Wyoming mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
Wyoming lien deadline
Filing deadline
Sworn Lien Statement filed with the county clerk where the property lies. GC deadline: earlier of 150 days after its last work/materials under contract or 150 days after substantial completion. Subs and materialmen: 120 days after their last day of work. Owners can fix the substantial-completion date by recording a Notice of Substantial Completion. Parties may agree in a notarized, recorded writing to extend the filing period up to double.
Notice prerequisites
All claimants must send a Preliminary Notice, in substantially the statutory form, to the record owner or the owner's agent. General contractors must send it before receiving any payment (including advances). Subcontractors and materialmen must send it within 30 days after first furnishing and give a copy to the contractor they work for. Missing it bars the lien (W.S. 29-2-112). GCs must also give their subs/suppliers the record owner's name/address and legal description at contracting. Additionally, every claimant must send a Notice of Intention to File Lien to the record owner at least 20 days before recording the lien.
Service on the owner
After filing, send the record owner a statutory Notice of Filing Lien (the Wyo. Stat. § 29-10-103 form) by certified mail RRR within 30 days (§ 29-1-312(c)); its omission does not by itself void the lien, but do not skip it — and sending the owner a copy of the Lien Statement promptly is best practice. The 20-day Notice of Intention must precede filing. (Note: § 29-1-312 was revised in 2025 — verify current text.)
Enforcement
Foreclosure suit within 180 days of filing the Lien Statement, in a court of the county where the property lies. Prevailing party recovers reasonable costs and attorney fees. Courts can order sale, or removal of the improvement where the land can be restored.
Wyo. Stat. Title 29 (29-1-201, 29-2-101 through 29-2-113, 29-1-312 to -314, 29-1-401, 29-1-501, 29-1-601); public bonds 16-6-112/-115.
Wyo. Stat. Title 29 — Liens — published by the Wyoming Legislative Service Office.
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 — Protection notice: the GENERAL CONTRACTOR. Suit notice: the obligee named in the bond. § 16-6-121(a).
- When — Protection notice: 60 days after materials or services are FIRST furnished. § 16-6-121(b).
- How — Certified mail, electronic means, or delivery to the general contractor. § 16-6-121(c).
- If late — Waiver of the bond protection, but CONDITIONALLY — read below, the condition matters.
- Sue by — 1 year. § 16-6-115.
Is there a bond at all?
Sec. 16-6-112(a), first two sentences verbatim: 'Any contract entered into with a public entity for a public work where the contract price exceeds one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00), shall require any contractor before beginning work under the contract to furnish the public entity a bond. If the contract price is one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00) or less, the public entity may require the contractor to furnish any other form of guarantee approved by the public entity.' So above $150,000 a bond is mandatory; at or below $150,000 there may be a bond, some other approved guarantee, or nothing at all -- the claimant must ask which. AMOUNT: Sec. 16-6-112(a)(iii) requires the bond or guarantee to be 'In an amount not less than one hundred percent (100%) of the contract price unless the price is one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00) or less, in which case the public entity may fix a sufficient amount.' FILING: Sec. 16-6-112(a)(iv), 'Approved by and filed with the appropriate officer, agent, governing body or other designee of the public entity.' Sec. 16-6-112(b): 'A bond or other guarantee satisfactory to the public entity shall include the obligations specified under subsection (a) of this section even though not expressly written into the guarantee' -- the statutory conditions are read into a deficient bond. AND THE BOND YOU CHECKED AT THE START MAY NOT BE THE BOND AT THE END. Sec. 16-6-114: if in its judgment any of the sureties 'are insolvent or for any cause are no longer proper or sufficient sureties, the obligee may within ten (10) days require the contractor to furnish a new or additional bond or other approved guarantee', and if ordered, 'all work on the contract shall cease until a new or additional bond or other guarantee is furnished.' Failure to furnish within ten days lets the obligee terminate and complete the contract at the contractor's and the sureties' expense. Ask the public entity for the CURRENT bond before you serve, not the one named in the original award file.
Who can claim on it
Sec. 16-6-112(a)(ii) states the payment condition: the bond or guarantee shall be 'For the use and benefit of any person performing any work or labor or furnishing any material or goods of any kind which were used in the execution of the contract, conditioned for the performance and completion of the contract according to its terms, compliance with all the requirements of law and payment as due of all just claims for work or labor performed and materials furnished in the execution of the contract.' No tier limitation appears. Sec. 16-6-113 then gives the action: 'Any person entitled to the protection of a bond or other form of guarantee approved by a public entity under W.S. 16-6-112 may maintain an action for the amount due him.' The notice section, Sec. 16-6-121(a), speaks of 'Any subcontractor or materialman entitled to the protection of a bond,' which is the class that owes notice. The bond also covers public revenue: Sec. 16-6-112(a)(i) conditions it for 'payment of all taxes, excises, licenses, assessments, contributions, penalties and interest lawfully due the state or any political subdivision.'
What notice you owe
Two different notices, owed at different times to different people. (1) THE PROTECTION NOTICE, Sec. 16-6-121(a): 'Any subcontractor or materialman entitled to the protection of a bond or other form of guarantee approved by a public entity under W.S. 16-6-112 shall give notice of his right to that protection to the general contractor.' Owed by every subcontractor and materialman; there is no privity distinction, so a first-tier subcontractor owes it. It is owed ONLY where the general contractor's own contract exceeds $150,000 -- Sec. 16-6-121(e): 'This section shall only apply where the general contractor's contract is for an amount exceeding one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000.00).' (2) THE SUIT NOTICE, Sec. 16-6-113: the claimant bringing the action 'shall notify the obligee named in the bond or other guarantee of the beginning of the action, giving the names of the parties, describing the guarantee and stating the amount and nature of his claim. No judgment shall be entered in the action within thirty (30) days after the giving of the notice.'
