Michigan mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
Michigan lien deadline
Based on the general 90-day period from last furnishing. Exceptions apply — treat this as a planning estimate, not legal advice.
Filing deadline
Claim of Lien recorded with the county register of deeds within 90 days after the claimant's last furnishing of labor or material; strictly enforced (90 means exactly 90 days) and warranty work does not restart the clock. The claim must substantially follow the statutory form (first/last furnishing dates, legal description, contract amount, payments, balance) with proof of service of the Notice of Furnishing attached for non-direct claimants.
Notice prerequisites
Owner/lessee must record (and post on site) a Notice of Commencement before physical work starts, identifying the property, owner, designee and GC. Subcontractors and suppliers without a direct owner contract must serve a Notice of Furnishing on the designee and GC within 20 days of first furnishing (in person or certified mail). A late Notice of Furnishing does not kill the lien but reduces it by amounts the owner paid in reliance on sworn statements/waivers before receiving it; if no Notice of Commencement was ever recorded, the Notice of Furnishing window stays open (20 days after the notice is actually supplied, 30 for laborers).
Service on the owner
Within 15 days after recording, a copy of the Claim of Lien plus proofs of service must be served on the owner's designee (or owner/lessee) personally or by certified mail RRR at the Notice of Commencement address; service follows recording. Owners may then demand a written status statement, due in 10 days on pain of damages and suspension of payment obligations.
Enforcement
Foreclosure complaint in circuit court where the property lies within 1 year of recording the lien; all interested parties joined, a sworn statement served on the owner, and a Notice of Lis Pendens recorded at or shortly after filing (effective 3 years, extendable 3 more). After the year runs, any interested person can obtain an administrative certificate from the county clerk voiding the lien; suits on a bond that discharged a lien get the 6-year contract limitations period.
Michigan Construction Lien Act, MCL 570.1101 et seq. (esp. 570.1107-1111, 1114-1119, 1126-1128); Builders Trust Fund Act, MCL 570.151 et seq.
Construction Lien Act, 1980 PA 497 (MCL 570.1101 et seq.) — published by the Michigan Legislature.
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 — 30-day notice: the prime contractor. 90-day notice: the prime contractor AND the governmental unit.
- When — 30 days from FIRST furnishing, and 90 days from LAST. Both are required. MCL 129.207.
- How — Certified mail to the prime. MCL 129.207.
- If late — Absolute — missing EITHER notice destroys the claim.
- Sue by — 1 year from final payment to the prime contractor. MCL 129.209.
Is there a bond at all?
MCL 129.201: 'Before any contract, exceeding $50,000.00 for the construction, alteration, or repair of any public building or public work or improvement of the state or a county, city, village, township, school district, public educational institution, other political subdivision, public authority, or public agency ... is awarded, the proposed contractor ... shall furnish at his or her own cost to the governmental unit a performance bond and a payment bond'. Payment bond amount, MCL 129.203: 'not less than 25% of the contract amount'. A common carrier or designated operator of a state subsidized railroad may substitute an irrevocable letter of credit for the bonds.
Who can claim on it
MCL 129.206 defines 'claimant' as 'a person having furnished labor, material, or both, used or reasonably required for use in the performance of the contract', with 'labor and material' expressly including utilities and equipment services directly applicable to the contract (water, gas, power, light, heat, oil, gasoline, telephone service, equipment rental). MCL 129.203 makes the payment bond for the protection of 'claimants, as defined in section 6, supplying labor or materials to the principal contractor or his subcontractors'. No express tier cut-off appears - the limiting device is the notice regime in 129.207, not a privity bar.
What notice you owe
A claimant with a direct contractual relationship with the principal contractor owes NOTHING. 'A claimant not having a direct contractual relationship with the principal contractor shall not have a right of action upon the payment bond unless (a) ... and (b) ...' - that claimant owes BOTH notices, cumulatively. (a) is the 30-day first-furnishing notice; (b) is the 90-day last-furnishing notice.
Who it goes to
30-day notice: 'served on the principal contractor' - the GC alone. 90-day notice: 'given written notice to the principal contractor AND the governmental unit involved' - both. The surety is not a statutory recipient of either.
By when
30-day notice runs from FIRST furnishing: 'within 30 days after furnishing the first of such material or performing the first of such labor'. 90-day notice runs from LAST furnishing: 'within 90 days from the date on which the claimant performed the last of the labor or furnished or supplied the last of the material for which the claim is made'. Separately, EVERY claimant (privity or not) must wait: it may sue only if it 'has not been paid in full therefor before the expiration of a period of 90 days after the day on which the last of the labor was done or performed by him or material was furnished or supplied by him for which claim is made'.
How it must be served
'Each notice shall be served by mailing the same by certified mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope addressed to the principal contractor, the governmental unit involved, at any place at which said parties maintain a business or residence.' Certified mail is the prescribed method for both notices.
What it has to say
30-day notice: 'which shall inform the principal of the nature of the materials being furnished or to be furnished, or labor being performed or to be performed and identifying the party contracting for such labor or materials and the site for the performance of such labor or the delivery of such materials'. 90-day notice: 'stating with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the party to whom the material was furnished or supplied or for whom the labor was done or performed.'
If the notice is late, or never given
Absolute: the non-privity claimant 'shall not have a right of action upon the payment bond unless' BOTH (a) and (b) were given. Missing either one destroys the whole claim - there is no partial-recovery or substantial-compliance safety valve in the text.
When the suit clock starts
MCL 129.209: the date on which FINAL PAYMENT was made to the principal contractor. Not the claimant's last work, not the notice date.
How long you have to sue
'No action shall be commenced after the expiration of 1 year from the date on which final payment was made to the principal contractor.'
Where suit is brought
'An action instituted on the payment bond shall be brought only in the appropriate court in the political subdivision in which the contract was to be performed.' Venue is mandatory ('only').
The trap
The 30-day notice must be sent when the claimant STARTS work, not when it goes unpaid - a sub-subcontractor or supplier who waits until the money goes bad and then serves a textbook 90-day notice has already lost the bond, and the one-year suit clock then runs from final payment to the GC, a date the claimant has no way to observe.
The act itself
No popular name; 1963 PA 213, the public works bond act.
Where this comes from
MCL 129.201 - 129.211 (bond requirement 129.201; payment bond 129.203; definitions 129.206; claimant notices and right of action 129.207; limitation and venue 129.209).
Construction Lien Act, 1980 PA 497 (MCL 570.1101 et seq.) — published by the Michigan Legislature.
Statutory summary as of 29 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in Michigan.