Do I need to send a preliminary notice in Tennessee?

Remote contractors (subs, sub-subs, suppliers not in privity with the owner) must serve a notice of nonpayment on the owner and on the prime contractor they are in privity with, but only if their account is actually unpaid. Not required on 1 to 4 family residential units. Prime contractors do not send it (on residential jobs see the prime contractor notice under residentialRules). Within 90 days of the last day of each month in which the remote contractor furnished work or materials it intends to lien for..

How long do I have to file a lien in Tennessee?

Prime contractor: no recording is needed to keep the lien against the owner, but to preserve priority against later purchasers and lenders it must record a sworn statement (or its contract) within 90 days after the improvement is complete or abandoned (66-11-112). Remote contractor: must serve a written notice of lien on the owner within that same 90 days after completion or abandonment (66-11-115), and should record the sworn statement in the same window.

How long does a Tennessee lien last before I have to enforce it?

Prime contractor: suit must be filed within 1 year after the improvement is complete or abandoned (66-11-106). Remote contractor: the lien lasts only 90 days from service of the notice of lien, so suit must be filed within that 90 days (66-11-115(b)). Suit is by complaint or civil warrant with writ of attachment (66-11-126).

Mechanics lien law

Tennessee lien deadlines for contractors

Updated September 24, 2026 · Checked against primary sources

The short answer

In Tennessee, a prime contractor's lien lasts 1 year after the improvement is complete or abandoned, and suit must be filed within that year. Record a sworn statement within 90 days of completion to protect priority. Subs and suppliers must send a monthly notice of nonpayment within 90 days, then serve a notice of lien within 90 days of completion and sue within 90 days of serving it.

The deadlines

Step	Rule
Preliminary notice: who	Remote contractors (subs, sub-subs, suppliers not in privity with the owner) must serve a notice of nonpayment on the owner and on the prime contractor they are in privity with, but only if their account is actually unpaid. Not required on 1 to 4 family residential units. Prime contractors do not send it (on residential jobs see the prime contractor notice under residentialRules).
Preliminary notice: when	Within 90 days of the last day of each month in which the remote contractor furnished work or materials it intends to lien for. (A remote contractor that fails to serve the notice has no lien, except for retainage held to guarantee its performance (66-11-145(b)).)
File or register the lien	Prime contractor: no recording is needed to keep the lien against the owner, but to preserve priority against later purchasers and lenders it must record a sworn statement (or its contract) within 90 days after the improvement is complete or abandoned (66-11-112). Remote contractor: must serve a written notice of lien on the owner within that same 90 days after completion or abandonment (66-11-115), and should record the sworn statement in the same window.
Enforce or perfect it	Prime contractor: suit must be filed within 1 year after the improvement is complete or abandoned (66-11-106). Remote contractor: the lien lasts only 90 days from service of the notice of lien, so suit must be filed within that 90 days (66-11-115(b)). Suit is by complaint or civil warrant with writ of attachment (66-11-126).
Residential jobs	On owner-occupied residential property (1 to 4 units where the owner lives in one), only the prime contractor has lien rights; subs and suppliers have none (66-11-146). A contractor about to contract with an owner to improve residential real property must, before starting work or signing the contract, deliver the statutory written notice to the owner that a lien will exist for 1 year after the work is finished (66-11-203).

Other notices and rules

Notice of completion (66-11-143): if an owner records and serves one, a claimant who has not already recorded must serve a written notice of claim within 10 days of recording (1 to 4 family residential) or 30 days (all other projects), or lien rights expire. A prime contractor, or a remote contractor who served a notice of nonpayment, that was not served a copy is not affected.
Abandonment (66-11-112(b)): a project is abandoned when work stops for 90 days and the owner or prime contractor intends to stop permanently or indefinitely.

Common questions

Do I need to send a preliminary notice in Tennessee?: Remote contractors (subs, sub-subs, suppliers not in privity with the owner) must serve a notice of nonpayment on the owner and on the prime contractor they are in privity with, but only if their account is actually unpaid. Not required on 1 to 4 family residential units. Prime contractors do not send it (on residential jobs see the prime contractor notice under residentialRules). Within 90 days of the last day of each month in which the remote contractor furnished work or materials it intends to lien for..
How long do I have to file a lien in Tennessee?: Prime contractor: no recording is needed to keep the lien against the owner, but to preserve priority against later purchasers and lenders it must record a sworn statement (or its contract) within 90 days after the improvement is complete or abandoned (66-11-112). Remote contractor: must serve a written notice of lien on the owner within that same 90 days after completion or abandonment (66-11-115), and should record the sworn statement in the same window.
How long does a Tennessee lien last before I have to enforce it?: Prime contractor: suit must be filed within 1 year after the improvement is complete or abandoned (66-11-106). Remote contractor: the lien lasts only 90 days from service of the notice of lien, so suit must be filed within that 90 days (66-11-115(b)). Suit is by complaint or civil warrant with writ of attachment (66-11-126).

General information from the statutes cited below, checked 2026-09-24. Lien law is strict and details depend on your role and contract. Confirm with a construction lawyer in Tennessee before relying on a deadline. Read from the 2025 Tennessee Code on Justia (latest edition posted). 2026 session amendments, if any, were not visible there.

Where Pavado comes in

How Pavado builds a CRM around your jobs

Lien rights are usually lost to a calendar, not a court. We build CRMs that start each job's notice and lien clocks from its real start and completion dates and remind you before every deadline, so the rights you earned by doing the work are still there when a customer stops paying.

Instead of bending your shop around someone else's software, we build the system around how your jobs actually move, and connect it to what you already use.

Your pipeline, your stages. From first call to paid invoice, set up the way your team already works.
Automations for the busywork. Follow-ups, reminders and handoffs that happen without anyone remembering.
One record per customer. Calls, quotes, jobs, photos and invoices in one place instead of five apps.
Connected to your stack. QuickBooks or Xero, Gmail or Outlook, payments and e-sign, plus thousands more through Zapier and an API.

1.Book a free demo and walk us through how a job moves today.
2.We map the workflow and send a scoped proposal, free.
3.We build it, connect your tools and get your team using it.

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The first conversation and a scoped proposal are free, and we will tell you early if we are not the right fit.

Go deeper

Other states

Sources

Cite this page

Pavado, “Tennessee Lien Deadlines 2026: Notice and Filing”, https://www.pavadotech.com/lien-deadlines/tennessee, updated 2026-09-24.