Ohio Mechanics Lien Deadlines: The Notice of Furnishing and the 75-Day Affidavit Window

Ohio's mechanics lien system runs on a pair of documents that talk to each other. The owner starts it by recording a Notice of Commencement before work begins. A subcontractor or supplier responds by serving a Notice of Furnishing, which puts the owner and general contractor on notice that this particular claimant is on the job. The affidavit of mechanics lien — the lien itself — comes last, and its deadline depends on whether the project is commercial or residential.

The framework lives in the Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1311 (Liens). Two features define Ohio practice and trip up out-of-state contractors. First, the affidavit deadline is 75 days after last furnishing on commercial and other non-residential work, but compresses to 60 days on residential work. Second, the Notice of Furnishing is the lower-tier claimant's tool for preserving the full value of its claim, and its timing keys off the recorded Notice of Commencement. Verify the current text of Chapter 1311 before relying on any specific date — the residential 60-day variant and the Notice of Furnishing mechanics are exactly where claimants lose ground.

Who Can Claim a Lien

Chapter 1311 grants lien rights to those who perform labor or work upon, or furnish materials for, an improvement to real property, but the procedure each claimant follows turns on its position in the contracting chain:

The line that drives the Notice of Furnishing is the original-contractor-versus-subcontractor distinction, layered with project type. The original contractor does not serve a Notice of Furnishing. A subcontractor on non-residential work generally does. And every claimant of every tier files the affidavit of mechanics lien — that step has no exceptions.

The Notice of Commencement

Ohio's system begins with the owner's Notice of Commencement under O.R.C. § 1311.04. Before any labor is performed or materials are furnished for an improvement, the owner, part owner, or lessee who contracts for the work is to record a Notice of Commencement in the county recorder's office for each county where the property is located, and to make copies available to those working on the project. The Notice of Commencement identifies the project, the owner, the property, and the original contractor.

The Notice of Commencement matters to a subcontractor because it is the reference point for the Notice of Furnishing — the subcontractor serves its Notice of Furnishing on the parties identified in the recorded Notice of Commencement. Home construction contracts for one- and two-family dwellings are generally exempt from the Notice of Commencement requirement, with certain other exceptions, which is one reason residential and commercial projects run differently. A subcontractor's first move on an Ohio project is to find out whether a Notice of Commencement has been recorded and to obtain a copy.

The Notice of Furnishing

The Notice of Furnishing is Ohio's preliminary notice for lower-tier claimants. On a project where a Notice of Commencement has been recorded, a subcontractor or material supplier not in direct contract with the owner generally must serve a Notice of Furnishing on the owner (or the owner's designee) and the original contractor, identifying the claimant and the work or materials being furnished.

The timing keys off the claimant's start on the project — the Notice of Furnishing is to be served within a short statutory window, commonly described as within 21 days after the claimant first performs labor or furnishes materials. The consequence of a late notice is not necessarily a total loss of lien rights, but the recovery can be limited: a claimant who serves the Notice of Furnishing late can lose lien protection for the value of work or materials furnished before the protected window, leaving only the later portion of the claim secured. The notice is what keeps the full value of the contribution within the lien.

On residential work — home construction contracts for one- and two-family dwellings — the Notice of Furnishing is generally not required, consistent with those projects being exempt from the Notice of Commencement. But the absence of a Notice of Furnishing requirement does not relax the affidavit deadline; on residential work that deadline is actually shorter, as covered next.

The 75-Day Affidavit Deadline

The core payload is the deadline to file the affidavit of mechanics lien, and Ohio sets it by project type:

The residential 60-day window is a genuine trap. A contractor used to the 75-day commercial deadline who applies it to a residential job will file the affidavit 15 days late and lose the lien. Confirm the project's residential status at the outset, because it controls the affidavit deadline regardless of what the Notice of Furnishing analysis showed.

"Last furnishing" means the claimant's last substantive labor or delivery of materials. Punch list items, warranty callbacks, and trivial corrective visits generally do not extend the date — Ohio courts look to the last substantive furnishing. Because the 75-day and 60-day windows are fixed day-counts, count from the documented last furnishing and calendar the deadline immediately.

Where to File

The affidavit of mechanics lien is filed with the county recorder of the county in which the improved property is located. The affidavit must contain the statutorily required content: the amount due over and above all legal setoffs; a description of the property to be charged with the lien; the name and address of the person to or for whom the labor, work, or materials were furnished; the name of the owner, part owner, or lessee if known; the name and address of the lien claimant; and the first and last dates the claimant performed labor or work or furnished materials.

