Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements in South Carolina

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

South Carolina's mechanic's lien statute is Title 29, Chapter 5, "Mechanics' Liens" (§§ 29-5-10 to 29-5-440). Its core provisions trace back to 19th-century acts, and it has been amended piecemeal since, most notably by 1990s-era additions creating the sub-subcontractor notice regime and the Notice of Project Commencement, and by a 2000s-2010s payment-bond statute (§ 29-5-440). It is not built on a modern recast or uniform lien code.

Who can claim

Section 29-5-10(a) gives a lien to anyone "to whom a debt is due for labor performed or furnished or for materials furnished and actually used" in erecting, altering, or repairing a building or structure, or boring and equipping wells, done "by virtue of an agreement with, or by consent of, the owner" or someone rightfully acting for the owner. Later sections extend that reach: surveyors (§ 29-5-21(A)), private security guards on site (§ 29-5-25), construction and demolition debris haulers (§ 29-5-27), landscape-service providers under a written agreement exceeding $5,000 (§ 29-5-26), and anyone renting out tools, machinery, or equipment, to the extent of its reasonable rental value (§ 29-5-22). There's a licensing gate on top: § 29-5-15(A) requires a contractor to prove a required license or registration and record that number on the lien document just to file one.

Preliminary notice

South Carolina doesn't have one universal pre-work notice. Instead, the notice requirement depends on how far removed the claimant is from the owner. A subcontractor, laborer, or materialman working through a contractor rather than directly for the owner must give the owner written notice of "the furnishing of such labor or material and the amount or value thereof" before the lien "shall attach ... as against the true owner" at all — and even then it's capped at "the amount due by the owner on the contract price of the improvement" (§ 29-5-40). A sub-subcontractor or supplier one tier further removed faces a separate, more detailed notice: without a certified- or registered-mail notice covering six specific items (who's claiming, who hired them, what was furnished, the project, the dates, and the amount owed), its lien is capped at whatever the contractor still owes the subcontractor who hired it (§ 29-5-20(B)). Layered on top of both is an optional step for the prime contractor: filing a Notice of Project Commencement within 15 days of starting work (§ 29-5-23). Nothing requires it, but skipping it "render[s] the provisions of Sections 29-5-20(B) and 29-5-60(B) inapplicable" — undercutting the sub-subcontractor notice regime and the proration rules that depend on it.

Deadline to file the lien

Section 29-5-90 gives every claimant, regardless of tier, the same 90 days "after he ceases to labor on or furnish labor or materials for such building or structure" to act, or "such a lien shall be dissolved." Within that window the claimant must file "a statement of a just and true account of the amount due," sworn to and describing the property "sufficiently accurate for identification."

Notice of completion effect

South Carolina has no owner-recorded notice of completion or substantial completion that shortens this deadline. A different tool exists — the owner's "notice of nonresponsibility" under § 29-5-80 — but it does something else entirely: it lets an owner who isn't the one who contracted for particular labor or materials disclaim liability for work "not at the time performed or materials not then furnished," by notifying the person doing that work in writing. It doesn't touch anyone's filing deadline.

Serving the lien on the owner

Service isn't a separate step that follows filing — both happen inside the same 90-day window under § 29-5-90. The claimant must serve "upon the owner or, in the event the owner cannot be found, upon the person in possession," and if neither can be located after a diligent search, the statute lets the claimant substitute a sheriff's affidavit confirming that search in place of service.

Deadline to sue to foreclose

Section 29-5-120(A) gives the claimant six months, measured from the same event that started the 90-day filing clock — when the claimant "ceases to labor on or furnish labor or material for the building or structure" — to both "commence[]" a suit enforcing the lien and file "notice of pendency of the action." Missing either one means "the lien must be dissolved."

Homestead/residential extras

Chapter 5 doesn't add any extra execution formality for homestead property generally — no special written-contract, notarization, or witness rule tied to a residence. The one place residential status changes the outcome at all is narrower than that: the special lien South Carolina gives a real estate licensee for marketing or leasing commercial property under § 29-5-21(B) explicitly "shall not acquire a lien ... upon residential real estate" — a carve-out for that one claimant category, not a rule that touches contractors, subcontractors, or suppliers working on a home.

What trips people up

Because the sub-subcontractor notice under § 29-5-20(B) and the prime contractor's optional Notice of Project Commencement under § 29-5-23 are linked, a sub-subcontractor or supplier can do everything right on their own notice and still find it worth less than expected if the prime contractor never filed the commencement notice — § 29-5-23 says skipping it makes § 29-5-20(B)'s protection "inapplicable." Separately, claimants sometimes assume the 90-day filing deadline and the six-month foreclosure deadline both run from the filing date; they don't — both are measured independently from the claimant's own last day of labor or last materials furnished, not from when the lien statement was recorded.

Common questions

Do I need to send a notice before I even start the job, like in some other states? Not automatically. South Carolina's notices depend on your position in the chain: if you're working through a contractor rather than directly for the owner, § 29-5-40 requires written notice of the work and its value for your lien to attach against the owner at all, and a more removed sub-subcontractor or supplier has its own separate notice under § 29-5-20(B).

Does the 90-day filing deadline run from when the whole project finished, or just from my own work? From your own last day of labor or last materials furnished — § 29-5-90 runs the clock separately for each claimant, not from any project-wide completion date, and South Carolina has no notice-of-completion mechanism that would change that.

I'm a sub-subcontractor — can my lien exceed what the contractor still owes my subcontractor? Only if you sent the certified- or registered-mail notice required by § 29-5-20(B). Without it, your lien is capped at whatever the contractor still owes the subcontractor who hired you, even if you're owed more.

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code § 29-5-10(a) (who has lien rights) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-15(A) (licensing prerequisite to file) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-21(A) (surveyors) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-21(B)(3) (real estate licensee lien excludes residential real estate) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-22 (equipment rental) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-25 (site security guards) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-26 (landscape services) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-27 (construction debris disposal) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-40 (notice for lien to attach against true owner) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-20(B) (sub-subcontractor/supplier notice, payment cap) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-23 (optional Notice of Project Commencement) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-90 (90-day filing and service deadline) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-80 (owner's notice of nonresponsibility) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)
• S.C. Code § 29-5-120(A) (6-month deadline to sue and file lis pendens) — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-10-06)