Email the GC's AP contact with the invoice number, original due date, and amount. Attach the original invoice. Keep the tone professional and direct: "Invoice #XXX for $XX,XXX was due [date]. Please confirm status and expected payment date." CC your PM on every collection communication so the GC knows it's documented at multiple levels.
Escalate to a formal written demand on company letterhead. Reference the contract, invoice number, amount, and due date. State that payment is required within 10 days. Send via email AND certified mail. The certified mail receipt matters — it establishes receipt date for lien notice purposes and signals seriousness. At this point, a call to the GC's project manager (not just AP) is appropriate.
Send a preliminary lien notice (also called a pre-lien or Notice to Owner depending on state). In many states this notice is required before a lien can be filed — and deadlines can be as early as 20 days from first furnishing labor or materials. If your state requires early preliminary notices, these should go out at the start of every project, not when payment problems arise. Consult a construction attorney for your state's specific requirements. The notice signals that you are prepared to lien the property.
File a mechanics lien on the property. This clouds the title — the owner cannot sell or refinance until the lien is released. Most lien filings produce payment within 30 days because the owner puts pressure on the GC immediately. Lien deadlines vary significantly by state (typically 60–180 days from last date of work) — don't miss them. A lien filed after the deadline is unenforceable. Use a construction attorney or lien service for accurate deadlines and filing.
The single biggest mistake: Waiting until an invoice is 90+ days past due to send a preliminary lien notice — only to find that the state deadline passed at day 60. Once the lien deadline passes, the most powerful collection tool is gone. Send preliminary notices at the start of every project or at the first sign of payment delay, not as a last resort.
Every communication — follow-up, demand, notice — should be in writing and timestamped. Not because you plan to litigate, but because documented escalation is taken more seriously than verbal requests. A GC AP department that knows your company's process sends invoices to the front of the stack.
Preliminary lien notices are not aggressive — they're standard practice in construction. Sending one early signals professionalism and protects rights you'll need if payment becomes a problem. Most contractors who lose lien rights lose them by default, not by choice, because they didn't send the notice in time.
For invoices that are significantly past due and unresponsive, stopping work on the job until payment is received is legally permissible in most contracts after proper notice. The threat of work stoppage — and the schedule impact on the GC — is often more effective than a lien notice for jobs still in progress.
The sequence: written follow-up at 30 days, formal demand at 45 days, preliminary lien notice at 60 days, mechanics lien filing at 75–90 days if unpaid. Every state has different lien deadlines — many as short as 60–90 days from last date of work. Send preliminary notices early in every project to protect rights before a problem develops.
Yes. Mechanics lien rights exist in every state and allow subcontractors to place a lien on the property where work was performed, blocking sale or refinancing until the lien is resolved. Lien deadlines and preliminary notice requirements vary by state — consult a construction attorney for your specific state's rules. Missing a deadline means losing the right entirely.
Pay-when-paid clauses condition payment on the GC receiving payment from the owner. Enforceable in most states, but courts generally don't allow it to eliminate the GC's obligation entirely — a reasonable payment timeline is usually implied. Pay-if-paid clauses (which shift owner-nonpayment risk to the subcontractor) are unenforceable in many states. Consult a construction attorney for guidance specific to your contract and state. Schedule a call — SPM builds the AR process that moves money before lien rights are needed.
SPM builds and runs the AR collections process so GCs pay on your schedule, not theirs.
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