South Carolina mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
South Carolina 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
Serve the lien on the owner FIRST, then file it with the Register of Deeds or Clerk of Court - both within 90 days of your last date of work.
Notice prerequisites
No notice is required at the start of a job. If a Notice of Project Commencement was filed, a sub-subcontractor or supplier to a subcontractor can send the contractor a Notice of Furnishing by certified or registered mail; without it, the lien is limited to what the contractor owes the subcontractor. The contractor license or registration number must appear on the lien.
Service on the owner
Serve the lien on the owner before filing it. If you did not contract with the owner, serving the lien is also the notice that makes it attach, and the lien is limited to what the owner still owes the general contractor on the day the owner receives it. If you think the owner may pay out sooner, you can give the owner written notice of what you furnished and its value earlier.
Enforcement
Suit to foreclose, with lis pendens, within 6 months of last work.
S.C. Code Ann. §§ 29-5-15, 29-5-20, 29-5-23, 29-5-40, 29-5-50, 29-5-90, 29-5-120
S.C. Code Ann. Title 29, Ch. 5 — Mechanics’ Liens — published by the South Carolina 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 — The BONDED CONTRACTOR only — whoever furnished the bond. Both notices go there.
- When — 90 days from the REMOTE CLAIMANT’S own last furnishing. Not from completion or acceptance.
- How — Certified or registered mail. § 11-1-120.
- If late — TWO different consequences for two different notices — track them separately. Read below.
- Sue by — 1 year, but from three different starting points depending on which regime governs. Read below.
Is there a bond at all?
Three different triggers and three different bond amounts. (i) LOCAL AND GENERAL - § 29-6-250: 'When a governmental body is a party to a contract to improve real property, and the contract is for a sum in excess of fifty thousand dollars, the owner of the property shall require the contractor to provide a labor and material payment bond IN THE FULL AMOUNT OF THE CONTRACT.' The bond 'must be secured by cash or must be issued by a surety company licensed in the State with an "A" minimum rating of performance as stated in the most current publication of "Best Key Rating Guide, Property Liability"', except that 'If the contract is for less than one hundred thousand dollars, the governmental body may permit the use of a "B+" rated bond if it justifies that use in writing.' (ii) STATE PROCUREMENT CODE - § 11-35-3030(2)(a)(ii): a payment bond 'for the protection of all persons supplying labor and material to the contractor or its subcontractors for the performance of the construction work provided for in the contract. The bond must be in an amount equal to one hundred percent of the portion of the contract price that does not include the cost of operation, maintenance, and finance.' There is no positive dollar trigger - construction contracts require the bonds generally - but § 11-35-3030(2)(a)(iii) is the escape hatch: 'in the case of a construction contract valued at fifty thousand dollars or less, the governmental body may waive the requirements of subitems (i) and (ii) above, if the governmental body has protected the State.' Subitems (iv) and (v) let CM-at-risk, design-build, design-build-operate-maintain and design-build-finance-operate-maintain solicitations defer or phase the bonds by designated portion, always at 100% of the value of that portion, and forbid construction of any portion starting before that portion's bond is delivered. (iii) HIGHWAY - § 57-5-1660(a): the Department of Transportation must require bonds on 'every public highway construction contract, exceeding ten thousand dollars', comprising a performance and indemnity bond 'in the full amount of the contract, and in no case less than ten thousand dollars' and a payment bond 'in the amount of NOT LESS THAN FIFTY PER CENT of the contract'. So on SCDOT work the trigger is ten thousand dollars and the payment bond may be HALF the contract, not the full amount that § 29-6-250 requires elsewhere.
Who can claim on it
Under all three regimes the first-tier right is broad and the notice class is the 'remote claimant', a defined term. § 11-1-120: the bond protects 'persons who furnish labor, material, or RENTAL EQUIPMENT to the contractor or its subcontractors for the work specified in the contract', and 'Every person who has furnished labor, material, or rental equipment to a bonded contractor or its subcontractors in the prosecution of the work provided for in the contract for construction, and who has not been paid in full therefor before the expiration of a period of ninety days after the day on which the last of the labor was done or performed by him or material or rental equipment was furnished or supplied by him for which such claim is made, shall have the right to sue on such bond'. The definitions, identical in substance across § 11-1-120, § 11-35-3030(2)(c) and § 57-5-1660(b): '"bonded contractor" means a contractor or subcontractor furnishing a payment bond, and "remote claimant" means a person having a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor or supplier of a bonded contractor, but no contractual relationship expressed or implied with the bonded contractor. Any payment bond surety for the bonded contractor must have the same rights and defenses of the bonded contractor as provided in this section.' Note the reach: a remote claimant is one who contracts with 'a subcontractor OR SUPPLIER' of the bonded contractor, which brings a supplier's supplier inside the class - broader than the Miller Act's second-tier cut-off. Note also that 'bonded contractor' means whoever furnished the bond, so where a SUBCONTRACTOR posts the payment bond the tiers are measured from that subcontractor.
