North Dakota mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
North Dakota 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
Record with the County Recorder of each county holding the property within 90 days of the claimant's last substantial labor or materials (warranty/repair trips don't count). A late filing does not automatically void the lien - it only loses priority against good-faith purchasers/encumbrancers who intervene and against owner payments made after day 90 - but the lien must in any event be filed within 3 years of the first furnishing.
Notice prerequisites
Nothing is due before work starts, but two mid-stream notices are mandatory: (1) a written Notice of Intention to Claim a Construction Lien must go to the owner by certified mail at least 10 days before the lien is recorded; (2) before suing, a Notice of Intention to Enforce must be given to the owner by personal service at least 10 days ahead or by registered mail to the owner's last known address at least 20 days ahead.
Service on the owner
No copy of the recorded lien itself need be served; the mandatory contacts are the certified-mail 10-day pre-recording notice and the pre-suit notice to the owner described above.
Enforcement
Foreclosure action in the district court of the property's county within 3 years of recording, and the summons and complaint must actually be filed with the clerk within that period (unusual for ND practice, where filing is normally deferred). An owner/agent/contractor demand compresses this to 30 days to file suit or the lien is forfeited. No lis pendens requirement stated.
N.D. Cent. Code ch. 35-27 (esp. sec. 35-27-02, -13, -14, -24, -25, -26); ch. 35-24 (oil and gas well liens)
N.D. Cent. Code ch. 35-27 — Construction Lien — published by the North Dakota Legislative Branch.
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 — The contractor furnishing the bond, and only the contractor. § 48-01.2-11.
- When — 90 days from the date you completed your CONTRIBUTION. § 48-01.2-11.
- How — Registered mail to the contractor. § 48-01.2-11.
- If late — The whole bond claim, for a claimant not in privity.
- Sue by — 1 year after completion and acceptance of the project.
Is there a bond at all?
'Unless otherwise provided under this chapter, a governing body authorized to enter a contract for the construction of a public improvement in excess of two hundred fifty thousand dollars shall take from the contractor a bond before permitting any work to be done on the contract. The bond must be for an amount equal at least to the price stated in the contract' (48-01.2-10(1)). Full contract price, not a percentage. The bond 'must be conditioned to be void if the contractor and all subcontractors fully perform all terms, conditions, and provisions of the contract and pay all bills or claims on account of labor performed and any supplies, and materials furnished and used in the performance of the contract, including all demands of subcontractors.'
Who can claim on it
Two overlapping formulations. 48-01.2-10(1): 'The bond must run to the governing body, but any person having a lawful claim against the contractor or any subcontractor may sue on the bond.' 48-01.2-11: 'A person that has furnished labor or material for any public improvement for which a bond is furnished'. The notice proviso addresses 'a person having a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor, but no contractual relationship with the contractor furnishing the bond', which implies the second tier is the operative outer edge. Note also the statutory priority in 48-01.2-10(1): 'The bond is security for all bills, claims, and demands until fully paid, with preference to labor and material suppliers as to payment.' And a statutory interest entitlement rather than a deadline: 'The requirement that bills and claims be paid must include the requirement that interest of the amount authorized under section 13-01-14 be paid on bills and claims not paid within ninety days.'
What notice you owe
Only 'a person having a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor, but no contractual relationship with the contractor furnishing the bond' (48-01.2-11). A claimant in privity with the prime owes no notice at all. Note the statute says 'no contractual relationship' without the usual 'express or implied' qualifier.
Who it goes to
The contractor furnishing the bond - and only the contractor. Nothing is served on the surety and nothing is filed with the governing body.
By when
90 days 'from the date on which the person completed the contribution' (48-01.2-11). The statute's noun is 'contribution', not 'furnishing' or 'work', and it means the claimant's own last labor or materials. Separately, 48-01.2-11 imposes a 90-day WAITING period on every claimant, privity or not: the right to sue belongs to a person who 'has not been paid in full within ninety days after completion of the contribution of labor or materials'. Same number, same event, two different functions.
How it must be served
'The notice must be served by registered mail in an envelope addressed to the contractor at any place the contractor maintains an office, conducts business, or has a residence' (48-01.2-11). REGISTERED mail only. Certified mail is not named, and unlike New Mexico there is no alternative 'or in any manner in which service of summons is authorized' saving clause - the statute offers one method and no other.
What it has to say
'stating with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the person for which the contribution was performed' (48-01.2-11). Two items; no project description, no dates, no itemization.
If the notice is late, or never given
The whole bond claim for the non-privity claimant: such a person 'does not have a claim for relief upon the bond unless that person has given written notice to the contractor' within the 90 days. No partial recovery and no forward truncation.
When the suit clock starts
The OWNER'S completion and acceptance of the project, not the claimant's last day: 'Any claim for any labor, material, or supply furnished for an improvement, upon which a suit is not commenced within one year after completion and acceptance of the project, is barred as a lien or claim against the contractor and the contractor's surety' (48-01.2-12). The 90-day pre-suit waiting period in 48-01.2-11, by contrast, runs from the claimant's own last contribution.
How long you have to sue
1 year after completion and acceptance of the project.
The trap
The 90-day notice runs from the claimant's own last contribution but the one-year suit bar runs from the owner's completion and acceptance, and 48-01.2-12 bars the untimely claim 'as a lien or claim against the contractor AND the contractor's surety' - so missing the year kills the claim against the general contractor itself, not merely against the bond.
The act itself
No popular name. The bond provisions sit in N.D.C.C. chapter 48-01.2, 'Public Improvement Bids and Contracts'. Notice structure follows the Miller Act pattern; the suit clock does not.
Where this comes from
N.D.C.C. sections 48-01.2-10 (bonds from contractors for public improvements), 48-01.2-11 (claim for public improvement - suit on contractor's bond), 48-01.2-12 (claims - when barred as liens against contractor and surety). See also 48-01.2-02.1 (public improvement construction threshold) and 48-01.2-23 (bond required, construction manager at-risk).
N.D. Cent. Code ch. 35-27 — Construction Lien — published by the North Dakota Legislative Branch.
Statutory summary as of 29 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in North Dakota.