Who actually sends the preliminary notice in California
Almost every contractor has heard of it and few can say who sends it. The answer depends on where you sit in the chain — and getting it wrong costs the right to lien.
The short answer
The party doing the work or supplying the material protects their own right to lien, so it is the subcontractor, the sub-sub or the supplier who sends the preliminary notice — not the owner, and not the general contractor. A general contractor sends one only when they are also acting in that capacity to someone above them, which is rare on a standard owner-GC contract.
On a job with several tiers, each tier protects its own. That is why a first-tier sub sends to the owner and the lender, and a second-tier sub sends to the prime contractor as well.
What it protects, and when it stops working
The notice keeps the right to record a mechanics lien alive. Without it, that right is limited even if the work is perfect and the invoice unpaid.
It has to be sent inside the window from when work started, and it has to name the right parties. A notice sent to the wrong party, or late, is the single most common way a small contractor discovers their lien rights are gone — and it is discovered at the worst possible moment, when payment is already late.
Why contractors miss it
It is boring, it happens at mobilisation when everyone is busy, and it depends on paperwork a sub may not have been given. It also relies on someone knowing every job a sub is on, because a notice covers the job, not the relationship.
This is exactly the kind of dated, repetitive document an office function exists to run: collected at onboarding, sent inside the window, filed with the job, and checked against every new job as it starts.
Who this is for
If you are a California subcontractor or supplier, you send it yourself or it does not get sent. If you are a general contractor, you collect them from your subs — because their exposure becomes your problem when a payment gets contested.
Nothing goes out without your say-so. Money and commitments stop at you by default.
Questions
Do I send one on every job?
On a California job where you want the right to lien, yes — every job, every tier, inside the window.
What if I already missed the window?
The right is limited rather than gone in every case, but the safe answer is to talk to a construction attorney rather than assume. This page is not legal advice.
Can somebody do this for me?
That is the office function we run: collected at onboarding, sent on time, filed with the job.