What notice you owe
The REMOTE CLAIMANT owes notice; a claimant in direct contract with the bonded contractor owes none. This is uniform across § 11-1-120, § 11-35-3030(2)(c) and § 57-5-1660(b). But there are in substance TWO separate notices in South Carolina: (a) the 90-DAY NOTICE OF CLAIM, which is a condition of the remote claimant's right of action at all - 'A remote claimant shall have a right of action on the payment bond ONLY upon giving written notice by certified or registered mail to the bonded contractor within ninety days...' (§ 11-1-120); and (b) the NOTICE OF FURNISHING, which is not a condition of the right of action but is a cap-lifter - 'However, in no event shall the aggregate amount of any claim against such payment bond by a remote claimant exceed the amount due by the bonded contractor to the person to whom the remote claimant has supplied labor, materials, rental equipment, or services, UNLESS the remote claimant has provided notice of furnishing labor, materials, or rental equipment to the bonded contractor... After receiving the notice of furnishing labor, materials, or rental equipment, no payment by the bonded contractor shall lessen the amount recoverable by the remote claimant' (§ 11-1-120). Without a notice of furnishing the remote claimant is capped at whatever the bonded contractor still owes the claimant's own customer - which after the prime pays out may be nothing at all. The notice of furnishing has NO deadline stated; its value is prospective, so it should be sent at the start of the work, not at the end.
Who it goes to
The BONDED CONTRACTOR only - the contractor or subcontractor who furnished the payment bond. Both the 90-day notice of claim and the notice of furnishing go there. Neither statute requires service on the surety, on the public body, on the architect, or on the subcontractor with whom the remote claimant dealt. Address, prescribed identically in all three sections: 'at any place the bonded contractor maintains a permanent office for the conduct of its business, or at the current address as shown on the records of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.'
By when
Ninety (90) days, running from the REMOTE CLAIMANT'S OWN last furnishing - not from completion, acceptance or final settlement: 'within ninety days from the date on which such person did or performed the last of the labor or furnished or supplied the last of the material or rental equipment upon which such claim is made' (§ 11-1-120; § 11-35-3030(2)(c) and § 57-5-1660(b) are in the same terms). The notice of furnishing under all three sections has no stated deadline. Distinct from both, and easy to confuse with the notice period, is the 90-day WAITING period that applies to EVERY claimant including one in privity: no one may sue until 'the expiration of a period of ninety days after the day on which the last of the labor was done or performed by him or material or rental equipment was furnished or supplied by him for which such claim is made'.
How it must be served
Certified or registered mail, in all three regimes: § 11-1-120 - 'only upon giving written notice by CERTIFIED OR REGISTERED MAIL to the bonded contractor'; and for the notice of furnishing, 'Such written notice to the bonded contractor must generally conform to the requirements of Section 29-5-20(B) and sent by certified mail or registered mail to the bonded contractor at any place the bonded contractor maintains a permanent office for the conduct of its business, or at the current address as shown on the records of the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.' § 57-5-1660(b) likewise requires 'written notice by certified or registered mail'. § 11-35-3030(2)(c) is the ONE that also allows personal service: 'The written notice to the bonded contractor must be served personally or served by mailing the notice by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope addressed to the bonded contractor...'. Certified mail with return receipt satisfies all three.
What it has to say
Two layers. For the 90-DAY NOTICE OF CLAIM, § 11-35-3030(2)(c) and § 57-5-1660(b) both prescribe two items - the notice must state 'with substantial accuracy the amount claimed as unpaid and the name of the party to whom the material or rental equipment was furnished or supplied or for whom the labor was done or performed'. Section 11-1-120 does NOT repeat that sentence for the 90-day notice; it prescribes contents only for the notice of furnishing. For the NOTICE OF FURNISHING, all three sections say it 'must generally conform to the requirements of Section 29-5-20(B)', which requires: '(1) the name of the sub-subcontractor or supplier who claims payment; (2) the name of the person with whom the claimant contracted or by whom he was employed; (3) a description of the labor, services, or materials furnished and the contract price or value thereof. Materials specially fabricated by a person other than the one giving notice and the contract price or value thereof shall be separately stated in the notice; (4) a description of the project where labor, services, or materials were used sufficient for identification; (5) the date when the first and the last item of labor or service or materials was actually furnished or scheduled to be furnished; and (6) the amount claimed to be due, if any.' Note the standard is 'GENERALLY CONFORM', and item (6) says 'if any' - so a prospective notice of furnishing sent before anything is overdue is contemplated by the statute.
If the notice is late, or never given
Two different consequences, which is why the two notices must be tracked separately. MISSING THE 90-DAY NOTICE OF CLAIM costs the remote claimant the WHOLE claim - the right of action exists 'only upon giving' it. MISSING THE NOTICE OF FURNISHING costs the remote claimant not the claim but its SIZE: recovery is capped at 'the amount due by the bonded contractor to the person to whom the remote claimant has supplied labor, materials, rental equipment, or services', a figure the remote claimant does not control and cannot see. A claimant in privity with the bonded contractor loses nothing by sending neither, because it owes neither. And in every case 'in no event shall the aggregate amount of claims on the payment bond exceed the penal sum of the bond' - which on SCDOT work may be only 50% of the contract.
