Illinois Mechanic Lien Deadlines and Notice Requirements

General Contractor Deadlines

General contractors who contract directly with the property owner face the fewest preliminary notice requirements under 770 ILCS 60. No Section 24 notice is required, and no 60-day residential notice applies. However, general contractors must still comply with two hard deadlines:

Subcontractor and Sub-Subcontractor Deadlines

Subcontractors and sub-subcontractors face the most demanding deadline sequence under Illinois law. In addition to the 4-month recording and 2-year enforcement windows, they must satisfy two notice requirements — and on residential projects, potentially a third:

Material Supplier Deadlines

Material suppliers who furnish building materials, fixtures, or equipment to a construction project have lien rights if their materials were actually incorporated into the improvement. Suppliers who do not have a direct contract with the property owner must satisfy the same 90-day Section 24 notice obligation as subcontractors. They must also meet the 4-month recording and 2-year enforcement deadlines. A supplier's "last furnishing date" is the date of their last delivery of materials to the project site — not the date of their last invoice or statement.

Unlike subcontractors who perform labor over an extended period, suppliers often complete their deliveries well before the project is finished. This means their lien deadlines may expire months before the general contractor's deadlines, making early action essential.

Public Project Deadline Differences

Public construction projects in Illinois do not allow traditional mechanic liens against government-owned property. Instead, contractors and suppliers must rely on two alternative remedies with their own distinct timelines:

How to Calculate Your Deadline Accurately

Accurately calculating your lien deadline starts with determining your "last date of furnishing labor or materials." Under Illinois law, this means the last day you performed actual, lienable work on the project — not the date of your last invoice, your last payment request, or the date the project was substantially complete. Punch-list work and minor corrective tasks generally count, but returning solely to inspect completed work or deliver a final invoice does not extend the deadline.

Once you have established your last date of work, count forward to determine each deadline. For the Section 24 notice, count 90 calendar days. For recording the lien, count 4 calendar months (not 120 days — Illinois uses calendar months, so the deadline falls on the same date 4 months later). For the foreclosure action, count 2 years from the last date of work.

Build in a safety margin of at least 10 to 14 days before the statutory cutoff. If a deadline falls on a weekend or court holiday, Illinois courts have generally held that the filing is timely if made on the next business day — but relying on this grace period is risky and should be avoided. Review our step-by-step lien filing process for detailed procedural guidance.

What Happens When You Miss a Deadline

The consequences of missing a lien deadline in Illinois are severe and, in most cases, irreversible. Courts strictly enforce the statutory time limits under 770 ILCS 60, and there is no equitable tolling or general extension available for mechanic lien deadlines. Once a deadline passes, the right it protects is permanently forfeited.

If you miss the 60-day residential notice or the 90-day Section 24 notice, you lose the ability to assert a valid lien claim altogether. Missing the 4-month recording deadline does not necessarily destroy your lien, but it significantly weakens it — your lien will no longer be effective against third parties such as mortgage lenders, subsequent purchasers, or judgment creditors. It remains enforceable only against the original property owner.

Missing the 2-year foreclosure deadline — or the 30-day window after a Section 34 demand — permanently bars your ability to enforce the lien through the courts. You may still pursue a breach of contract action, but you will have lost the powerful security interest that a mechanic lien provides.

Tolling, Extensions, and Exceptions

Illinois mechanic lien deadlines are generally strict and not subject to equitable tolling. Courts have consistently refused to extend filing periods based on ongoing negotiations, promises of payment, or the claimant's ignorance of the law. However, if a contractor returns to the project to perform additional work — not merely punch-list or warranty items — the courts may reset the "last date of furnishing" to the date of that additional work, effectively extending the recording deadline.

The distinction between "extra work" and "corrective work" is critical. Returning to fix defective work or perform warranty repairs does not extend the lien deadline because those activities do not constitute new furnishing of labor or materials that improve the property. Only work that adds value to the improvement — such as change-order items or additional scope — qualifies. Because the line between corrective and additional work can be fact-specific, documenting every site visit and the nature of the work performed is essential to preserving lien rights.

Lien Priority Rules and Recording Order

Lien priority determines whose claim gets paid first when multiple parties assert interests in the same property. Under 770 ILCS 60/7, a mechanic lien recorded within 4 months of the claimant's last date of work takes priority over any lien, mortgage, judgment, or other encumbrance that attaches after the date the work was commenced — not from the date the lien was recorded. This "relation back" doctrine is one of the most powerful features of Illinois mechanic lien law.

A timely-recorded mechanic lien can take priority over a construction mortgage recorded months earlier, as long as the claimant's work began before the mortgage attached. However, a lien recorded after the 4-month window loses this priority advantage and is subordinate to all intervening third-party interests.

Among multiple mechanic lien claimants, Illinois law does not rank liens based on filing order. Instead, all timely-recorded mechanic liens share equal priority and are satisfied pro rata from the available proceeds if the property is sold through a foreclosure action.

Evidence You Should Preserve to Prove Timely Filing

The burden of proving that every deadline was met falls on the lien claimant. Preserve the following records from the start of every project:

Frequently Asked Questions About Illinois Lien Deadlines

Related Illinois Mechanic Lien Resources