Every notice, deadline, and recording requirement for a North Carolina construction lien, drawn from N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 44A-11.2, 44A-12, 44A-14, 44A-35 and the same rule engine that calculates deadlines for our filing customers.
Lien rights depend on where you sit in the contracting chain. Tenant-ordered improvements can support a lien in North Carolina.
| Claimant | Lien rights in North Carolina |
|---|---|
| General contractor (direct contract with the owner) | Yes |
| Subcontractor (hired by the general contractor) | Yes |
| Sub-subcontractor (hired by a subcontractor) | Yes |
| Material supplier to the owner | Yes |
| Material supplier to the general contractor | Yes |
| Material supplier to a subcontractor | Yes |
Required for subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and suppliers. Preliminary notices go to the project lien agent by any method that proves receipt.
Enter your role and project dates to turn the rules below into calendar dates. For other states, use the mechanics lien deadline calculator.
Choose your role to see which dates you need.
Your deadlines
| Document | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Passed |
liens are filed through the courts by an attorney. Get matched with a lien attorney.
We can prepare and record the lien for you before the deadline. Start your lien.
These dates come from the same rules our lien filing service uses. They are not moved for weekends or holidays. Deadlines turn on facts specific to your project. Confirm with counsel before relying on them.
The notice that preserves lien rights before any payment problem exists.
| Who | Project type | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| All claimants | All projects | Within 15 days after first furnishing labor or materials |
The last day the lien can be recorded against the property.
| Who | Project type | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| All claimants | All projects | Within 120 days after last furnishing labor or materials |
North Carolina does not require a notice of intent before recording a lien, but sending one is often what gets the invoice paid.
The steps in order, each with the statute behind it. Some steps apply only to certain claimants, and each says so.
On private projects costing $40,000 or more, the owner must name a lien agent (a registered title insurer). Its contact information appears on the posted building permit or a job-site sign, or the owner must supply it within 7 days of a written request. Deliver a Notice to Lien Agent no later than 15 days after you first furnish labor or materials. Delivery may be by certified mail, USPS signature confirmation, hand delivery with receipt, fax, a private delivery service, email with delivery receipt, or the lien agent's approved website (LiensNC). A late notice still works unless the property is sold to a good-faith buyer first, but the lien can fall behind loans recorded before the notice. The notice is not filed with the clerk.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 44A-11.1(a), 44A-11.2(b), (f), (i), (k), (l), (m)
If the owner or contractor posted and filed a Notice of Contract within 30 days after the permit or contract award, a second- or third-tier subcontractor must serve a signed Notice of Subcontract on the contractor to keep its right to enforce the contractor's lien. Serve it by the methods in G.S. 44A-19(d) (personal delivery or any manner allowed by Civil Procedure Rule 4).
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-23(b)
Subcontractors and suppliers who did not contract with the owner get a lien on funds owed down the payment chain. Perfect it by serving a Notice of Claim of Lien upon Funds, in the statutory form, on the owner and each obligor up the chain, by personal delivery or any manner allowed by Civil Procedure Rule 4. Once served, the owner must hold back the claimed amount from further payments. This notice is not filed with the clerk unless it is attached to a claim of lien on real property.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 44A-18, 44A-19, 44A-20
Use the statutory form titled Claim of Lien on Real Property. It is signed by the lien claimant and includes a certificate that the record owner has been served under G.S. 44A-11. The statute does not require notarization or a sworn verification. A subcontractor claiming through the contractor's lien adds the name of the contractor through which subrogation is asserted. A claim filed under G.S. 44A-20(d) must also attach the Notice of Claim of Lien upon Funds with an affidavit of service.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 44A-12(c), 44A-20(d), 44A-23
File the claim in the office of the clerk of superior court in each county where the property is located, no later than 120 days after you last furnished labor or materials at the site. The clerk notes it on the judgment docket and indexes it under the record owner's name. It is a court filing, not a register of deeds recording. A filed claim cannot be amended; to fix it, cancel it and file a new one within the same 120 days.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-12(a), (b), (d)
Perfecting the lien requires both filing and serving a copy of the claim on the record owner. Serve it by personal delivery, U.S. mail, or a designated private delivery service; actual receipt is not required. A correct address is the one on the building permit, on the county tax rolls, or the registered agent's address on file with the Secretary of State. Practitioners treat the 120-day filing window as the service window too.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-11
File suit to enforce the lien no later than 180 days after your last furnishing at the site, in any county where venue is proper. File a notice of lis pendens within the same period in every other county where the property lies. If the claim is filed on day 120, that leaves 60 days. Missing the deadline discharges the lien.
N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 44A-13(a), (c), 44A-16(a)(3)
North Carolina law requires the claim of lien on real property to include the following (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-12(c)).
The statute prescribes the form ('substantially as follows') rather than publishing a separate agency form; the text of the form is in G.S. 44A-12(c) at https://www.ncleg.gov/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_44A/GS_44A-12.html. No notarization or verification is required by the statute, and the NCBA Young Lawyers guide says a claim of lien does not need to be notarized. Claims under G.S. 44A-20(d) must attach the Notice of Claim of Lien upon Funds and proof of service by affidavit, and state why the owner is personally liable.
The Claim of Lien on Real Property our filing service prepares, with every field left blank. PDF, free, no sign-up. Fill in your own facts and check them against the list above before you sign.
Record with the clerk of the superior court for the county. Whether electronic recording is accepted varies by county, so confirm with the recording office and build mailing time into the deadline. No notary is required on the lien itself. The lien claim must be verified by the claimant.
A copy of the recorded lien must be served on the property owner and the general contractor promptly after recording. To keep the lien alive it must be enforced by lawsuit within 180 days after last furnishing labor or materials.
