Guide for Suppliers & Subcontractors

The State Construction Registry (SCR) allows subcontractors and suppliers to protect lien rights.

By filing a Preliminary Notice through the SCR, subcontractors and suppliers alert property owners, banks, title companies and general contractors to their involvement in a project and expectation of payment.

This helps those with the money to oversee that payments navigate down to the appropriate parties, especially when there are multiple levels of subcontractors.

The SCR system also helps keep subcontractors and suppliers informed by providing automated email notifications when additional Preliminary Notices or Notices of Completion are filed on any of their projects. Automated notification of the Notice of Completion is important because it notifies subcontractors and suppliers that they have 90 days or less to file a lien if they have not yet been paid.

Key Filings for Subcontractors and Suppliers

Preliminary Notice: Anyone working on a construction job or providing materials for a job has 20 days after they started working on the job to file a Preliminary Notice. However, the 20 day rule changes at the end of the job. If a Notice of Completion is filed for that job, all remaining Preliminary Notices must be filed within 10 day after the Notice of Completion is filed.

Remaining to Complete: On a small number of jobs, an Intent to Complete is filed by the Contractor. After an Intent to Complete is filed, anyone who has filed a preliminary notice must file a Remaining to Complete within 20 days. This filing informs everyone if the subcontractor or supplier has not been paid yet.

Filing Tips for Preliminary Notices

• Use Advance Search to find a Notice of Construction Loan or another Preliminary Notice. Copy that filing to a new Preliminary Notice.
• On the job site, scan the SCR QR code with your smart phone. Copy that filing to a new Preliminary Notice. You can file a preliminary notice with your smart phone browser.
• Ask the person who hired you for the "SCR Entry Number" of their preliminary notice. Use the Entry Number Search to find that filing and copy that filing to a new Preliminary Notice.