The small-claim floor
§ 29-6-250: contracts of fifty thousand dollars or less carry no bond obligation, because the duty arises only where 'the contract is for a sum in excess of fifty thousand dollars'. § 11-35-3030(2)(a)(iii): the governmental body MAY waive the bonds on a construction contract 'valued at fifty thousand dollars or less, if the governmental body has protected the State' - a discretionary waiver, not an automatic exemption, so a bond may well exist below that figure. § 57-5-1660(a): highway contracts of ten thousand dollars or less carry no bond obligation. There is no dollar floor on the size of an individual claim under any of the three.
When the suit clock starts
This is where the three regimes DIVERGE. § 11-1-120 (local/residual): 'No suit under this section shall be commenced after the expiration of one year after THE LAST DATE OF PROVIDING OR FURNISHING LABOR, MATERIALS, RENTAL EQUIPMENT, OR SERVICES.' § 11-35-3030(2)(c) (Procurement Code): 'A suit under this section must not be commenced after the expiration of one year after THE LAST DATE OF FURNISHING OR PROVIDING LABOR, SERVICES, MATERIALS, OR RENTAL EQUIPMENT', and § 11-35-3030(2)(d) says the same in different words - 'a suit must not be commenced after the expiration of one year after the day on which the last of the labor was performed or material was supplied by the person bringing suit.' § 57-5-1660(b) (SCDOT highway): 'No suit under this section shall be commenced after the expiration of one year after THE DATE OF THE FINAL SETTLEMENT OF THE CONTRACT.' On highway work the clock therefore does NOT run from the claimant's own last day - it runs from final settlement of the prime contract, an event the claimant does not control and may never be told about.
How long you have to sue
One (1) year under all three regimes - but from the different starting points set out above. The suit may not be filed before the 90-day waiting period has run, so the practical window is roughly nine months on non-highway work.
Where suit is brought
Only the Procurement Code fixes venue. § 11-35-3030(2)(d): 'Every suit instituted upon a payment bond must be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction for the county or circuit in which the construction contract was to be performed; except that a suit must not be commenced after the expiration of one year after the day on which the last of the labor was performed or material was supplied by the person bringing suit. The obligee named in the bond need not be joined as a party in the suit.' Neither § 11-1-120 nor § 57-5-1660(b) prescribes a venue, so general South Carolina venue rules apply to local-government and highway bond suits. Note that the claimant sues in its own name - the public body is not a nominal plaintiff, and under § 11-35-3030(2)(d) the bond obligee need not even be joined.
The trap
The one-year suit clock does not run from the same event in all three regimes: on Consolidated Procurement Code work and on local-government work under § 11-1-120 it runs from the claimant's own last furnishing, but on SCDOT highway work § 57-5-1660(b) runs it from 'the date of the final settlement of the contract' - and separately, a remote claimant who serves the 90-day notice of claim but never served a notice of furnishing keeps its claim yet is capped at whatever the bonded contractor still owes the claimant's own customer, which may be nothing.
The act itself
No single popular name, and this is the first thing to get right: South Carolina has THREE public-work payment bond statutes and which one governs turns entirely on WHO THE PUBLIC OWNER IS. (1) S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-3030(2), part of the South Carolina Consolidated Procurement Code, governs procurements by the STATE acting through a 'governmental body' as that Code defines it. (2) S.C. Code Ann. § 57-5-1660 governs Department of Transportation, county and road-district HIGHWAY construction contracts. (3) S.C. Code Ann. § 29-6-250, in Article 3 of Chapter 6 of Title 29 - the 'Subcontractors' and Suppliers' Payment Protection Act' (§ 29-6-210) - imposes the bond requirement on every 'governmental body' INCLUDING all local political subdivisions, and the machinery for claiming on that bond is supplied by S.C. Code Ann. § 11-1-120. Section 11-1-120 is the residual statute and says so on its face: it applies where the public entity 'requires the person or entity performing the work to furnish a payment bond NOT GOVERNED BY Section 11-35-3030(2)(c) or Section 57-5-1660(b)'. All three were harmonized, but not made identical, by 2014 Act No. 264 (S.1026).
Where this comes from
S.C. Code Ann. § 29-6-250 (labor and material payment bond required; 'governmental body' defined) with § 29-6-210 (short title), § 29-6-230, § 29-6-270 and § 29-6-290; S.C. Code Ann. § 11-1-120 (suits on payment bonds; remote claimants - the residual claim procedure); S.C. Code Ann. § 11-35-3030(2)(a)-(d) (Consolidated Procurement Code: when bonds required and amounts; suits on payment bonds - right to institute; suits - where and when brought); S.C. Code Ann. § 57-5-1660(a)-(b) (highway construction bonds; suits and the remote-claimant notice); and S.C. Code Ann. § 29-5-20(B), whose contents list is incorporated by reference into the 'notice of furnishing' under all three regimes.
S.C. Code Ann. Title 29, Ch. 5 — Mechanics’ Liens — published by the South Carolina Legislature.
Statutory summary as of 29 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in South Carolina.