770 ILCS 60/24 Notice Requirements
Illinois Notice to Owner
Illinois law requires subcontractors and suppliers to notify the property owner before filing a mechanic lien. There are two separate notice requirements, and missing either one can cost you your lien rights.
Last updated: April 2026
Under Illinois mechanic lien law (770 ILCS 60/24), if you are a subcontractor, sub-subcontractor, or material supplier on an Illinois construction project and you do not have a direct contract with the property owner, Illinois law requires you to send the owner a formal written notice before you can file a mechanic lien. Think of it as your way of putting the owner on notice: "I worked on your property, and I have not been paid." Review the Illinois mechanic lien deadlines to understand how this notice fits into your overall filing timeline. If you need an experienced mechanic lien attorney, Emalfarb Law can help.
90-Day Notice Requirements
Under 770 ILCS 60/24(a), subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, and material suppliers must serve written notice on the property owner within 90 days of their last date of furnishing labor or materials. This notice preserves your mechanic lien rights and is the most critical compliance step for parties below the general contractor in the construction chain.
Who Must Serve the 90-Day Notice
Section 24 applies to every party that does not have a direct contract with the property owner. This includes subcontractors, sub-subcontractors (and lower tiers), material suppliers, and equipment lessors whose materials or equipment are incorporated into the improvement. General contractors who contract directly with the owner are exempt because the owner already knows the identity of the GC and the amounts owed.
The purpose of the notice is to inform the property owner that a party further down the construction chain has furnished labor or materials and has not been paid. Without this notice, the owner has no way to know that payment from the general contractor has not reached the subcontractor or supplier, and Illinois law will not impose lien liability on the owner without that knowledge.
For a detailed breakdown of how subcontractor lien rights differ from general contractor rights, see our subcontractor lien rights guide.
The 90-Day Deadline
90 Calendar Days from Last Furnishing
The 90-day period begins on the claimant's last date of furnishing labor or materials to the project. This is not the last invoice date, not the last payment date, and not the date the project was substantially complete, it is the last day the claimant actually performed work or delivered materials to the job site.
The notice is deemed served on the date of mailing, not the date of receipt. This means that if a subcontractor mails the Section 24 notice on the 90th day, it is timely, even if the owner does not receive it for several more days.
Critical: Punch-list work, warranty callbacks, and return visits solely to inspect completed work generally do not extend the 90-day window. Courts look at the last date of contract work or contracted extra work, not de minimis touch-ups. Review our full deadline reference for more detail.
Parties Who Must Receive the Notice
Section 24(a) mandates that the notice be served on the following parties:
The owner of record of the property being improved, or the owner of record's agent or architect, or the superintendent having charge of the building or improvement
The lending agency (mortgage lender), if known to the claimant
Lender notice: If the subcontractor knows the identity of the lending agency and fails to include the lender in the Section 24 notice, the mechanic lien is unenforceable against that lender, even if the notice was otherwise properly served on the owner.
Delivery Methods
The statute requires the Section 24 notice to be delivered by one of two methods:
Registered or Certified Mail
The notice must be sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, with delivery limited to the addressee only. The notice is deemed served on the date it is mailed, regardless of when (or whether) the recipient actually receives it. Retain the certified mail receipt and the return receipt card as proof of service.
Personal Service
The notice may be personally served on the owner, their agent, architect, or the superintendent in charge of the building. Personal service requires hand-delivery to the named individual, not merely leaving the notice at a business address or residence. Have the server prepare a written affidavit of service documenting the date, time, and person served.
Required Content of the Notice
Section 24(a) provides a statutory form notice. While the form is not mandatory, it establishes the minimum content requirements. The notice must include:
- The name and address of the claimant (subcontractor or supplier)
- The name of the party with whom the claimant contracted (usually the general contractor)
- A description of the labor performed or materials furnished
- The amount due or to become due under the contract
- A description of the property sufficient to identify it (legal description or street address)
- A statement that the claimant has furnished, or is furnishing, labor, services, or materials for an improvement to the property
The statutory form also includes a warning to the owner that if they make further payments to the contractor without reserving enough to cover the claimant's notice amount, they may be personally liable for the difference. While using the exact statutory form is not required, including all of these elements eliminates the risk of a challenge to the sufficiency of the notice.
