Filing deadline

Private projects: Statement of Lien filed with the county clerk of the county where the improvement sits within 6 months after the claimant's last furnishing; strictly enforced (rare equitable tolling, e.g., clerk wrongly rejects a filing); trivial or bad-faith repairs and warranty work do not extend the date, though genuine punch-list contract work can. Public projects: a lien on funds due the contractor, filed with the clerk of the county of the owner's seat of government within 30 days after the last day of the month of last furnishing (an effective 31-60 day window that may expire before payment is even past due).

Notice prerequisites

Nothing before work starts, though anyone expecting to furnish may record an optional Notice of Contract to protect against later mortgages/conveyances. Subcontractors and suppliers on private jobs must, before recording their lien, send the owner a Notice of Intent to File Lien measured from LAST furnishing: within 75 days on owner-occupied single/double family dwellings (any amount); on other private work, 75 days for claims of less than $1,000 and 120 days for claims in excess of $1,000 (KRS 376.010(4)-(5)).

Service on the owner

A copy of the Statement of Lien must be mailed (regular mail; belt-and-suspenders practice adds certified) to the owner's last known address within 7 days of filing or the lien dissolves; on public jobs the county clerk transmits attested copies to the owner and contractor.

Enforcement

Private: perfection requires suit within 12 months of filing the Statement of Lien; before suit the lien is unenforceable; no lis pendens requirement mentioned. Public: if the contractor protests the lien within 30 days of receiving the attested copy, the claimant must sue and serve the public authority and contractor within 30 days of the protest in the circuit court where the project sits; if the contractor fails to protest, the public owner must pay the claimant directly and the contractor loses all defenses.

KRS 376.010 et seq., esp. §§ 376.010, 376.080, 376.090, 376.210-376.250; KRS 371.400-371.420