Payment Bond Claim Checklist for Public Projects (Free)

Step 1 — Identify the project type and the bond

• Federal project (agency of the U.S. government is the owner) → Miller Act. Payment bonds are required on federal construction contracts above the statutory threshold (currently $100,000, though the FAR sets alternative protections between $35,000 and that amount).
• State, county, municipal, school district or authority project → that state's Little Miller Act; thresholds, notice windows and who may claim vary. Check the free 50-state lookup for your state and record the rules here: ____________
• Request a copy of the payment bond now, not when the dispute starts: on federal projects the contracting agency must furnish a certified copy on request to anyone who has supplied labour or materials and submits an affidavit stating they have not been paid (40 U.S.C. § 3133(a)); on state projects the awarding agency or the prime usually must provide it. Record: surety name, bond number, penal sum, prime contractor.
• Confirm whether your state also requires a preliminary notice on public works (some do, to the prime or the agency) and whether you sent it.

Step 2 — Work out your tier (it decides whether you must send a notice)

• First tier — you contracted directly with the prime contractor. Under the Miller Act, no pre-suit notice is required (you may still send one; it usually gets you paid).
• Second tier — you contracted with a first-tier subcontractor (as a sub-sub or a supplier to a sub). Under the Miller Act you must give written notice to the prime contractor within 90 days after the last day you furnished labour or material for which the claim is made.
• Third tier and below (supplier to a sub-sub, etc.) — generally not protected under the Miller Act. State acts differ; some protect deeper tiers.
• Record your tier and the party you contracted with: ____________

Step 3 — The dates

Step 4 — What the claim notice must contain (Miller Act baseline; add state requirements)

• A statement of the amount claimed with substantial accuracy.
• The name of the party to whom the labour or material was furnished (your hiring party).
• Identification of the project and contract, and a description of the labour or materials supplied, with dates.
• A statement that you are looking to the prime contractor and its payment bond for payment.
• Your name, address and signature, and a request that the prime confirm receipt.
• Attach the statement of account and invoices; copy the surety (address on the bond) and, on state projects, the awarding agency if required.

Step 5 — Deliver it so the delivery can be proved

• The Miller Act requires the notice to be served by any means that provides written, third-party verification of delivery to the prime contractor at any place it maintains an office or conducts business, or at its residence, or by a U.S. marshal.
• In practice: certified mail with return receipt and a courier with signature, plus an emailed PDF the same day.
• Keep the tracking and delivery confirmations with a copy of the notice; note the date received, since some deadlines run from receipt.
• Send a copy to the surety with a request for its claim form; sureties often require their own proof-of-claim paperwork.

Step 6 — After the notice

• Respond promptly to the surety's requests for documents (contract, invoices, proof of delivery, lien waivers you have given). Sureties pay documented claims; they litigate vague ones.
• Do not sign an unconditional release of bond rights in exchange for a partial payment.
• If unpaid, suit on a Miller Act bond must be filed in the U.S. District Court for the district where the contract was performed, no earlier than 90 days after last furnishing and no later than one year after it. State bond suits have their own windows and courts.
• Retain an attorney experienced in public-works claims before the suit window is within 60 days.