Michigan Notice of Furnishing

Twenty days after the first load of material hits a Michigan job site, a subcontractor or supplier that has no contract with the owner has already used up its introduction window. A notice of furnishing under the Construction Lien Act, 1980 PA 497, at MCL 570.1109, is that introduction. It goes to the designee named in the notice of commencement and to the general contractor named there, it names the party the claimant contracted with, it describes the labor or material, and it identifies the improved property. No lien exists yet and nothing is recorded; the notice protects the value of the lien that may come later.

Twenty days, thirty days, and the fifth of the second month

The clock depends on who is claiming. A subcontractor or supplier gives the notice within 20 days after furnishing the first labor or material, personally or by certified mail, at the address shown in the notice of commencement, under MCL 570.1109(1). A laborer claiming unpaid wages has 30 days after the wages were contractually due and unpaid, and that notice may travel by mail, with service complete on mailing by first class mail with postage prepaid, under MCL 570.1109(2). A laborer claiming unpaid fringe benefits or withholdings runs on a calendar of its own: the fifth day of the second month following the month in which they were contractually due and unpaid, under MCL 570.1109(3). A contractor holding a contract directly with the owner or lessee gives no notice of furnishing at all to preserve lien rights arising from that contract.

Where the notice goes, and when service is finished

The statute aims the notice at the designee, the person an owner or lessee names in the notice of commencement to receive notices, and at the general contractor if one is named there. Where no designee is named, or the designee has died, it goes instead to the owner or lessee named there. Certified mail finishes at the mailbox: MCL 570.1109(1) states that service by certified mail is complete on mailing, so the mailing date, not the delivery date, is the date that matters. A claimant without a copy of the notice of commencement may request one in writing by certified mail, and MCL 570.1108 and MCL 570.1108a require the copy to come with a blank notice of furnishing attached and extend the notice deadline where the request goes unanswered.

A late notice is graded, not erased

Michigan does not void a lien for a late notice of furnishing. MCL 570.1109(5) preserves the lien for work performed and materials furnished after service. MCL 570.1109(6) preserves it for work and material before service as well, except to the extent the owner or lessee already paid the contractor against a sworn account or a lien waiver covering that same work. Laborers are treated differently and more strictly: under MCL 570.1109(7) and (8), a laborer who does not reach the designee loses the lien for the wages or the fringe benefits and withholdings the notice covers, and under MCL 570.1109(9) a laborer who misses the general contractor keeps the lien but answers for the general contractor's actual damages.

The proof of service a claim of lien carries

This form is built for one claimant on one project, and it ends where the statute makes the notice provable. Sections 1 through 6 collect the designee, the general contractor, the claimant, the contracting party, the labor or material with its first furnishing date, and the property by recording reference and legal description. Section 7 performs the act in the statutory register. Section 8 carries the signature and the capacity of the individual signing for the claimant, with no notarial certificate, because section 109 makes no notarial act part of the notice. Section 9 is a proof of service, sworn by the individual who made service and finished with a jurat, because MCL 570.1111(4) provides that a claim of lien has attached to it a proof of service of a notice of furnishing described in section 109. Mechanical and electrical subcontractors on commercial work, equipment lessors, and material suppliers to a first tier subcontractor all present the single claimant pattern this notice recites.

This package includes the blank fillable notice, a completed example set on an Ottawa County commercial addition, and a guide covering the statute, each numbered section, the deadlines, the jurat, and the connection to a later claim of lien recorded under MCL 570.1111. The materials are informational and are not legal advice.