Construction Document Management in Indiana

The 30-Day Notice to Owner (Residential)

In Indiana, securing mechanics lien rights on residential properties requires swift action. Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-1, a person providing labor, materials, or machinery for the alteration or repair of an owner-occupied single or double family dwelling must furnish a written notice of the delivery or work and of the existence of lien rights to the owner within 30 days of the first delivery or labor performed .

This pre-lien notice is a strict condition precedent to lien rights on residential projects. Unlike some states where preliminary notice is only required for certain claimants, Indiana requires this notice for all subcontractors, suppliers, and laborers furnishing labor or materials to an owner-occupied single or double family dwelling.

What the 30-Day Notice Must Include

Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-1, the notice must contain specific information:

• The name and address of the claimant (the person or company furnishing labor or materials)
• The name and address of the property owner
• A general description of the labor, materials, or machinery furnished
• The date of first delivery or labor performed
• A statement that the claimant is asserting a mechanics lien
• The amount claimed and unpaid

The notice must be served on the property owner within 30 days of first delivery or labor performed. Service should be documented with certified mail return receipt or personal service.

What Happens If You Miss the 30-Day Deadline

If you serve the Notice to Owner late, Indiana courts have consistently held that the lien is void entirely on owner-occupied residential projects. Unlike some states where a late notice merely shortens the lien period, Indiana law treats the 30-day notice as a strict condition precedent to lien rights. There is no mechanism to revive a lien after this deadline passes.

Because this 30-day window starts ticking on your first day on the job site, establishing a concrete timeline is critical. MyCrewTracker assists Indiana contractors by using Daily Reports to create a verifiable, date-stamped record of when work commenced, ensuring your back office accurately tracks the 30-day window.

Indiana Lien Deadlines at a Glance

Missing a single deadline in Indiana can void your lien rights entirely. The table below summarizes the statutory deadlines every Indiana contractor, subcontractor, and material supplier must track.

How to File a Mechanics Lien in Indiana: Step by Step

The process below reflects the standard path for an Indiana contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier seeking to preserve and enforce lien rights under Article 28, Chapter 3 of the Indiana Code.

1. Log your first day of work. On owner-occupied residential projects, the 30-day Notice to Owner clock starts from your first day of furnishing labor or materials. MyCrewTracker's Daily Reports timestamp this automatically.
2. Prepare the 30-Day Notice to Owner (residential only). Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-1, the notice must include the property owner's name, a description of the work, the date of first delivery, and a statement that lien rights are being asserted.
3. Serve the 30-Day Notice. Send via certified mail, return receipt requested, or personal service to the property owner. The notice must be served within 30 days of first delivery or labor performed.
4. Record the Notice of Intention to Hold Lien. Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-3, the sworn statement and notice of intention must be filed in the recorder's office of the county where the property is located. The deadline is 90 days after the last date of furnishing on commercial projects, and 60 days on residential projects .
5. Prepare the sworn statement. The notice must include a sworn statement of the amount due, a description of the property, and the names of the parties.
6. File the notice with the County Recorder. Indiana mechanics liens are recorded at the county level, not the state. File in the county where the property is located.
7. File suit within 1 year. Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-6, you must commence an action to enforce the lien within 1 year after the notice of intention is filed . If the property owner serves a 30-day Notice to Foreclose, the enforcement deadline shortens to 30 days from receipt of that notice.
8. Preserve all project documentation. Daily reports, delivery tickets, change orders, and photos become evidence in the foreclosure action.
9. Consider alternative remedies in parallel. Personal liability notices under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-9, contract claims, and payment bond claims can run alongside the lien.

Documents to Preserve for an Indiana Lien Claim

Indiana courts require proof that you furnished labor or materials and that they were incorporated into the property. The following records are what you need:

• Signed contract or purchase order with the prime contractor
• Certified mail receipts for the 30-Day Notice to Owner
• Delivery tickets signed by an authorized site representative
• Daily reports showing crew on site and work performed
• Photo evidence of installed work (timestamped and geotagged)
• Jobsite sign-in logs and crew attendance records
• Invoices, statements, and payment applications
• Email or text correspondence about scope and payment
• Change orders and extra work authorizations
• Written demand letters and any response

MyCrewTracker stores all of these in one project record. When a lien deadline approaches, the back office can generate the timeline needed to prepare the notice of intention without reconstructing months of field activity.

Indiana-Specific Gotchas

The 30-day residential notice is a strict prerequisite. Unlike commercial projects where no pre-lien notice is required, Indiana requires the Notice to Owner for all subcontractors and suppliers on owner-occupied single or double family dwellings. Missing it voids the lien entirely. Send it. Every residential job. Even if the general contractor tells you it is not needed.

Commercial projects have no pre-lien notice requirement. On commercial projects, Indiana does not require subcontractors or suppliers to serve a preliminary notice before recording a lien. The first required document is the Notice of Intention to Hold Lien itself, filed within 90 days after the last date of furnishing.

The recording deadline differs by project type. Commercial projects have 90 days from the last date of furnishing to record the lien. Residential projects (including owner-occupied residences) have only 60 days . There are no extensions.

The 1-year enforcement deadline is absolute. Ind. Code § 32-28-3-6 gives you exactly 1 year from the date the notice of intention is filed to file suit. If the property owner properly serves a 30-day Notice to Foreclose, the deadline shrinks to 30 days from receipt . Set two calendar reminders: one at 9 months, one at 11 months.

