Preliminary notices in Tennessee
Tennessee's notice rule runs month by month. Subcontractors and suppliers send a notice of nonpayment 90 days after the last day of each month you furnish, so every month of unpaid work has its own deadline. Remote contractors (no contract with the owner): within 90 days after the last day of each month with unpaid work.
This is the rule that catches people out: by the time a second invoice goes unpaid, the notice for the first month may already be due. Put the dates in your calendar when you start the job, not when payment is late.
Lien filing deadline in Tennessee
If the GC hired you, you have 90 days after completion of the project to record a mechanics lien in Tennessee, 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.
90 days after completion or abandonment of the improvement.
Note what the clock counts from: completion of the project, not your own last day. A trade that finishes early may have more time than the number suggests, but the completion date is often unclear. The calculator uses your last furnishing date when you leave completion blank, which gives the earlier, safer date.
Deadline to sue on the lien
To keep the lien alive you must sue to enforce it within 90 days after recording the lien. If you record on the last possible day, that is about 180 days after your last day on the job, about 185 days shorter than the national median of 365 days. 2 of the 48 jurisdictions we track have a shorter overall time to sue and 42 have a longer one.
Because the clock counts from recording, recording early also moves the lawsuit deadline earlier.
General contractors: 12 months after recording the lien.
How Tennessee 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)
- Tennessee: 90 daysNational median: 90 days
- Sue to enforce (from last day)
- Tennessee: 180 daysNational median: 365 days
Public and federal projects
Public property can't be liened, so subcontractors and suppliers on state and local public jobs in Tennessee claim against the GC's payment bond instead. We haven't reduced Tennessee's bond claim deadlines to one set of numbers, because they vary by agency and project. The governing law is Tenn. Code §12-4-201 to -206. Verify the notice and suit deadlines with the statute and the bond itself before the job starts.
Federal jobs in Tennessee 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 Tennessee
On public work the cap is 5%, the most common cap among states that set one. Up to 5%, deposited in a separate interest-bearing escrow account.
Private work has a cap too: 5%. Up to 5% on projects over $500,000, held in escrow.
| Public work | Private work | Federal work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retainage cap | 5% | 5% | 10% |
| Release | Within 90 days after substantial completion. | Within 90 days after substantial completion. | Released with final payment, or earlier once progress is satisfactory. |
| GC pays subs within | Verify | Verify | 7 days |
| Late-payment interest | Verify | Verify | 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 framing sub in Tennessee
A framing subcontractor hired by the GC on a private medical office building in Tennessee starts work on March 2, 2026 and last furnishes on July 17, 2026. The project is completed on August 28, 2026. Run through Tennessee's rules, those dates give:
| Deadline | Date | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of nonpayment: March 2026 work | June 29, 2026 Verify | First furnishing |
| Notice of nonpayment: April 2026 work | July 29, 2026 Verify | First furnishing |
| Notice of nonpayment: July 2026 work | October 29, 2026 Verify | First furnishing |
| Record the lien | November 26, 2026 | Project completion |
| Sue to enforce the lien | February 24, 2027 Verify | Lien recording |
The first deadline on the calendar is “Notice of nonpayment: March 2026 work” on June 29, 2026, counted from the day the crew started, long before any payment is late.
2 more monthly notice dates fall between the rows shown; the calculator lists every one.
Rows marked "Verify" depend on facts or readings we can't settle for you. Check them against Tenn. Code §66-11-101 to -208.
Because Tennessee counts from project completion (August 28), not the sub's last day (July 17), the lien deadline is later than a last-furnishing state would give.
Open the lien deadline calculator for Tennessee 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 (TN): every notice, lien and suit date for your role, tier and job type.
- Retainage and prompt payment rules (TN): 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
- Tenn. Code §66-11-101 to -208
- Tenn. Code §12-4-201 to -206 (public bonds)
- Tenn. Code §66-34-101 to -704 (Prompt Pay Act)
- Federal work in Tennessee: 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.