Preliminary notices in Georgia
Georgia is one of the states with no general preliminary notice for subcontractors on commercial work in our summary. That doesn't mean you can skip paperwork: the lien itself still has a hard deadline, and the owner often learns about your claim only when the lien is recorded.
If you were hired by another subcontractor or supplier rather than the GC, add a notice to contractor within 30 days after your first day furnishing labor or materials, required only in some cases. Only when the owner files a notice of commencement; count from the later of that filing and your first work.
Lien filing deadline in Georgia
If the GC hired you, you have 90 days after your last day furnishing labor or materials to record a mechanics lien in Georgia, about the same as the national median of 90 days (counted from last furnishing on a sample job). 23 of the 51 jurisdictions we track use this same lien deadline, which makes it the most common rule.
Send a copy to the owner and GC within 2 business days of filing.
The clock starts on your last day furnishing labor or materials under your contract. In many states, warranty visits and punch list work done mainly to extend the deadline don't restart it, so use your last day of real contract work.
Deadline to sue on the lien
To keep the lien alive you must sue to enforce it within 365 days after recording the lien. If you record on the last possible day, that is about 455 days after your last day on the job, about 90 days longer than the national median of 365 days. 27 of the 48 jurisdictions we track have a shorter overall time to sue and 14 have a longer one.
Because the clock counts from recording, recording early also moves the lawsuit deadline earlier.
File a notice of action with the clerk within 30 days of starting suit.
How Georgia compares
Days are counted on a sample job with the lien recorded on its last allowed day, so states that count from recording or from completion can be compared with those that count from your last day on site. The median is across the jurisdictions with a dated rule on file.
- Record the lien (from last day)
- Georgia: 90 daysNational median: 90 days
- Sue to enforce (from last day)
- Georgia: 455 daysNational median: 365 days
Public and federal projects
Public property can't be liened. On state and local public work in Georgia, subcontractors and suppliers protect themselves with these payment bond steps instead:
| Step | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Notice to contractor | Subcontractors and suppliers hired by another subcontractor or supplier | 30 days after your first day furnishing labor or materials |
| Notice of claim to the GC | Subcontractors and suppliers hired by another subcontractor or supplier | 90 days after completion of the project (verify) |
| Payment bond lawsuit | Subcontractors and suppliers | 12 months after completion of the project (verify) |
Notice to contractor: when a notice of commencement is filed.
Notice of claim to the GC: counted from completion of the project.
Payment bond lawsuit: counted from completion and acceptance of the project.
Federal jobs in Georgia follow the Miller Act instead of state law: those hired by a sub or supplier give the prime contractor notice within 90 days of their last furnishing, and suit is due within 1 year, in federal court. Prime contractors on federal work have no lien or bond claim.
Retainage and prompt payment in Georgia
On public work the cap is 10%, above the 5% median of states that set one. Up to 10%; once 50% complete with satisfactory progress, no further retainage. It also steps down partway through the job, so check that your pay applications reduce retainage when the project reaches the threshold.
Private work has a cap too: 10%. Up to 10%, reduced once 50% is complete.
Once the GC is paid, it has 10 days on private work to pay its subs. Owner pays within 15 days of a pay request; GC pays subs within 10 days of receipt.
Late payments carry interest of 1% per month. That turns a slow payment into a number you can put in a demand letter.
| Public work | Private work | Federal work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retainage cap | 10% | 10% | 10% |
| Release | After substantial completion. | After substantial completion. | Released with final payment, or earlier once progress is satisfactory. |
| GC pays subs within | Verify | 10 days | 7 days |
| Late-payment interest | Verify | 1% per month (12% a year) | Treasury prompt payment rate (reset every January and July) |
Not legal advice. Retainage and prompt payment rules differ by agency, contract size and contract date, and change often. Confirm the rules with the current statute, your contract and a construction attorney before relying on them.
Worked example: a steel sub in Georgia
A steel subcontractor hired by the GC on a private retail shell in Georgia starts work on March 2, 2026 and last furnishes on July 17, 2026. The project is completed on August 28, 2026. Run through Georgia's rules, those dates give:
| Deadline | Date | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Record the lien | October 15, 2026 | Last furnishing |
| Sue to enforce the lien | October 15, 2027 | Lien recording |
The first deadline on the calendar is “Record the lien” on October 15, 2026.
Open the lien deadline calculator for Georgia and enter your own dates to get this table for your job, with countdowns and a PDF deadline calendar.
Check your own dates with the free tools
- Mechanics lien and notice deadline calculator (GA): every notice, lien and suit date for your role, tier and job type, including public bond claims.
- Retainage and prompt payment rules (GA): check your contract's retainage against the cap and work out late-payment interest.
- Schedule of values and pay application builder: bill each period with retainage calculated, so what you're owed is documented.
- Cash flow and retainage forecaster: see what slow payment and held retainage do to your bank balance.
Statutes cited
- O.C.G.A. §44-14-360 to -369
- O.C.G.A. §13-10-60 to -65 (public bonds)
- O.C.G.A. §13-10-80 (public)
- O.C.G.A. §13-11-1 to -11 (private prompt pay)
- Federal work in Georgia: 40 U.S.C. §3131 to §3134 (Miller Act)
Not legal advice. Lien and bond claim rules change and have exceptions for project type, contract terms and how notices are served. Confirm every deadline with the current statute or a construction attorney in the project's state before relying on it. Rules shown as "Verify with state statute" have exceptions or variations we could not reduce to one number.