Texas construction: subcontractors and suppliers

In Texas every unpaid month has its own notice and its own deadline. Miss one and that month is gone.

A Texas subcontractor or material supplier who is not paid does not get a lien by filing one. Property Code section 53.056 first requires a notice of claim for unpaid labor or materials, sent to the owner and the original contractor by the 15th day of the third month after the month the work was done, or the second month on a residential project. Section 53.003 says how it may be sent: in person, by certified mail, or by a traceable private service that confirms receipt. The notice rules were rewritten from January 1, 2022, so a guide written before then describes a different, longer list of notices.

Who has to send it, and to whom

Property Code § 53.056 puts the duty on every claimant other than the original contractor: the subcontractor, the sub-subcontractor and the supplier of materials. For the lien to be valid, that claimant sends a notice of claim for the unpaid labor or materials to two people:

1. The owner or reputed owner of the property.
2. The original contractor, the one holding the contract with the owner.

The original contractor itself does not send this notice; its route to a lien is the affidavit under section 53.052. Retainage claims follow their own section, 53.057, and are not covered on this page.

The deadline is counted month by month

Section 53.056(a-1) sets the date. On a commercial or other non-residential project the notice is due by the 15th day of the third month after the month in which the labor was performed or the materials were delivered. On a residential construction project it is due by the 15th day of the second month. Specially fabricated materials that were never delivered are counted from the month they normally were to be delivered.

The count runs from the month of the work, not from the end of the job or the date of an invoice. Labor done in March on a commercial job is noticed by June 15; labor done in April by July 15. A supplier still unpaid for three months of deliveries has three deadlines, and a notice that covers April and May on July 10 has already lost March. That is why subcontractors who send these send them every month, on the same day, for every job where a balance is open.

Under § 53.003(e), a deadline that falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday moves to the next day that is not one.

How it has to be sent

Property Code § 53.003(b) governs every notice in the mechanics lien chapter. It allows three methods: delivery in person to the party or its agent, certified mail, or any other form of traceable, private delivery or mailing service that can confirm proof of receipt. First-class post on its own is none of them.

Certified mail has an advantage the other two do not. Under section 53.003(c), when the notice goes by certified mail, depositing it in the United States mail in the required form is compliance, except where the law requires that the person actually receive it. The date that matters is then the mailing date, and the mailing date is a fact you have to be able to show.

What the notice has to say

Section 53.056(a-2) prescribes the form, and the notice is to be in substantially that form. It carries the date; a description or the address of the project; the claimant’s name; the kind of labor or materials furnished; the original contractor’s name; the name of the person the claimant contracted with, where that is not the original contractor; the amount of the claim; and the claimant’s contact person and address. Section 53.056(a-3) allows an invoice or billing statement to be attached.

Section 53.056(a-4) also allows an optional notice to the original contractor of a past-due invoice. It is not required for the lien, and it does not replace the notice of claim.

After the notices: the affidavit and its copies

The notice of claim keeps the right alive; the lien itself is the affidavit filed with the county clerk in the county where the property is. Under § 53.052, a subcontractor or supplier files it by the 15th day of the fourth month after the month it last furnished labor or materials, or the third month on a residential project.

Then § 53.055 requires a copy of the filed affidavit to go to the owner or reputed owner at the owner’s last known business or residence address no later than the fifth day after filing, and, where the claimant is not the original contractor, to the original contractor in the same period. Because section 53.003 applies to every notice in the chapter, the same three delivery methods apply to these copies. Five days is short enough that this is the letter most often sent late.

Which address, and where it comes from

The statute names the people, not a lookup table, and Piloxa does not print addresses for them. The documents that carry the addresses are the ones a claimant can read: the subcontract or purchase order, which names the original contractor and usually the project owner; the deed records at the county clerk and the county appraisal district’s record for the parcel, which name the owner of record and a mailing address; and, for the original contractor, the address in the prime contract or on its own invoices to you. Where the owner is unclear, the statute allows notice to the reputed owner, and sending one letter to each documented address costs less than defending a notice that went to one wrong one.

The proof a lien claim rests on

A notice of claim that cannot be shown to have gone out on time does nothing for the claimant. When the owner’s lawyer asks which notices were sent, to whom and when, the answer has to be on paper for every month and every recipient:

• The exact notice that was mailed, unchanged, with a fingerprint showing it is the same file.
• The address exactly as printed on the envelope, for the owner and for the original contractor.
• The USPS article number and every delivery scan, added as they are reported.
• The signature of whoever accepted it, where the electronic return receipt was bought.
• A USPS Certificate of Mailing for the mailing date, where the evidence pack was bought.

