A notice of commencement is a document the owner (or the owner’s agent) records with the county before work starts on a private project. It typically lists the property’s legal description, the owner, the general contractor, the surety if there is a payment bond, and the construction lender. Florida, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan and a handful of other states use it. Many states don’t have one at all, so this is a state-by-state question.
Where it exists, the NOC is the anchor for the lien process. Subs and suppliers use the information on it to serve their preliminary notices on the right parties, and in some states a lien’s priority relates back to the NOC’s recording date rather than the date that particular trade started.
Why it matters
If the NOC is missing, wrong or expired, lower tiers can serve notices on the wrong people and lose lien rights, and owners can end up paying twice for the same work. Some states also require a copy posted at the jobsite and set an expiration date, so long jobs may need it re-recorded.
Common mistakes
- Starting work before the NOC is recorded, which can affect lien priority and the lender’s position.
- Listing the wrong owner entity or leaving off the surety.
- Letting the NOC expire on a schedule that ran long.
- Not giving a copy to the subs and suppliers who need it for their notices.
How os.construction handles it
We’re building project setup so recorded notices, their dates and the parties named on them live on the job record, next to preliminary notices and lien waivers. It’s in development and not available yet.