California Notice of Completion

If you know what a California Notice of Completion is and just need to get hold of a form, they are available here.

If you're not in California, there are forms for other states as well. You can click on the above link and when you land on the webpage, search for the forms you need for your state.

If you need more information on what a Notice of Completion is, and what it does, please keep reading...

The California Notice of Completion form

A California notice of completion is a written notice, signed and verified by the owner or his agent. It must contain specific information as required by California Civil Code 3093.

The California notice of completion notifies everyone who worked on the project that the project has been completed.

Following the information below is a copy and paste of California Civil Code Section 3093 (it's the California Notice to Owner section), in its entirety.

California law requires that the California Notice of Completion contain specific information

California Civil Code Section 3093 requires that the following information be included in a California notice of completion:

• The date of completion of the project (not including a stoppage of labor, which is address in 3092).

But, putting the wrong date of completion on the form does not affect the validity of the notice if the true date of completion is within 10 days preceding the date the notice is/was recorded.

• The name and address of the owner.

• The nature of the interest or estate of the owner.

• A description of the site sufficient for identification, containing the street address of the site, if any.

But, if a sufficient legal description of the site is given, then making a mistake in the address, or leaving the address out entirely, will not affect the validity of the notice of completion.

• The name of the original contractor, if any.

If the California notice of completion is given only on completion of a contract for a particular portion of the improvement project, as provided in Section 3117, then the name of the original contractor under that particular contract along with a general statement of the kind of work done or materials furnished under that contract is required.

Next, the California Notice of Completion needs to be recorded

The California notice of completion has be recorded in the office of the county recorder in the county where the construction project is located, and it has to be done within 10 days after the work has been completed.

Normally you have to take the notice of completion in to the county recorder's office in person, although you can call ahead to find out if they'll do it via the Internet.

Usually there is a fee to have a document recorded by the recorder.

A California notice of completion in otherwise proper form, verified and containing the required information by 3093 will be accepted by the recorder for recording and shall be deemed duly recorded without acknowledgment.

If there is more than one owner of the property that is being improved, and the notice of completion is not signed by all of the co-owners, then the notice has to list the names and addresses of all of such co-owners.

If any notice of completion is signed by a successor in interest, the notice must include the names and addresses of the successor's transferor or transferors. For the purpose of this section, owner is defined as set forth in subdivision (g) of Section 3092.

After recording the Notice of Completion, you have people that you have to notify

Other than residential homeowners of dwellings containing fewer than five units, private project owners must notify the original contractor and any lien claimant who has provided the owner with a preliminary 20-day lien notice in accordance with Section 3097 of the Civil Code, that a notice of completion or notice of cessation has been recorded, within 10 days of its recordation.

Notice must be by registered mail, certified mail, or first-class mail, evidenced by a certificate of mailing (the certificate of mailing can be obtained at the post office, and it will cost extra).

Failure to notify, and within the proper time-frame, will extend the deadlines to record a lien.

Hang on to that Certificate of Mailing because you may need to prove later on down the road that you did indeed notify the parties that you were supposed to notify, and that you did it on time. It could mean the difference between someone having an invalid, or valid, lien on your property.

Don't risk extending those lien deadlines. Get your California Notice of Completion form here.

The full text of the California Notice of Completion section as posted at the California Civil Code website

3093. "Notice of completion" means a written notice, signed and verified by the owner or his agent, containing all of the following:

(a) The date of completion (other than a cessation of labor). The recital of an erroneous date of completion shall not, however, affect the validity of the notice if the true date of completion is within 10 days preceding the date of recording of such notice. (b) The name and address of the owner.
(c) The nature of the interest or estate of the owner.
(d) A description of the site sufficient for identification, containing the street address of the site, if any. If a sufficient legal description of the site is given, the validity of the notice shall not, however, be affected by the fact that the street address recited is erroneous or that such street address is omitted.
(e) The name of the original contractor, if any, or if the notice is given only of completion of a contract for a particular portion of such work of improvement, as provided in Section 3117, then the name of the original contractor under such contract, and a general statement of the kind of work done or materials furnished pursuant to such contract.

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