Form vs. Substance: How Courts Read Technical Defects
The form notice in Section 24 is illustrative, not mandatory. Illinois courts evaluate the sufficiency of a Section 24 notice by asking whether the document, taken as a whole, gave the owner the substance the statute requires, written notice of the claim, the amount due, identification of the property, and timely service by an authorized method. A near-name error, an omitted suggested-form element, or a stylistic deviation generally does not defeat a notice that performs the statutory function.
The leading authorities on this point fall into a clear pattern:
A.Y. McDonald Mfg. Co. v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 225 Ill.App.3d 851, 587 N.E.2d 623 (3d Dist. 1992)
Reversed a trial court that invalidated a Section 24 notice because it did not name the subcontractor's contracting party. Held that Section 24's mandatory elements are: written notice, the claim, the amount due, and timely service to the required recipient. The "I have been employed by (the name of contractor)" language appears only in the suggested form and is permissive, not mandatory. Omission of the contractor's name does not invalidate the notice.
Matteo Construction Co. v. Teckler BLVD Development Site, LLC, 2020 IL App (2d) 190766, 177 N.E.3d 747
Held that Section 24 does not require use of the statutory form at all. A claim of lien served on the owner by certified mail satisfied Section 24 because it identified the parties, the property, the work performed, and the amount due. The statute calls for substance, not exact form.
Cordeck Sales, Inc. v. Construction Systems, Inc., 382 Ill.App.3d 334, 887 N.E.2d 474 (1st Dist. 2008)
Recognized, building on A.Y. McDonald, that Illinois courts may overlook technical defects in a Section 24 notice when the notice is actually received and the statutory purpose is satisfied. The analysis turns on whether the owner had effective notice of the lien claim, not whether every formal element matched the statutory form.
J.E. Milligan Steel Erectors, Inc. v. Garbe Iron Works, Inc., 139 Ill.App.3d 303, 486 N.E.2d 945 (2d Dist. 1985)
Owner-misnomer case, applied by analogy. The lien referenced the owner by variations of its corporate name. The court refused to defeat the lien because all references obviously identified the same entity, service was effective, the owner was not misled, and no prejudice resulted. Stands for the broader principle that a lien should not fail on a naming defect where the parties understood the intended entity and no one was prejudiced.
Seasons-4, Inc. v. Hertz Corp., 338 Ill.App.3d 565, 788 N.E.2d 179 (1st Dist. 2003)
The defense case. The court rejected a faxed letter as a Section 24 notice because it was not served by an authorized method, did not say it was asserting a mechanic's lien, did not clearly identify the lien claim or property, and read as a payment-suspension letter rather than a lien notice. Seasons-4 sets the floor: the document must function as lien notice. It is not authority for invalidating a notice that does function as lien notice but contains a technical naming or formatting defect.
Working Test
A Section 24 notice will generally survive a technical-defect challenge when, taken as a whole, it (1) asserts a mechanic's lien claim, (2) identifies the claimant, (3) states the amount due, (4) identifies the property or project, (5) describes the work or materials, and (6) was timely served by certified mail or personal service on the owner or required recipient. A near-name misidentification of the contractor, particularly between affiliated entities or legal-suffix variations, is generally not fatal under A.Y. McDonald and Matteo when the rest of the notice does its job.
Consequences of Missing the 90-Day Deadline
Missing the 90-day Section 24 deadline is one of the most common, and most devastating, mistakes in Illinois mechanic lien practice. If the notice is not served within the statutory window, the claimant's lien rights are generally extinguished. The subcontractor or supplier may still pursue a breach-of-contract claim against the general contractor, but they lose the powerful security interest in the real property that a mechanic lien provides.
Even if a late notice is served, the owner is entitled to raise the late service as a complete defense. Courts do not apply equitable tolling to the Section 24 deadline, there is no extension for ongoing negotiations, promises of payment, or the claimant's unawareness of the statutory requirement. The 90-day window is strictly enforced.
If you believe you may have missed or are approaching a Section 24 deadline, contact an Illinois mechanic lien attorney immediately. Even if lien rights are lost, other remedies, such as a breach-of-contract claim or unjust enrichment action, may still be available.
