New Hampshire: Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements
The short answer
New Hampshire's mechanic's lien arises automatically by operation of law the moment a qualifying contract exists — there's no document to record. A contractor in direct contract with the owner gets the lien without sending anything, but a subcontractor only gets the identical lien if it sends the owner written notice that it will claim one, and the timing of that notice matters: sending it before starting work protects the full value of the job, while sending it only after work begins limits the lien to amounts still owed from that point forward. The automatic lien lasts just 120 days after the claimant's last labor or materials — and to survive past that window, the claimant must sue and obtain a court-ordered writ of attachment against the property within the same 120 days, since New Hampshire has no separate recording step at all. That attachment lawsuit is itself the enforcement action; there's no additional foreclosure deadline layered on top. The attachment also gets a qualified priority over later liens and even over construction mortgages recorded on the same project.
| Governing law | RSA Title XLI, Chapter 447, 'Liens for Labor and Materials' (§§ 447:1-18; this survey covers the private building lien at § 447:2 and the surrounding subcontractor-notice, duration, and attachment sections, §§ 447:5-12-b). A genuine national outlier: the lien arises automatically by operation of law from a qualifying contract — there is no recording step anywhere in the process. To survive past a short window, the claimant must sue and obtain a court-ordered, officer-executed writ of attachment against the property (§ 447:10) |
|---|---|
| Who can claim a lien | § 447:2(I): anyone performing labor, providing 'professional design services,' or furnishing $15 or more of materials for erecting or repairing a house, building, or appurtenance, or building a dam, canal, sluiceway, well, or bridge, 'by virtue of a contract with the owner.' § 447:2(II) defines 'professional design services' to include a licensed architect, licensed landscape architect, licensed engineer, permitted septic designer, certified wetland scientist, certified soil scientist, or licensed land surveyor. § 447:5 extends the identical lien to anyone contracting 'with an agent, contractor or subcontractor of the owner' — one tier of subcontracting beyond direct owner privity — conditioned on the notice described below. The statute's plain text doesn't extend the lien any further down the contracting chain |
| Preliminary notice | The defining feature of New Hampshire's scheme. Under § 447:5, a subcontractor (anyone not in direct contract with the owner) only gets the same lien as a direct contractor if it 'gives notice in writing to the owner ... that he or she shall claim such lien BEFORE performing the labor or furnishing the material.' § 447:6 allows the notice to be given later instead — 'after the labor is performed ... or the material is furnished' — but then 'said lien shall be valid [only] to the extent of the amount then due or that may thereafter become due,' meaning a late notice sacrifices lien value for work already completed before the notice went out. A subcontractor who notifies the owner up front protects the full contract value from day one; one who waits only protects future billings |
| Deadline to file the lien | The automatic lien 'shall continue for 120 days after the services are performed, or the materials ... are furnished' (§ 447:9) — but that's a duration/expiration window, not a document-filing deadline. To survive past 120 days, § 447:10 requires the claimant to have already sued and secured the property 'by attachment ... at any time while the lien continues, the writ and return thereon distinctly expressing that purpose' — i.e., the lawsuit and attachment must happen within the same 120 days |
| Notice of completion effect | No mechanism in Chapter 447 lets an owner record a notice of completion, substantial completion, or termination to shorten the 120-day window; the duration always runs from the claimant's own last day of labor or last furnishing |
| Serving the lien on the owner | RSA 447 has no separate 'serve the recorded lien on the owner' step distinct from the notice and account rules above, because there's no recorded lien document to serve — perfecting the lien means suing to attach the property, so the owner is brought in and served as a defendant under ordinary civil procedure rather than under a lien-specific service statute |