Filing a knowingly false lien in North Carolina can carry criminal penalties as well as civil liability. Knowingly filing a claim of lien that is not authorized by statute, or filing one to hinder, harass, or wrongfully interfere with someone, is a Class I felony (§ 44A-12.1). In lien suits the court may also award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party (§ 44A-35, amended 2022).
North Carolina's lien law is in Chapter 44A, Article 2. On many private projects the owner must name a lien agent: generally where the improvement costs $40,000 or more, except work on an existing single-family home the owner lives in (G.S. 44A-11.1). On those projects, a claimant should get a Notice to Lien Agent to the lien agent within 15 days after first furnishing labor or materials (G.S. 44A-11.2). A later notice still works only if it arrives before a sale of the property to a good-faith buyer is recorded, and the lien can lose priority to loans recorded before the notice. Whether a contractor hired directly by the owner also needs to send this notice is debated in secondary sources, so confirm with counsel; most practitioners send it. A claim of lien must be filed in the office of the clerk of superior court in each county where the property sits, no later than 120 days after the claimant's last furnishing (G.S. 44A-12). It must be served as G.S. 44A-11 requires. It cannot be amended, only cancelled and refiled within the 120 days. The suit to enforce the lien must be filed within 180 days after last furnishing (G.S. 44A-13), which can leave as little as 60 days after the lien is filed. Knowingly filing a lien that no statute authorizes, or filing one to harass or wrongfully interfere with someone, is a Class I felony (G.S. 44A-12.1). The court may award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party in a lien suit (G.S. 44A-35).
These notes summarize the statute as we read it.
Statutory sources: N.C. Gen. Stat. §§ 44A-11.2, 44A-12, 44A-14, 44A-35. Read the North Carolina lien statute. Deadlines turn on facts specific to your project. Confirm with counsel before relying on them.
In North Carolina the claim of lien is filed with the clerk of superior court, not the register of deeds. The clerk's fee is set by statute for all 100 counties: $6 for the first page and $0.25 for each additional page (G.S. 7A-308(a)(11)). Ask the clerk whether it accepts claims of lien electronically before you rely on it.
The 10 most populous North Carolina counties, the office that takes liens in each, whether it accepts e-filing, and the fee it publishes. Liens on property in any other county go to that county's office.
| County | Office | E-filing | Fee |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wake |
Wake County Clerk of Superior Court
Wake County Courthouse, 316 Fayetteville St., Raleigh, NC 27601
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee for recording or docketing (including indexing) any document: $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Set by statute for all 100 counties. Fee schedule |
| Mecklenburg |
Mecklenburg County Clerk of Superior Court
832 E. Fourth St., Charlotte, NC 28202
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| Guilford |
Guilford County Clerk of Superior Court
Guilford County Courthouse, 201 S. Eugene St., Greensboro, NC 27401
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| Forsyth |
Forsyth County Clerk of Superior Court
Forsyth County Hall of Justice, 175 N. Chestnut St., Winston-Salem, NC 27101
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| Durham |
Durham County Clerk of Superior Court
Durham County Justice Center, 510 S. Dillard St., Durham, NC 27701
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| Cumberland |
Cumberland County Clerk of Superior Court
Judge E. Maurice Braswell Courthouse, 117 Dick St., Fayetteville, NC
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| Buncombe |
Buncombe County Clerk of Superior Court
Buncombe County Courthouse, 60 Court Plaza, Asheville, NC 28801
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| Union |
Union County Clerk of Superior Court
Union County Judicial Center, 400 N. Main St., Monroe, NC 28112
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| New Hanover |
New Hanover County Clerk of Superior Court
New Hanover County Courthouse, 316 Princess St., Wilmington, NC 28401
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
| Gaston |
Gaston County Clerk of Superior Court
Gaston County Courthouse, 325 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Way, Gastonia, NC 28052
|
Not stated
Ask the office
|
Statewide clerk fee under G.S. 7A-308(a)(11): $6.00 first page, $0.25 each additional page. Fee schedule |
Collected from each office's website on October 2, 2026. Fees and filing methods change. Confirm them with the office before you file.
Changes since 2022 that affect lien deadlines, notices, forms or filing.
Effective March 1, 2022
New G.S. 22B-5 voids contract or waiver terms that require a lien waiver or release as a condition of an interim or progress payment, unless the waiver is limited to the payment actually received. Final-payment waivers and settlements of disputed claims are excepted. Applies to liens attached on or after March 1, 2022.
S.L. 2022-1, s. 3; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 22B-5
Effective March 1, 2022
G.S. 44A-35 now lets the judge or an arbitrator award reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party, defined as the party whose monetary position at the start of trial or hearing is closest to the judgment. A settlement offer or Rule 68 offer received at least 30 days before trial sets that party's position. Applies to claims arising on or after March 1, 2022.
S.L. 2022-1, s. 4; N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-35
Effective October 1, 2023
The project cost at which an owner must designate a lien agent rose from $30,000 to $40,000, matching the new general contractor licensing threshold. Below $40,000, no Notice to Lien Agent is needed.
S.L. 2023-108, s. 2(h), (j); N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-11.1(a)
Effective October 13, 2025
The Judicial Branch finished converting every county to eCourts, with File & Serve electronic filing available statewide. Whether clerks accept claims of lien through File & Serve was not confirmed.
NC Judicial Branch press release, 'North Carolina Implements eCourts Conversion in All 100 Counties'
We calculate the North Carolina deadlines from your project dates, prepare the lien on the correct form, and handle recording. Self-serve from $99, or full service with recording and notices handled for you from $299.
This page summarizes North Carolina lien law for general information and is not legal advice. Deadlines depend on your role, project type, and dates; confirm them against the statute or with counsel before relying on them.