Personal liability notice is an alternative remedy. Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-9, a qualifying subcontractor or supplier may serve a personal liability notice on the owner, placing the owner on notice of amounts due and unpaid for labor or materials furnished to the project. This remedy has no firm filing deadline and is an excellent option for a subcontractor who failed to timely file a proper mechanics lien .

Construction defect statute of repose. Indiana's statute of repose for construction defects is 10 years from substantial completion of the improvement, or 12 years from the completion and submission of plans and specifications to the owner if the action is for a deficiency in design, whichever is earlier . Retain project records for at least 10 years.

Certified payroll records must be kept for 3 years. Under Ind. Code § 5-16-7-3, the payroll and related records of a contractor in any contractor tier must be preserved for a period of 3 years after completion of the project work and must be open to inspection by the Department of Workforce Development .

Example Scenario: How Documentation Determines the Outcome

The following is an illustrative scenario, not a specific case. It demonstrates how record-keeping affects outcomes in Indiana lien disputes.

Consider an Indianapolis HVAC subcontractor on a $380,000 residential renovation of an owner-occupied single-family home. The sub first furnishes labor on March 1. Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-1, the 30-Day Notice to Owner must be served by March 31. The sub serves it via certified mail on March 25. The green card returns signed on March 28.

Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-3, the sub has 60 days from the last date of furnishing to record the Notice of Intention to Hold Lien. The sub's last day of work is August 15. That deadline is October 14. The sub records the lien on October 5.

Under Ind. Code § 32-28-3-6, the sub has 1 year from recording to file suit. That deadline is October 5 of the following year. The sub files suit on June 15, well within the window. The lien is enforceable.

Compare that to the same sub who serves the 30-Day Notice on April 5 — five days late. Under § 32-28-3-1, the lien is void entirely. The sub loses all lien rights, regardless of how much documentation they have. The $42,000 owed becomes significantly harder to collect.

Documentation is what separates these outcomes. MyCrewTracker logs the first day of work, the notice service date, the recording date, and the daily reports that prove performance.

Indiana Public Works Prompt Pay

Under Ind. Code § 5-17-5-1, Indiana law establishes statutory payment cycles for public works projects. Unless the contract provides otherwise, payment from the state or a political subdivision to a prime contractor is considered prompt if mailed or delivered within 35 days of the receipt of goods and services or receipt of a properly completed claim.

Once the prime contractor receives payment from the public entity, the prime must pay its subcontractors within 10 days of receipt of payment for the work performed by the subcontractor .

What the Indiana Prompt Pay Law Covers

Ind. Code § 5-17-5-1 establishes statutory payment cycles for public works projects in Indiana:

• Public entities must pay prime contractors within 35 days of a properly completed claim
• Prime contractors must pay subcontractors within 10 days of receiving payment from the public entity
• Final payment must be made within 120 days after final acceptance and completion of the contract
• Interest on late payments accrues at a rate of 12% per year for each day after 120 days that final payment is not made

Retainage on Indiana Public Works

Under Ind. Code § 5-17-5-1, prime contractors may withhold retainage, but those monies must be paid to subcontractors within 30 calendar days after the subcontractor's work is satisfactorily completed . Public entities must withhold final payment to the contractor until the contractor has paid all subcontractors, material suppliers, laborers, and those furnishing services.

To enforce these rights, contractors must maintain perfect documentation of when invoices were transmitted and received. MyCrewTracker offers a secure cloud repository where Indiana contractors can organize dated payment applications and formal communications.

Indiana Certified Payroll Requirements (Public Works)

For Indiana contractors working on public projects, the state imposes specific record-keeping requirements for certified payroll.

Record Retention Requirements

Under Ind. Code § 5-16-7-3, the payroll and related records of a contractor in any contractor tier must be:

• Preserved by the contractor for a period of 3 years after completion of the project work
• Open to inspection by the Indiana Department of Workforce Development

The certified statements filed under this section must be preserved for a period of 3 years after the date of completion of the contract .

What Records Must Be Maintained

Contractors and subcontractors on Indiana public works projects must maintain payroll records that include:

• The name, address, and social security number of each worker
• The work classification and hourly rate paid
• The straight time and overtime hours worked each day and week
• The gross and net wages paid
• Deductions and fringe benefit contributions

Relying on physical filing cabinets or localized hard drives for long-term statutory retention exposes your business to catastrophic data loss from fire, theft, or hardware failure. MyCrewTracker offers a secure cloud repository where Indiana contractors can organize and safely archive three years' worth of certified payroll documents, ensuring audit readiness at all times.

What MyCrewTracker Does (and Does Not Do) in Indiana

MyCrewTracker is a construction documentation platform, not a legal service. Here is what it does for Indiana contractors:

• Logs first day and last day of work per project so you can calculate the 30-day residential notice deadline and the 60/90-day recording window
• Stores certified mail receipts and Notice to Owner documents in the project file
• Records delivery tickets with photo and signature capture
• Captures timestamped, GPS-tagged site photos that document installation
• Generates daily report PDFs that serve as contemporaneous records
• Archives certified payroll records for 3+ years to meet public works requirements
• Tracks completion dates to support lien enforcement and defect defense

It does not draft lien notices, record documents with the County Recorder, or provide legal advice. Those steps require an Indiana construction attorney.