After the affidavit is recorded, the claimant must serve a copy of the recorded affidavit on the owner, part owner, or lessee — or the designee — within a short statutory window after filing. A lien that is recorded but not served within the required period has a service defect; treat serving the recorded affidavit as part of the filing task, not an optional follow-up.

Lien Priority

Ohio mechanics lien priority interacts with the Notice of Commencement and with recorded mortgages. A mortgage recorded before the claimant's lien attaches generally has priority over the mechanics lien, so a construction lender that records its mortgage before the relevant point is generally ahead of the lien claimants. The Notice of Commencement is part of how the timeline is fixed for these purposes.

Among the mechanics lien claimants themselves, Ohio gives laborers a favored position — laborers' claims for the value of labor are paid ahead of other lien claimants, and the remaining lien claimants generally share on an equal footing rather than by date of filing. The practical point is that being first to record an affidavit does not, by itself, put a subcontractor ahead of other mechanics lien claimants; the statutory ranking governs how a short pool of proceeds is divided.

The Lien-Vacation Demand and the Six-Year Duration

Once recorded, an Ohio mechanics lien generally continues in force for six years after the affidavit is filed. If an action to enforce the lien is brought within that six-year period, the lien continues in force until the final adjudication of that action. Six years is a long runway, but it is not unconditional — the owner has a tool to shorten it dramatically.

Under Chapter 1311, an owner or other interested party can serve the lien claimant with a notice or demand to commence suit to enforce the lien. Once that demand is properly served, the claimant generally has 60 days to file the foreclosure action — and a claimant that does not sue within that 60-day window can lose the lien. So the real enforcement deadline is conditional: it is six years by default, but as little as 60 days from the date a proper demand to commence suit is served. A claimant that receives such a demand should treat the 60-day clock as live and verify the current requirement immediately.

Enforcing the Lien

Recording the affidavit perfects the lien; it does not collect the money. To enforce, the claimant files a foreclosure action in the appropriate Ohio court to reduce the claim to judgment and obtain an order of sale. Absent a demand to commence suit, the claimant has the six-year window in which to bring that action; if a demand to commence suit has been served, the action must be filed within the much shorter statutory period — commonly described as 60 days — that the demand triggers.

A successful foreclosure produces a judgment and an order of sale, with proceeds distributed by the statutory priority — laborers first, then the remaining lien claimants. In practice most Ohio lien claims resolve through payment to clear title rather than at a sale. Verify the current enforcement periods — both the six-year default and the demand-triggered deadline — before calendaring them.

Lien Waivers

Ohio addresses lien waivers in Chapter 1311, and the rules differ between residential and non-residential work. For residential work — home construction and similar — Ohio limits the enforceability of a waiver of lien rights that is obtained before the work is done; a provision requiring a residential claimant to waive lien rights for work not yet performed is on weak footing. On non-residential work the parties have more contractual latitude, but the wording of any waiver still governs its effect.

Waivers exchanged in connection with actual progress or final payment — releasing the lien for amounts that have been paid — are routine and generally effective across project types. The exposure is the unconditional release signed before payment has cleared, which can discharge lien rights with no money received, and the broad up-front waiver. A subcontractor asked to sign a sweeping or unconditional waiver in Ohio should confirm its effect under current law — and the residential-versus-non-residential distinction — before signing.

Practical Timing Strategy

For an Ohio subcontractor or supplier, the workable sequence runs from the Notice of Commencement forward:

The key insight is that Ohio has two project tracks and a conditional enforcement clock. The commercial track has the Notice of Furnishing and a 75-day affidavit window; the residential track skips the Notice of Furnishing but compresses the affidavit window to 60 days. And the six-year enforcement runway can collapse to 60 days the moment an owner demands suit. A claimant has to know which track it is on and stay ready to act on short notice.

Bottom Line

Ohio mechanics lien rights under Ohio Revised Code Chapter 1311 run on paired documents: the owner's Notice of Commencement and the subcontractor's Notice of Furnishing, the latter required on non-residential work to preserve the full value of the lien. The affidavit of mechanics lien — required of every claimant without exception — must be filed with the county recorder within 75 days of last furnishing on commercial work, compressed to 60 days on residential work. A recorded lien lasts six years, but a properly served demand to commence suit can shorten the enforcement deadline to roughly 60 days. Laborers hold a favored priority position. Because the two project tracks, the Notice of Furnishing mechanics, and the conditional enforcement clock all interact, verify the current Chapter 1311 requirements against the project's facts rather than applying another state's framework. For significant claims, the precision Ohio demands makes experienced Ohio construction counsel a worthwhile investment.