Georgia Construction Payment Guide: Every Notice, Deadline, and Checklist

Before the job starts

Most payment problems are cheaper to prevent than to fix. Do this before you mobilize or ship the first load. Our construction contracts page covers contract review in detail.

• Review the contract: payment terms, retainage, change-order procedure, pay-if-paid or pay-when-paid language, dispute resolution, and any lien waiver clause. Georgia enforces a pay-if-paid clause when the condition is clearly expressed.
• Know that a waiver of lien or payment-bond rights signed before you furnish labor or materials is void under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-366(b), even if it is buried in the contract.
• Suppliers: get a signed credit application with a personal guaranty where you can, and record the project name, address, and owner for every account.
• Check the county superior court clerk's records for a Notice of Commencement. If one is filed, note the owner, contractor, surety, and lender it lists.
• Identify the owner: private, State of Georgia, a county, city, or school board, or the federal government. Public property can't be liened, so the remedy on public jobs is a payment bond claim.
• On public jobs, request a copy of the payment bond and note the surety. On federal jobs, the contracting officer must provide the surety's name and a copy of the bond on request.
• Set up a job file: contract, change orders, delivery tickets, daily logs, invoices, and a calendar for every deadline in this guide.

In the first 30 days

The first month sets up your notice rights. See our Notice of Commencement and Notice to Contractor pages for the details and required contents.

• Notice of Commencement (private jobs): the owner, the owner's agent, or the contractor files it with the superior court clerk no later than 15 days after the contractor physically starts work, and posts a copy on the site (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.5).
• Notice to Contractor: if a Notice of Commencement is filed and you have no contract with the prime contractor, send it within 30 days of the NOC filing or 30 days after your first delivery, whichever is later, by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery to the owner and the contractor at the addresses on the NOC. Missing a required notice defeats your lien.
• No Notice of Commencement on file? The Notice to Contractor requirement doesn't apply. Keep checking the clerk's records, because a late NOC can still trigger it.
• Preliminary notice of lien rights (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.3) is optional. You may file one within 30 days after you first deliver labor or materials, but you can enforce a lien without it.
• Public projects: the prime contractor posts and files a Notice of Commencement within 15 days of starting work. If one is filed, a claimant with no contract with the prime gives the contractor written notice within 30 days of the filing or first delivery, whichever is later (O.C.G.A. §§ 13-10-63, 36-91-93).
• Federal projects: calendar the Miller Act 90-day notice from your last day of work if you are a second-tier sub or supplier.

Every pay application

Payment timing and lien waivers are where money quietly slips away. Our Prompt Payment Act and lien waivers pages go deeper.

• Prompt Pay timing: the owner pays the contractor within 15 days of receiving a payment request, and the contractor pays each sub within 10 days of actually receiving payment for that sub's work (O.C.G.A. § 13-11-4). Contracts can set different terms.
• Late-payment interest is 1% per month, but only if the party you're billing was notified of O.C.G.A. § 13-11-7 when you requested payment. Put that notice on every pay app. Accepting the payment releases the interest claim.
• The Prompt Pay Act doesn't apply to residential projects of 12 or fewer units.
• Lien waivers: use only the statutory Interim or Final 'Waiver and Release of Lien and Payment Bond Rights' form, and sign it only for money you have actually received.
• Calendar 90 days from the date you sign every waiver. The waiver becomes effective at the end of that period even if you were never paid, unless you file an affidavit of nonpayment first.
• Not paid? File the affidavit of nonpayment in the county where the property sits before the 90 days run, and send a copy to the owner within 7 days. Filing a lien does not stop a waiver; only the affidavit does.
• A statutory waiver releases only lien and bond rights. Your contract claim for the money survives.

When payment is late

Once payment slips, the clocks keep running whether or not the customer is still promising a check. Verbal promises to pay do not extend a lien deadline.

• Send a written demand that states the amount owed, the work it covers, and the deadline to pay.
• Private jobs: record a claim of lien with the superior court clerk in the county where the property is located within 90 days after you complete your work or furnish materials (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1). Weekends and holidays do not extend that deadline.
• The lien must include the 395-day expiration statement in at least 12-point bold type and a notice of the owner's right to contest, or it is invalid.
• No later than 2 business days after filing, send a copy of the lien to the owner by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. If a Notice of Commencement was filed, also send a copy to the contractor at the address on the NOC.
• Georgia public jobs: if no Notice of Commencement was filed, a claimant with no contract with the prime gives written notice to the contractor within 90 days after its last labor or materials. See our public project bond claims page.
• Federal jobs: second-tier subs and suppliers give written notice to the prime within 90 days of their last labor or materials (40 U.S.C. § 3133). First-tier claimants may sue once they are unpaid 90 days after their last work. See our Miller Act page.
• Suppliers chasing open accounts: see our material supplier collections page for demand, guaranty, and lien options.

After you file

Filing the lien is not the finish line. Two more filings keep it alive, and the owner has tools to speed up the clock.

• Start a lawsuit (or arbitration, if your contract requires it) to enforce the lien within 365 days of filing the lien.
• Within 30 days after starting that action, file a sworn notice of commencement of lien action with the clerk in the county where the lien was recorded. Missing either step makes the lien unenforceable (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-367).
• If the owner or contractor records a Notice of Contest of Lien, your time to start a lien action shrinks to 60 days from receipt of that notice (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-368).
• The owner or contractor can discharge the lien from the property by posting a bond for double the amount claimed, or the amount claimed if the property is the owner's home (O.C.G.A. § 44-14-364). You then pursue the bond, but you still must meet the suit deadlines.
• Georgia public bond suits must be filed within one year after the contract is completed and the work is accepted (O.C.G.A. §§ 13-10-65, 36-91-95).
• Miller Act suits go in federal district court where the contract was performed, within one year after your last labor or materials.
• Consider mediation or arbitration if your contract calls for it. Our construction mediation and arbitration page explains how that fits with lien deadlines.

Checklist for owners and general contractors

The same rules protect owners and GCs who use them. A few habits cut down on surprise liens and double payment.

• File a complete Notice of Commencement within 15 days of starting work, with the legal description, true owner, surety, and lender. A defective NOC can make the Notice to Contractor rule inapplicable.
• Post the NOC on site and give a copy to any sub or supplier who asks in writing within 10 calendar days.
• Collect the statutory Interim or Final waiver form from every sub and supplier with each payment, and track affidavits of nonpayment filed in the county.
• Pay subs within the Prompt Pay window, and document any withholding for a reason the Act allows, such as defective work that hasn't been fixed or disputed work.
• Lien on your property? Check whether it was filed within 90 days, whether the copy was sent within 2 business days, and whether it carries the required 395-day statement. Then consider a Notice of Contest or a discharge bond.

Georgia construction payment deadlines at a glance

Frequently Asked Questions