Louisiana Notice of Commencement
FAQs & Guide

Yes, in certain circumstances. When the price of a work of improvement is stipulated or reasonably estimated to exceed $100,000, a Louisiana Notice of Contract must be filed by the direct contractor in order for the contractor to retain any privilege afforded under Louisiana’s Private Works Act.

Note, however, that a specific notice template for a notice of requirement is not required. While certain information must be present on the “notice” in order for it to be effective, if that information is contained within the contract itself, the contract may be filed instead of some different notice document. Legislative comments to Louisiana’s newly modified mechanics lien law state that: “The contract itself, or an abbreviated form of the contract, can be filed rather than a notice of contract, if the document that is filed contains the required information.”

In Louisiana, it is the responsibility of the general contractor to file the Notice of Contract – while the statute doesn’t specifically limit the filing to a GC, and a property owner must sign the Notice Contract document – the penalties for failure to timely or properly file a notice of commencement are directed toward GCs, and it is understood Louisiana practice is that the GC must file the Notice of Contract.

Note, however, that Louisiana statutes specifically state that:

“Written notice of a contract between a general contractor and an owner shall be filed as provided in R.S. 9:4831 before the contractor begins work”

Since no party is directly prohibited from filing the Notice of Contract, if all the informational requirements of the notice are met, it appears that a property owner who wishes to use the Notice of Contract coupled with a Notice of Termination to shorten the lien period may file the Notice of Contract.

As noted above, Louisiana law provides that: “”Written notice of a contract between a general contractor and an owner shall be filed as provided in R.S. 9:4831 before the contractor begins work.” [emphasis added]

This timeline is critical, because “[a] general contractor shall not enjoy any privilege arising under this Part if the price of the work stipulated or reasonably estimated in his contract exceeds one hundred thousand dollars unless notice of the contract is timely filed.”

If the job will be greater than $100,000, work has commenced, and no Notice of Contract has been filed, the GC is prohibited from filing a mechanics lien.

Louisiana Notices of Contract must be filed as provided in R.S. 9:4831. This means that the notice must be “filed for registry with the recorder of mortgages of the parish of the location of the immovable upon which work is to be. . .performed.” Pursuant to the filing, the recorder of mortgages then inscribes the notice in the mortgage records the parish.

Comments to the section specify that the filing of the document is the significant time rather than recordation, as is consistent with general law regarding registry. This means that, in the event the Notice of Commencement is filed for registry prior to the beginning of work on the improvement, it should be timely even if the recordation of the Notice of Contract is not accomplished until work has commenced.

Not really. First, the Notice of Contract in Louisiana is a responsibility of the GC. Second, the information to be contained on a Louisiana Notice of Contract is specifically set forth by statute. A Louisiana Notice of Contract:

In several ways.

In order for a sub-tier lien claimant to claim a lien (a “Statement of Claim and Privilege” in Louisiana) they must provide certain notices. Information required on these notices, and contact information for the parties to whom these notices must be given, is to be included on the Notice of Contract. Further, Notices of Contract have an impact on the deadlines by which potential liens must be filed. If a Notice of Contract is not filed, lien claimants have 60 days after completion of the work (or filing of notice of termination) in which to properly file a mechanics lien. If a Notice of Contract is filed, and a corresponding notice of termination is filed at the conclusion of work, that period is shortened to 30 days for sub-tier parties. Additionally, note that if a Notice of Contract is filed and the property owner doesn’t ensure that a Notice of Termination is filed at the conclusion of the project, the lien deadline is extended.

For GCs, specifically, failure to file a Notice of Contract when required (i.e. the project is greater than $100,000) is fatal to lien rights.

Yes. A Louisiana Notice of Contract expires 5 years after filing unless a written notice of its re-inscription is properly and timely filed.

No. Louisiana law provides that a Notice of Contract must merely be “signed by the owner and contractor.” There is no requirement for the notice to be notarized, sworn to, or any else in addition to being signed.

No, not specifically. However, there is a benefit to filing a Notice of Termination at the end of a project on which a Notice of Contract was filed.

If a Notice of Contract if filed on a project, it actually extends the lien deadline unless a corresponding Notice of Termination is also filed at the conclusion of the project. As noted above, the general deadline to file a mechanics lien in Louisiana is 60 days from the substantial completion of the work. If an NOC and Notice of Termination are filed this period shrinks to 30 days for sub-tier parties.

If, however, the corresponding Notice of Termination is not filed, the lien period is extended to 7 months after substantial completion for GCs and 6 months after substantial completion for everybody else. Believe it or not, this actually closes a loophole in Louisiana law, as previously if an NOC was filed and a Notice of Termination wasn’t the lien period was extended indefinitely.

Additionally, a Cancellation of Notice of Contract is contemplated by Louisiana statutes but is not a required filing.

No.  The Notice of Contract requirement in Louisiana is separate and distinct from any notice requirement of a subcontractor, supplier, or equipment lessor (in Louisiana a “Lessor of moveables”).

Subcontractors and suppliers do not need to file a NOC, but they do have their own separate preliminary notice requirement, some of the required information on which can be found by reliance on the NOC.

No, not really. However, reliance on the Notice of Contract is allowable with respect to all interested parties when the NOC has reasonably sufficient information, and reliance on the NOC is allowable with respect to the property owner, GC, and surety, even if the information is insufficient.

Kind of. A Notice of Contract doesn’t have any impact on the underlying lien rights of sub-tier participants. If you have a right to file a lien, a Notice of Contract filing (or failure to file a Notice of Contract), is irrelevant to the right itself. However, as described above, a Notice of Contract does impact the deadlines by which a valid mechanics lien must be filed.

No. The Notice of contract requirement is limited to the Louisiana Private Works Act, and no corresponding requirement exists for public projects.