Indiana mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
Indiana lien deadline
Filing deadline
Sworn Statement and Notice of Intention to Hold Mechanic's Lien, filed IN DUPLICATE with the recorder of the county where the property lies. THE DEADLINE TURNS ON WHAT THE BUILDING IS, NOT ON WHO LIVES IN IT: 60 days from last furnishing if the structure is a CLASS 2 STRUCTURE, 90 days otherwise (Ind. Code § 32-28-3-3(a), (b)). "Class 2 structure" is defined at Ind. Code § 22-12-1-5 — a townhouse, or a building intended to contain or containing only one or two dwelling units, or an outbuilding for one such as a garage, barn or family swimming pool. A rental duplex, a spec house and a townhouse are each Class 2 and each carry the 60-day deadline; a triplex or larger apartment building is not. Contents are prescribed by § 32-28-3-3(c): the amount claimed, the claimant's name and address, the owner's name and latest address as shown on the county property tax records, and the legal description plus street number — the owner name and description are sufficient if substantially as set out in the county auditor's transfer books. The recorder mails one duplicate to the owner within three business days and collects a $2 fee from the claimant for doing it (§ 32-28-3-3(d)).
Notice prerequisites
None on a structure that is not a single or double family dwelling. Where it is, a claimant who sold or furnished ON CREDIT to a contractor, subcontractor, mechanic or anyone other than the occupying owner owes a written pre-lien notice, and furnishing it is a CONDITION PRECEDENT to acquiring any lien. Two versions on different clocks: ALTERATION OR REPAIR of an owner-occupied dwelling — written notice of the delivery or work and of the existence of lien rights to the OCCUPYING OWNER within 30 days of the first delivery or labor (§ 32-28-3-1(h)); ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION of a dwelling for the intended occupancy of the owner — the same notice to the owner as named in the county auditor's transfer books AND a copy filed with the county recorder, both within 60 days of the first delivery or labor (§ 32-28-3-1(i)). NOTE THAT THREE DIFFERENT TESTS ARE IN PLAY AND THEY DO NOT LINE UP: the filing deadline asks whether the structure is Class 2 (unit count, occupancy irrelevant), § 32-28-3-1(h) asks whether the owner occupies it, and § 32-28-3-1(i) asks whether it is being built for the owner's own occupancy. On a rental duplex the lien deadline is 60 days and no pre-lien notice is owed at all. Separately, § 32-28-3-1(j) bars a lien for original construction against an innocent purchaser for value of a single or double family dwelling for their own occupancy unless the notice of intention to hold the lien was recorded before the deed.
Service on the owner
Recording perfects the lien; the RECORDER mails one of the duplicates to the owner within three business days after recordation, at the address the claimant set out in the instrument, and collects $2 for it (§ 32-28-3-3(d)). An incomplete or wrong owner address therefore defeats a mailing the claimant never controls. No pre-recording service requirement outside the residential pre-lien notice.
Enforcement
Foreclosure complaint in the circuit or superior court of the county where the property lies not later than 1 year after the date the statement and notice of intention to hold a lien was recorded; if it is not enforced in time the lien "is void" (§ 32-28-3-6(a), (b)). A written credit extends that only if its terms are in writing, it is executed by the lienholder and all owners of record, and it is recorded in the same manner and within the same year (§ 32-28-3-6(c)). THE YEAR CAN BE CUT TO THIRTY DAYS BY AN ORDINARY LETTER: under § 32-28-3-10(a) the lien is void if the owner, a mortgagee or anyone else with an interest in the property gives the lienholder WRITTEN NOTICE to file a foreclosure action and no action is filed within 30 days after the lienholder receives it. The statute requires only "written notice" — certified mail is not a condition of that. Registered or certified mail matters on the owner's side: § 32-28-3-10(b) is what lets them record an affidavit of service and have the recorder release the property of record. The underlying claim survives; § 32-28-3-10(a) says so expressly.
Ind. Code § 32-28-3-1 et seq., esp. §§ 32-28-3-1(h)-(j), -3, -6, -9, -10; "Class 2 structure" at Ind. Code § 22-12-1-5; release and satisfaction at §§ 32-28-6-1 and 32-28-1-2; design professional lien statute separate
Indiana Code Title 32, Art. 28, Ch. 3 — published by the Indiana General Assembly.
Work on Public Property
No mechanics lien attaches to public property in any state. On a government job the remedy is the prime contractor’s payment bond, and it runs on its own act with its own deadlines — not the lien deadlines above.
- Who — LOCAL: the awarding BOARD, in signed duplicate, plus a copy to the contractor. STATE: see below.