Piloxa keeps those together on one record for each letter. The evidence pack, at $24.21 all in for a one-page notice, adds the Certificate of Mailing and keeps the record for seven years. The sample record shows what each record holds, including the incomplete states.

For firms sending these every month

There is no subscription, no minimum and no setup fee. Each notice is priced as a letter, so the copy to the owner and the copy to the original contractor are two letters, each with its own record. Firms that send monthly notices on every open job can send them from the web app today, or from an assistant with the connector; the business page covers volume sending and what is not automated yet.

This page is about private projects under the Texas Property Code. Public works in Texas are claimed against the payment bond under Government Code chapter 2253, with their own notices, and other states have their own rules; check the statute for the place the property is before assuming this sequence applies. California’s version is on the California 20-day preliminary notice page.

What you end up holding

• The exact letter that was approved, kept unchanged, with the fingerprint that shows it is the same file.
• The recipient address as it was printed, after the postal check.
• The mailing record: the service that was bought, when the letter was handed over to be printed and mailed, and the reference the printer gave it.
• The sentence you authorized, and the time you authorized it.

You are buying USPS Certified Mail, so the Postal Service keeps its own delivery record. Piloxa asks the printing partner for that history on its own, without anyone pressing anything, and adds each scan to your record as it is reported, naming where it came from. If you chose the return receipt, the signature of whoever accepted the letter is recorded the same way once USPS releases it. Where nothing has come back, the record says “no record yet” rather than guessing. The sample record shows every state, including the incomplete ones.

Certified Mail proves that something was delivered. It does not prove what was inside. Keeping the approved letter beside the mailing record is what closes that gap, and it is the whole reason this exists. See a filled-in record.

Common questions

When is a Texas subcontractor lien notice due?

Under Property Code 53.056(a-1), by the 15th day of the third month after the month the labor was performed or the materials were delivered, or by the 15th day of the second month on a residential construction project. Each unpaid month has its own deadline. A deadline on a weekend or legal holiday moves to the next business day under section 53.003(e).

Who gets the notice?

The owner or reputed owner of the property and the original contractor. The duty falls on claimants other than the original contractor: subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and suppliers.

Does it have to go by certified mail?

Property Code 53.003(b) allows delivery in person, certified mail, or another traceable private delivery or mailing service that can confirm proof of receipt. With certified mail, depositing the notice in the mail in the required form is compliance under section 53.003(c), unless the law requires actual receipt.

Do I still need the second-month and third-month notices from older guides?

The notice rules were rewritten by H.B. 2237, effective January 1, 2022. The current section 53.056 requires one notice of claim per unpaid month to both the owner and the original contractor, with the deadlines above. Guides written before 2022 describe the earlier, different sequence.

What happens after the notice?

The lien is the affidavit filed with the county clerk under section 53.052, by the 15th day of the fourth month after the month you last furnished work, or the third month on residential work. Under section 53.055 a copy goes to the owner, and to the original contractor if you are not it, within five days after filing.

What does it cost to send?

$12.97 all in for a one-page notice by USPS Certified Mail, $15.97 with the electronic return receipt, or $24.21 with the evidence pack, which adds the USPS Certificate of Mailing and keeps the record for seven years. Each recipient is one letter. Printing, envelope and postage are included, with no subscription, no minimum and no setup fee.

Primary sources

• Texas Property Code § 53.003 — how notices under the chapter are delivered
• Texas Property Code § 53.056 — the notice of claim by a derivative claimant, its deadline and form
• Texas Property Code § 53.052 — deadline to file the lien affidavit
• Texas Property Code § 53.055 — copy of the affidavit to the owner and original contractor
• USPS Postal Explorer: what Certified Mail and the Certificate of Mailing document

Statutory references last reviewed October 9, 2026, against the text as amended by H.B. 2237 (87th Legislature), effective January 1, 2022. Chapter 53 is amended from time to time; read the current text of each section before relying on it, and have counsel review your notice form.

Other notices with an address fixed by law

• California 20-day preliminary notice
• HOA pre-lien notice
• Demand letter to a contractor
• Finding a company’s legal address
• Sending in volume
• Send a certified letter