Preliminary Notice - California

CALIFORNIA 20-DAY PRELIMINARY NOTICE

Before you use this: This is a private-work preliminary notice under Civil Code §§ 8200–8204. Complete the owner warning exactly as printed below and send a separate copy to each required recipient. A public work may require a different notice.

Claimant, work, and amount

Date of notice: [__/__/____]

Claimant's legal name and address: [________________________________]

Claimant's relationship to the project parties: [________________________________]

Person to or for whom claimant provides the work: [________________________________]

General description of labor, services, equipment, or material provided or to be provided: [________________________________]

Date claimant first furnished work: [__/__/____]

Estimate of the total price of work provided and to be provided: $[________________________________]

Claimant's present demand, if any, after just credits and offsets: $[________________________________]

Credits and offsets included in that amount: [________________________________]

Project and recipient information

Site description sufficient for identification: [________________________________]

Street address, if any: [________________________________]

Owner or reputed owner, name and address: [________________________________]

Direct contractor or reputed direct contractor, name and address: [________________________________]

Construction lender or reputed construction lender, if any, name and address: [________________________________]

Recipient selection under § 8200:

☐ Owner or reputed owner.

☐ Direct contractor or reputed direct contractor to which claimant provides work, directly or through subcontractors.

☐ Construction lender or reputed construction lender, if any.

☐ Claimant is a laborer; § 8200(e)(1) exempts a laborer from this preliminary notice.

☐ Claimant contracts directly with the owner or reputed owner; under § 8200(e)(2), preliminary notice is required only to the construction lender or reputed construction lender, if any.

If claimant is a subcontractor with unpaid laborer compensation under § 8202(b): ☐ Not applicable ☐ Complete the following and attach more names and addresses if needed.

Unpaid laborer name and address: [________________________________]

Person or entity described in § 8024(b) to which compensation is due, name and address: [________________________________]

Preliminary notice

To the recipients selected above:

The undersigned gives preliminary notice under California Civil Code §§ 8200 and 8202 that it has provided or will provide the work identified above to this project. The claimant's estimated total price and present demand, if any, are stated above. This notice preserves only those rights available under applicable law; it is not a claim of lien, stop payment notice, or payment-bond claim.

NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER

EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE PAID YOUR CONTRACTOR IN FULL, if the person or firm that has given you this notice is not paid in full for labor, service, equipment, or material provided or to be provided to your construction project, a lien may be placed on your property. Foreclosure of the lien may lead to loss of all or part of your property. You may wish to protect yourself against this by (1) requiring your contractor to provide a signed release by the person or firm that has given you this notice before making payment to your contractor, or (2) any other method that is appropriate under the circumstances.

This notice is required by law to be served by the undersigned as a statement of your legal rights.

This notice is not intended to reflect upon the financial condition of the contractor or the person employed by you on the construction project.

If you record a notice of cessation or completion of your construction project, you must within 10 days after recording, send a copy of the notice of completion to your contractor and the person or firm that has given you this notice. The notice must be sent by registered or certified mail. Failure to send the notice will extend the deadline to record a claim of lien. You are not required to send the notice if you are a residential homeowner of a dwelling containing four or fewer units.

Claimant or authorized representative: [________________________________]

Signature: __________________________________ Date: [__/__/____]

Delivery record

Civil Code § 8106 permits personal delivery, mail under § 8110, or leaving the notice and mailing a copy in the manner described there. Section 8110 permits registered mail, certified mail, express mail, or overnight delivery by an express service carrier.

Date 20 days after first furnishing: [__/__/____]

Section 8204(a) generally calls for notice within 20 days after first furnishing. A later notice may still be given, but lien, stop payment notice, and payment-bond rights based on that notice are limited to work performed within the 20 days before service and thereafter. Confirm the applicable service date and any separate remedy deadlines.

Official sources

The cited text was checked against the California Legislative Counsel's current pubinfo_2025.zip code archive on 2026-10-22. Reader links: § 8102, § 8106, § 8110, § 8200, § 8202, and § 8204.