| Deadline to sue to foreclose | New Hampshire collapses what most states treat as two separate deadlines into one: the same lawsuit-and-attachment action that must happen within the 120-day window (§§ 447:9, 447:10) is itself the enforcement proceeding — there is no additional, later foreclosure-suit deadline layered on top. Once made, the attachment takes precedence over later-arising lien claims except work under a contract that already existed when the attachment was made, or work necessary to preserve the attached property (§ 447:11), and gets a further, qualified priority over a 'construction mortgage' recorded on the same project unless the mortgagee shows the loan proceeds actually went to pay subcontractors/suppliers or were backed by a completion-and-payment affidavit (§ 447:12-a) |
| Homestead/residential extras | None. Chapter 447 applies the same $15 threshold, the same subcontractor-notice rule, and the same 120-day window regardless of whether the property is a private home, a commercial building, or another structure; no separate homestead or residential formality appears anywhere in the chapter |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
The short answer
New Hampshire's mechanic's lien arises automatically the moment a
qualifying contract exists — there's no document to record with any
office. A contractor in direct contract with the owner gets the lien
without sending anything. A subcontractor only gets that same lien if it
sends the owner written notice that it will claim one, and when that
notice goes out matters a great deal: sending it before starting work
protects the full value of the job from day one, while sending it only
after work begins limits the lien to whatever's still owed from that
point forward. The automatic lien lasts just 120 days after the
claimant's last labor or materials furnished — and to survive past that
window, the claimant must already have sued and obtained a court-ordered
writ of attachment against the property within the same 120 days, since
New Hampshire has no separate recording step at all. That attachment
lawsuit is itself the enforcement action; there's no additional
foreclosure deadline layered on top of it. Once made, the attachment also
gets a qualified priority over later-arising liens and even over
construction mortgages recorded on the same project.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
New Hampshire's private mechanic's lien lives in RSA Title XLI, Chapter
447, "Liens for Labor and Materials" (§§ 447:1-18). This survey covers the
building lien at § 447:2 and the surrounding subcontractor-notice,
duration, and attachment sections. It's a genuine outlier nationally: the
lien arises automatically by operation of law from a qualifying contract
— there is no recording step anywhere in the process. To survive past a
short window, the claimant must sue and obtain a court-ordered, officer-
executed writ of attachment against the property.
Who can claim
Section 447:2(I) gives a lien to anyone performing labor, providing
"professional design services," or furnishing $15 or more of materials
for erecting or repairing a house, building, or appurtenance, or building
a dam, canal, sluiceway, well, or bridge, "by virtue of a contract with
the owner." Section 447:2(II) defines "professional design services" to
include a licensed architect, licensed landscape architect, licensed
engineer, permitted septic designer, certified wetland scientist,
certified soil scientist, or licensed land surveyor. Section 447:5 extends
the identical lien to anyone who contracts "with an agent, contractor or
subcontractor of the owner" — one tier of subcontracting beyond direct
privity with the owner — conditioned on the notice described next. The
statute's plain text doesn't reach any further down the contracting chain
than that.
Preliminary notice
This is the defining feature of New Hampshire's scheme. Section 447:5
conditions a subcontractor's lien on giving the owner "notice in writing
... that he or she shall claim such lien BEFORE performing the labor or
furnishing the material for which it is claimed." Section 447:6 softens
that requirement: the notice may instead be given later, "after the labor
is performed ... or the material is furnished" — but in that case "said
lien shall be valid to the extent of the amount then due or that may
thereafter become due," meaning a late notice sacrifices lien coverage
for work already completed before the notice went out. A subcontractor
who notifies the owner in advance locks in the full contract value; one
who waits only protects billings from the notice date forward.
Deadline to file the lien
There's no document-filing deadline in the usual sense. Section 447:9
gives the automatically-arising lien a 120-day lifespan: it "shall
continue for 120 days after the services are performed, or the materials,
supplies or other things are furnished, unless payment therefor is
previously made." To keep the lien alive past that point, § 447:10
requires the claimant to have already secured the property "by
attachment ... at any time while the lien continues, the writ and return
thereon distinctly expressing that purpose" — meaning the lawsuit and
court-ordered attachment have to happen within the same 120 days, not
just a recorded notice.