Who it goes to
Protection notice: the GENERAL CONTRACTOR (Sec. 16-6-121(a)) -- not the public entity and not the surety. Suit notice: the OBLIGEE NAMED IN THE BOND (Sec. 16-6-113), which will ordinarily be the public entity.
By when
Protection notice: Sec. 16-6-121(b), verbatim -- 'The notice shall be given no later than sixty (60) days after the date on which services or materials are first furnished.' FIRST furnished, not last. Suit notice: no day-count; it is given at 'the beginning of the action,' and its only timing consequence is that no judgment may be entered within thirty days after it.
How it must be served
Sec. 16-6-121(c), verbatim: 'The notice shall be sent to the general contractor by certified mail, electronic means or delivered to and receipted by the general contractor or his agent. Notice by certified mail or electronic means is effective on the date the notice is mailed or sent electronically.' Note the mailbox rule -- certified mail and electronic transmission are effective on dispatch, so a notice sent on day 60 is timely even if it arrives later. Personal delivery is effective only on receipt.
What it has to say
Sec. 16-6-121(d), verbatim: 'The notice shall be in writing and shall state that it is a notice of a right to protection under the bond or guarantee. The notice shall be signed by the subcontractor or materialman and shall include the following information: (i) The subcontractor or materialman's name, address and phone number and the name of a contact person; (ii) The name and address of the subcontractor's or materialman's vendor; and (iii) The type or description of the materials or services provided.' No amount is required -- like Wisconsin's, this is a notice of involvement rather than a notice of claim.
If the notice is late, or never given
Waiver of the bond protection, but CONDITIONALLY. Sec. 16-6-121(a), verbatim: 'Failure to give notice to a general contractor who has complied with subsections (f) and (g) of this section waives the subcontractor or materialman's protection under the bond or guarantee.' Subsection (f): 'The general contractor shall post on the construction site a prominent sign citing this section and stating that any subcontractor or materialman shall give notice to the general contractor of a right to protection under the bond or guarantee and that failure to provide the notice shall waive the subcontractor or materialman's protection under the bond or guarantee.' Subsection (g): 'The owner or his agent shall provide written notice of the information required by this section in the project specifications.' So the waiver bites only against a general contractor who posted the sign, on a project whose specifications carried the warning. Where either failed, the missed notice should not waive the protection -- but a claimant should never rely on that, because it requires proving a negative about a jobsite sign months after the fact.
When the suit clock starts
The public entity's CERTIFICATE OF FINAL COMPLETION, not the claimant's last work and not substantial completion. Sec. 16-6-115 ties the clock to Sec. 16-6-116(a)(iv), under which the public entity shall 'Issue a certificate of final completion after determination that the contract is fully performed and all portions of the public work are acceptable under the contract and associated documents,' and 'shall post the date of final completion for the public work on the state procurement website or the public entity's official website.'
How long you have to sue
One year. Sec. 16-6-115, verbatim: 'No action shall be maintained on any bond or other form of guarantee satisfactory to the public entity under W.S. 16-6-112 unless commenced within one (1) year after the date of final completion of the public work as provided in W.S. 16-6-116(a)(iv).' Note that this is FINAL completion; the separate substantial-completion machinery in Sec. 16-6-116(a)(i)-(iii) -- certificate, two weeks' newspaper publication plus website posting, and release of retainage on the forty-first day -- does NOT start the suit clock, though it is when the money leaves.
Where suit is brought
Not prescribed. Sec. 16-6-113 governs the procedure instead: notice to the obligee at the start of the action; 'No judgment shall be entered in the action within thirty (30) days after the giving of the notice'; 'The obligee or any person having a cause of action may on his motion, be admitted as a party to the action'; 'The court shall determine the rights of all parties to the action. If the amount realized on the bond or other guarantee is insufficient to discharge all claims in full, the amount shall be distributed among the parties pro rata.' Sec. 16-6-112(c) separately preserves a direct enforcement proceeding by the public officer or agency, 'cumulative and in addition to other remedies provided by law.'
The trap
The 60-day notice runs from the claimant's FIRST day on the job and is waived only if the general contractor posted the statutory sign and the owner put the warning in the specifications, so the claimant must send it blind at the outset -- and the one-year suit clock then runs not from its own last work but from a certificate of final completion that the public entity posts on a website the claimant is expected to watch.
The act itself
No popular name. Wyo. Stat. tit. 16, ch. 6, art. 1 ('Public Works and Contracts'). It is a small act and its parts are scattered: the bond duty, the right of action, the limitation, the completion machinery that starts the limitation clock, and the claimant's own notice duty are each in a different section.
Where this comes from
Wyo. Stat. Secs. 16-6-112 (performance and payment bond or other guarantee; when required; conditions; amount), 16-6-113 (right of action; notice to obligee; intervention; pro rata distribution), 16-6-115 (limitation of actions), 16-6-116 (payment to contractor; substantial completion; final completion; required notices), 16-6-117 (contractor's sworn statement as prerequisite to payment; disputed claims), 16-6-121 (notice required to receive protection under a bond or guarantee).
Wyo. Stat. Title 29 — Liens — published by the Wyoming Legislative Service Office.
Statutory summary as of 31 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in Wyoming.