- When — 60 days from YOUR own last day. IC 36-1-12-13.1.
- How — None prescribed — file with the board and deliver a copy.
- If late — The whole claim. The filing creates the right; it does not merely preserve one.
- Sue by — LOCAL: 60 days after final completion and acceptance — which can expire BEFORE you expect. Read below.
Is there a bond at all?
LOCAL: IC 36-1-12-13.1(a): 'Except as provided in subsection (e), the appropriate political subdivision or agency: (1) shall require the contractor to execute a payment bond to the appropriate political subdivision or agency, approved by and for the benefit of the political subdivision or agency, in an amount equal to the contract price if the cost of the public work is estimated to be more than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000); and (2) may require the contractor to execute a payment bond... if the cost of the public work is estimated to be not more than two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000).' So above $200,000 the bond is mandatory at 100% of the contract price; at or below $200,000 it is discretionary and may simply not exist. STATE: IC 4-13.6-7-6(a) requires a payment bond equal to 100% of the contract price on projects exceeding $200,000; 4-13.6-7-6(f) gives the director an election on projects of $200,000 or less between (1) a payment bond in an amount the director determines, up to 100%, and (2) withholding 10% retainage until substantial completion - meaning on a small state job the security may be retainage rather than a bond.
Who can claim on it
LOCAL: IC 36-1-12-13.1(a): 'The payment bond is binding on the contractor, the subcontractor, and their successors and assigns for the payment of all indebtedness to a person for labor and service performed, material furnished, or services rendered. The payment bond must state that it is for the benefit of the subcontractors, laborers, material suppliers, and those performing services.' The right of claim in (c) belongs to 'A person to whom money is due for labor performed, material furnished, or services provided.' NO TIER CUT-OFF APPEARS ANYWHERE IN THE SECTION - there is no Miller Act style privity proviso stopping remote claimants, and no requirement that the claimant be in privity with the prime or with a first-tier subcontractor. STATE: IC 4-13.6-7-10(a) gives the claim to 'a subcontractor or supplier making a claim for payment on account of having performed any labor or having furnished any material or service in relation to a public works project.' Again no tier cut-off in the words. Where Indiana case law stops a remote supplier is not answered by the text.
What notice you owe
EVERY CLAIMANT, at every tier, in privity or not - and it is not a 'notice' in the Miller Act sense at all, it is a MANDATORY FILING that creates the right against the surety. IC 36-1-12-13.1(c): 'A person to whom money is due for labor performed, material furnished, or services provided must, not later than sixty (60) days after that person completed the labor or service or after that person furnished the last item of material: (1) file with the board signed duplicate statements of the amount due; and (2) deliver a copy of the statement to the contractor.' There is no proviso excusing a first-tier subcontractor who dealt directly with the prime. The state regime is the same in structure: IC 4-13.6-7-10(a) requires the claimant to 'file a verified claim with the division and deliver a copy of the claim to the contractor' within 60 days, and 4-13.6-7-10(b) adds that 'In order to proceed against the bond of the contractor required under section 6 of this chapter, the claimant must notify the surety of the contractor by sending a copy of the claim required by subsection (a) to the surety company. The claimant shall also inform the division and the contractor that the surety has been notified.'
Who it goes to
LOCAL: the BOARD that awarded the contract, in SIGNED DUPLICATE, plus a copy delivered to the CONTRACTOR. The surety is served by the board, not by the claimant: 'The board shall forward to the surety of the payment bond one (1) of the signed duplicate statements. However, failure of the board to forward a signed duplicate statement does not affect the rights of a person to whom money is due. In addition, a failure of the board to forward the statement does not operate as a defense for the surety.' STATE: the DIVISION (of Public Works), plus a copy to the CONTRACTOR, plus - and this is the claimant's own duty on state work - a copy to the SURETY COMPANY, with the division and the contractor informed that the surety has been notified. 'The division shall supply the claimant with any information the claimant requires to notify the surety and the contractor.'
By when
60 days, running from the CLAIMANT'S OWN last day. Local: 'not later than sixty (60) days after that person completed the labor or service or after that person furnished the last item of material.' State: 'not later than sixty (60) days after the date the last labor was performed, the last material was furnished, or the last service was rendered by that subcontractor or supplier.' Note the local formula gives two alternative triggers (completion of labor OR service, or last item of material) rather than a single last-furnishing date.