Notice of completion effect
Nothing in Chapter 447 lets an owner record a notice of completion,
substantial completion, or termination to shorten the 120-day window. The
duration always runs from the claimant's own last day of labor or last
date of furnishing materials.
Serving the lien on the owner
There's no separate "serve the recorded lien" step here, because there's
no recorded lien document to serve in the first place. Perfecting the
lien means suing to attach the property, so the owner is brought into
that lawsuit and served as an ordinary civil defendant rather than served
under any lien-specific notice statute.
Deadline to sue to foreclose
New Hampshire collapses what most states treat as two separate deadlines
into one. The lawsuit-and-attachment action that must happen within the
120-day window under §§ 447:9 and 447:10 is itself the enforcement
proceeding — there's no additional, later foreclosure-suit deadline
stacked on top of it. Once the attachment is made, § 447:11 gives it
precedence over later-arising lien claims, except for work performed
under a contract that already existed when the attachment was made, or
work necessary to preserve the attached property. Section 447:12-a goes
further: the attachment also takes precedence over a "construction
mortgage" recorded on the same project, unless the mortgagee can show the
loan proceeds were actually disbursed to pay subcontractors and suppliers
for the work, or were backed by an affidavit that the work was completed
and those parties paid or would be paid from the disbursement.
Homestead/residential extras
None. Chapter 447 applies the same $15 threshold, the same subcontractor
notice rule, and the same 120-day window whether the property is a
private home, a commercial building, or another qualifying structure — no
separate homestead or residential formality appears anywhere in the
chapter.
What trips people up
The single biggest trap is timing the § 447:5 notice. Because New
Hampshire's lien exists automatically, it's easy for a subcontractor to
assume they're covered just by doing the work — but without sending
written notice to the owner before starting, they only protect amounts
that come due after they eventually do notify, per § 447:6, potentially
losing lien coverage for everything already billed. Second, don't treat
the 120 days as a "recording" deadline the way most states' filing windows
work — nothing gets recorded at that stage. The claimant has to have
already filed suit and obtained a court-ordered writ of attachment,
"distinctly expressing" that it secures a mechanic's lien, within that
same window, or the lien simply expires. Third, subcontractors who do
send the § 447:5 or § 447:6 notice still have an ongoing obligation under
§ 447:8 to furnish the owner a written account of labor or materials at
least every 30 days while the work continues — skipping that account
doesn't automatically void the lien by the statute's own text, but it
undercuts the very mechanism the owner relies on to know how much to
withhold from the general contractor.
Common questions
Do I need to send a notice before I start work in New Hampshire?
If you're contracting directly with the owner, no — your lien exists
automatically. If you're a subcontractor or supplier contracting with
someone other than the owner, sending written notice before you start is
what protects the full value of your work; waiting until afterward only
protects amounts still owed from the notice date forward.
Where do I record my mechanic's lien in New Hampshire?
Nowhere, in the usual sense — there's no county recorder filing. The lien
already exists by operation of law; to keep it alive past 120 days, you
have to file a lawsuit and obtain a court-ordered writ of attachment
against the property within that same period.
Does my lien beat the construction lender's mortgage?
Usually yes, under § 447:12-a's qualified priority rule — unless the
lender can show the loan money was actually paid out to subcontractors
and suppliers for the work, or was backed by a completion-and-payment
affidavit.
Statutes and sources
- RSA 447:2 (buildings; lien for labor, design services, or materials) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-2.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05) - RSA 447:5 (subcontractors; advance written notice) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-5.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05) - RSA 447:6 (notice given after the fact; limited lien value) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-6.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05) - RSA 447:8 (30-day written account requirement) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-8.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05) - RSA 447:9 (120-day duration; tax-lien-only priority exception) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-9.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05) - RSA 447:10 (how secured; attachment) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-10.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05) - RSA 447:11 (precedence of attachment over later liens) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-11.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05) - RSA 447:12-a (attachment priority over construction mortgages) —
https://gc.nh.gov/rsa/html/XLI/447/447-12-a.htm
(accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.