The notice of commencement is filed with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the project is, and subsection (e) says the clerk keeps it in an index separate from other real estate records, or in an index with the preliminary notices, and indexes it under the name of the true owner and the contractor.
There is also a way to make the contractor hand it to you. Subsection (b) says the contractor shall be required to give a copy of the notice of commencement to any subcontractor, materialman, or person who makes a written request, and that failure to give a copy within ten calendar days of receipt of the written request shall render the provision of this Code section inapplicable to the person making the request. So a written request costs you nothing: either you get the addresses you need, or ten days later the requirement stops applying to you.
Subsection (d) also says the filing of a notice of commencement shall not constitute a cloud, lien, or encumbrance upon or defect to the title of the real property, nor alter the aggregate amounts of liens allowable, nor affect the priority of any loan, nor affect future advances under such a loan.
This is not the preliminary notice of lien rights
Georgia has a second notice and the two get mixed up constantly. The preliminary notice of lien rights in section 44-14-361.3 is optional, it is filed with the clerk of superior court rather than mailed to anybody, it is due within 30 days after the date a party delivered any materials or provided any labor or services, and it carries a $5.00 filing fee. Subsection (b) of that section then gives you seven days to send a copy by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the contractor or the owner.
Section 44-14-361.3(d) says plainly that a person having a lien may enforce the lien without filing a preliminary notice of lien. Nothing like that is said about the notice to contractor.
The notice to contractor in 44-14-361.5 is the one that is not optional. If a notice of commencement was filed and you are not in privity of contract with the contractor, it is what makes good the lien specified in paragraphs (1), (2), and (6) through (9) of section 44-14-361(a): mechanics, contractors, subcontractors, materialmen furnishing material to subcontractors, laborers furnishing labor to subcontractors, the factory and machinery categories, contractors to build railroads, and suppliers furnishing rental tools, appliances, machinery, or equipment for the improvement of real estate.
Questions people ask
Is this the official Georgia notice to contractor form?
There is no official form. Section 44-14-361.5(c) says what a notice to contractor has to set forth and leaves the drafting to whoever sends it, so the form here is built to the subsection item by item, with each of its four items printed as the caption under the answers it asks for. Those four items are the only words on the paper that are the statute's own.
Who has to send a notice to contractor in Georgia?
Under subsection (a), 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, on a project where a notice of commencement has been filed. If your contract is with the general contractor, this notice is not the one you need.
When exactly do the 30 days start?
On the later of two days: the filing of the notice of commencement, or your first delivery of labor, services, or materials to the property. Subsection (a) says whichever is later, so work out both dates and count from the one further forward.
Can I email it, or send it by ordinary mail?
No. Subsection (c) says the notice shall be sent by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. Statutory overnight delivery has its own definition in O.C.G.A. 9-10-12(b) and it requires a receipt acknowledging receipt of the document, signed by the addressee or an agent of the addressee.
What if no notice of commencement was ever filed?
Subsection (d) says the failure to file a notice of commencement renders the provisions of the Code section inapplicable. Check the clerk of the superior court in the county where the project is before you rely on that, because subsection (e) requires the clerk to index it under the name of the true owner and the contractor.
The contractor will not give me the notice of commencement. What can I do?
Ask in writing. Subsection (b) requires the contractor to give a copy to any subcontractor, materialman, or person who makes a written request, and says that failure to give a copy within ten calendar days of receipt of the written request renders the provision of the Code section inapplicable to the person who asked.
Once the job is running and you are getting paid on it, the paperwork that comes next is the waiver: see the Georgia statutory lien waiver forms, and conditional vs unconditional lien waiver for which of the two to sign.