How it must be served
NONE PRESCRIBED, in either regime. The local statute says only 'file with the board' and 'deliver a copy of the statement to the contractor' - no mail class, no certified or registered requirement, no service-of-process alternative. The state statute says only 'file a verified claim with the division and deliver a copy of the claim to the contractor' and, for the surety, 'sending a copy of the claim.' Because delivery is undefined and unproved by any statutory receipt device, the claimant should self-impose certified mail with return receipt and keep proof of the board's or division's file stamp.
What it has to say
LOCAL: minimal - 'signed duplicate statements of the amount due.' Nothing else is enumerated: no description of the work, no identification of the party who ordered it, no project description. STATE: slightly more - the claim must be VERIFIED, and 'The claim shall state the amount due and owing to the person and shall give as much detail explaining the claim as possible.'
If the notice is late, or never given
THE WHOLE CLAIM. The filing is not a condition attached to an existing right, it is the event that creates the right: no action lies against the surety at all until 30 days after it is done. IC 36-1-12-13.1(d): 'An action may not be brought against the surety before thirty (30) days after: (1) the filing of the signed duplicate statements with the board; and (2) delivery of a copy of the statement to the contractor.' IC 4-13.6-7-10(c) is identical in effect: 'The claimant may not file suit against the contractor's surety on the contractor's bond before thirty (30) days after filing of the claim with the division and delivering a copy of the claim to the contractor.' On state work the filing is also the gateway to payment out of retainage under section 9. There is no saving clause for late, defective or unprejudicial filing.
When the suit clock starts
LOCAL: the outer limit runs from FINAL COMPLETION AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE PUBLIC WORK - an event about the project, not about the claimant. The inner limit runs from the claimant's own filing plus delivery. IC 36-1-12-13.1(d): 'If the indebtedness is not paid in full at the end of that thirty (30) day period the person may bring an action in court. The court action must be brought not later than sixty (60) days after the date of the final completion and acceptance of the public work.' STATE: the 30-day floor runs from the claimant's own filing and delivery, IC 4-13.6-7-10(c). THE OUTER LIMIT IS IN A DIFFERENT SECTION AND RUNS FROM A DIFFERENT EVENT: IC 4-13.6-7-11 measures ONE YEAR from FINAL SETTLEMENT WITH THE CONTRACTOR under IC 4-13.6-7-8 - a settlement between the division and the prime, not anything about the claimant.
How long you have to sue
LOCAL: 60 days after the date of final completion and acceptance of the public work - and note that this cap can expire BEFORE or SHORTLY AFTER the claimant's own 60-day filing period runs, because the two clocks measure different events. STATE: ONE YEAR, and it is a hard bar. IC 4-13.6-7-11: 'Unless the bond provides a greater period of time, all suits must be brought against a surety on a bond required by this chapter within one (1) year after final settlement with the contractor under section 8 of this chapter. All suits against the surety after this time are barred.' Read the bond before relying on the year - the section lets the bond itself give a LONGER period, so the instrument can allow longer than the statute but never less.
Where suit is brought
LOCAL: not prescribed - IC 36-1-12-13.1(d) says only 'the person may bring an action in court.' No venue, no court level. STATE: IC 4-13.6-7-10(c) - 'the claimant may bring an action in a court of competent jurisdiction in the claimant's own name upon the bond.'
The trap
Indiana's 60-day suit deadline on local public work runs from FINAL COMPLETION AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE ENTIRE PUBLIC WORK rather than from the claimant's last day or its filing, so a subcontractor who finished early, filed its duplicate statements perfectly on day 59, and waited out the mandatory 30-day standstill can find the action already time-barred by an acceptance nobody was required to tell it about.
The act itself
No popular name and no single Little Miller Act. Indiana runs TWO parallel regimes: the public works chapter of the Local Government title for political subdivisions and their agencies, and the State Public Works article for work let by the state's Division of Public Works. They are worded differently and have different clocks, so the first question is always who let the contract.
Where this comes from
LOCAL/POLITICAL SUBDIVISION: Ind. Code Sec. 36-1-12-13.1 ('Payment bond'), inside IC 36-1-12 (Public Work Projects). STATE: Ind. Code Sec. 4-13.6-7-6 (payment bonds) and Sec. 4-13.6-7-10 (claims of subcontractors and suppliers; verification; notice to contractors and sureties; actions upon bond) and Sec. 4-13.6-7-11 (limitation of actions against sureties), inside IC 4-13.6-7 (Bonding, Escrow, and Retainages). Final settlement, from which the state limitation period runs, is IC 4-13.6-7-8. Retainage on local work is IC 36-1-12-14.
Indiana Code Title 32, Art. 28, Ch. 3 — published by the Indiana General Assembly.
Statutory summary as of 31 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in Indiana.