Exception: The Sworn Statement Under Section 5
Section 24(a) carves out a narrow but important exception: the Section 24 notice is not required "when the sworn statement of the contractor or subcontractor [as set forth in 770 ILCS 60/5] shall serve to give the owner notice of the amount due and to whom due." In practice, this means that if the general contractor's sworn statement (sometimes called a "contractor's affidavit") identifies the subcontractor or supplier by name and lists the amount owed, the owner already has constructive notice of the claim and the Section 24 notice may not be required.
However, relying on this exception is risky. Whether a particular sworn statement satisfies the statutory standard is fact-specific, and the burden of proving the exception falls on the lien claimant. The safer practice is always to serve the Section 24 notice, even if you believe you may be covered by the sworn statement exception.
Best practice: Always serve the Section 24 notice within 90 days, even if you believe you are listed on the GC's sworn statement. The cost of serving the notice is negligible compared to the risk of losing your lien rights entirely.
Strategic Timing: When to Serve the Notice
While the statute establishes a 90-day deadline, it does not prevent early service. Serving the Section 24 notice early, even at the start of the project, can be strategically advantageous. Early service locks in the amount the owner owes the general contractor at the time the notice is received, which directly determines the maximum lien amount available to the subcontractor.
If a subcontractor waits until late in the 90-day window, the owner may have already made substantial payments to the GC, reducing or eliminating the available lien amount. By serving the notice promptly, or even before the first payment is due, the subcontractor ensures the owner cannot reduce the available funds by paying the GC in the interim.
Early service also avoids the risk of miscalculating the last furnishing date and inadvertently missing the 90-day deadline. For a detailed guide on how Section 24 interacts with other lien deadlines, see our Illinois mechanic lien deadlines page or use the deadline calculator to estimate your dates.
60-Day Notice Requirements
In addition to serving the 90-day notice under 770 ILCS 60/24(a), subcontractors performing work on an owner-occupied, single-family residence must serve a separate 60-day notice under 770 ILCS 60/5(b) and 60/21(c).
60 Calendar Days from First Furnishing
The subcontractor is required to notify the owner, either personally or via certified mail, within 60 days from the first day it furnished lienable material or services of its agreement to do so. 770 ILCS 60/5(b)(ii).
Unlike the 90-day notice, which is measured from the last date of furnishing, the 60-day notice is measured from the first date of furnishing. This means the clock starts running on the very first day the subcontractor shows up on the job site or delivers materials to the project.
When Does the 60-Day Notice Apply?
The 60-day notice requirement applies only when the construction project involves an owner-occupied, single-family residence. This means:
- The property must be a single-family home (not a multi-unit building, commercial property, or vacant land)
- The owner must actually occupy the residence during the project
- The requirement applies to subcontractors, general contractors with a direct contract with the owner are not required to serve this notice
Two Independent Requirements
The 60-day notice and the 90-day notice are completely independent requirements. Serving one does not satisfy the other. A subcontractor who serves the 90-day Section 24 notice but misses the 60-day residential notice may lose lien rights entirely, and vice versa. On owner-occupied residential projects, both notices must be served within their respective deadlines to preserve mechanic lien rights.
Side-by-Side Comparison
| 90-Day Notice | 60-Day Notice | |
|---|---|---|
| Statute | 770 ILCS 60/24(a) | 770 ILCS 60/5(b), 60/21(c) |
| Deadline | 90 days from last furnishing | 60 days from first furnishing |
| Applies to | All projects (private) | Owner-occupied single-family residences only |
| Who must serve | Subs & lower tiers | Subs & lower tiers |
| Delivery | Certified mail or personal service | Certified mail or personal service |
For more details on how these notice requirements interact with lien recording and enforcement deadlines, see our subcontractor lien rights guide.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Illinois Notice to Owner
Related Illinois Mechanic Lien Resources
Illinois Mechanic Lien Law
Complete guide to Illinois mechanic lien remedies
Subcontractor Lien Rights
Lien rights for subs and sub-subs under 770 ILCS 60
Illinois Mechanic Lien Deadlines
Every lien deadline organized by claimant role
How to File a Mechanic Lien
Step-by-step filing and recording guide
Illinois Construction Law
Overview of all construction payment remedies
Related Topics
After serving your notice to owner, the next step is understanding how to file a mechanic lien in Illinois. Be sure to review the applicable Illinois mechanic lien deadlines to avoid forfeiting your claim.