4 deadlines NoticeGuard models for Massachusetts: what each one counts from, the statute it was read from, and the statute text.
Information, not legal advice. This app reports what the statute says and cites the section it read. It is not legal advice, it does not file anything for you, and it does not tell you what to do.
Verify with the statute or an attorney. Statutes change, and courts reinterpret them. Every deadline in this app comes from a statute read on the date shown next to its citation - that snapshot can go out of date. Missing a mechanics lien deadline can extinguish your claim permanently, so confirm any deadline you are relying on with an attorney licensed in that state before you act on it.
Data verified: statute text retrieved 2026-09-21 (each citation below carries its own date). Rule data from the NoticeGuard app, source commit 22f9300.
Filed or recorded in the registry of deeds, counted from this claimant's own last labor or materials furnished - shortened to 60 days after a recorded notice of substantial completion, if that is tighter.
What it counts from. 90 days after last furnishing (last day on site), but no later than 60 days after notice of completion filed (whichever is earlier).
Applies to. Original contractor, Subcontractor, Supplier, Preconstruction service.
M.G.L. c. 254, §§ 2 and 4 (deadline paragraph) Official source · statute text retrieved 2026-09-21
“Such person may file or record the notice of contract at any time after execution of the written contract whether or not the date for performance stated in such written contract has passed and whether or not the work under such written contract has been performed, but not later than the earliest of: (i) sixty days after filing or recording of the notice of substantial completion under section two A; or (ii) ninety days after filing or recording of the notice of termination under section two B; or (iii) ninety days after such person or any person by, through or under him last performed or furnished labor or materials or both labor and materials.”
If the date is missed (the statute's own terms). The lien attaches to the property "as appears of record on the date when notice of said contract is filed" - a notice filed outside this window does not secure the lien's priority as of that later date.
Also stated next to this deadline.
Identical numbers and structure for the original contractor (§ 2) and every subcontractor-tier claimant (§ 4) - confirmed no role-based difference in this specific deadline. The real § 2/§ 4 difference is what makes the lien attach (filing alone for a GC; filing plus actual notice to the owner for a subcontractor) and the lien-amount cap, neither a day-count difference.
Can be filed at any time after the contract is executed - no minimum wait, even before the deadline-triggering event happens.
Both §§ 2 and 4 embed an actual fill-in-the-blank statutory form directly in the section text ("substantially the following form") - not yet templated by this app; see `limitations`.
Statement of Account
Filed or recorded in the registry of deeds, counted from this claimant's own last labor or materials furnished - shortened to 90 days after a recorded notice of substantial completion, if that is tighter. Missing this deadline dissolves the lien.
What it counts from. 120 days after last furnishing (last day on site), but no later than 90 days after notice of completion filed (whichever is earlier).
Applies to. Original contractor, Subcontractor, Supplier, Preconstruction service.
M.G.L. c. 254 § 8 (deadline paragraph) Official source · statute text retrieved 2026-09-21
“Liens under sections two and four shall be dissolved unless the contractor, subcontractor, or some person claiming by, through or under them, shall, not later than the earliest of: (i) ninety days after the filing or recording of the notice of substantial completion under section two A; (ii) one hundred and twenty days after the filing or recording of the notice of termination under section two B; or (iii) one hundred and twenty days after the last day a person, entitled to enforce a lien under section two or anyone claiming by, through or under him, performed or furnished labor or material or both labor and materials or furnished rental equipment, appliances or tools, file or record in the registry of deeds in the county or district where the land lies a statement, giving a just and true account of the amount due or to become due him, with all just credits, a brief description of the property, and the names of the owners set forth in the notice of contract.”
If the date is missed (the statute's own terms). The statute states the lien "shall be dissolved unless" this statement is timely filed - a real, fatal consequence, not merely a priority question.
Also stated next to this deadline.
A genuinely different number from the Notice of Contract deadline above - 120 days (default) / 90 days (after a completion notice), NOT the 90/60 figures that govern the Notice of Contract. Easy to confuse given how similar the two sections' language is; confirmed distinct from the statute's own text.
Identical for the original contractor and every subcontractor-tier claimant - § 8 covers "liens under sections two and four" together with no role-based distinction.
Notice of Identification
Sent by certified mail to the original contractor, due within 30 days of commencing performance - lifts the lien-amount cap for a claimant with no direct contract with the original contractor.
What it counts from. 30 days after first furnishing (commenced work).
Applies to. Subcontractor, Supplier, Preconstruction service.
M.G.L. c. 254 § 4 (Notice of Identification paragraph) Official source · statute text retrieved 2026-09-21
“unless the person claiming such lien has, within thirty days of commencement of his performance, given written notice of identification by certified mail return receipt requested to the original contractor in substantially the following form...”
If the date is missed (the statute's own terms). Sending this notice within the period means "the amount stated in any such notice of identification shall not limit the amount of the lien" - i.e., it lifts the intermediate-subcontract dollar cap that would otherwise apply to a claimant with no direct contract with the original contractor.
Also stated next to this deadline.
Only relevant to a claimant with NO direct contractual relationship with the original contractor (e.g., a sub-subcontractor, or a supplier to a subcontractor) - a claimant who does contract directly with the original contractor is capped differently (by the owner-GC contract amount) and does not need this notice. This app shows the deadline for every non-original-contractor role regardless, since it does not track contract-chain tier; see `limitations`.
The statute embeds an actual fill-in-the-blank "Notice of Identification" form - not yet templated by this app.
Commence a civil action to enforce the lien
Counted from the date the Statement of Account was filed. Missing this deadline dissolves the lien.
What it counts from. 90 days after notice of construction lien recorded.
Applies to. Original contractor, Subcontractor, Supplier, Preconstruction service.
M.G.L. c. 254 § 11 (sole operative sentence) Official source · statute text retrieved 2026-09-21
“The lien shall be dissolved unless a civil action to enforce it is commenced within ninety days after the filing of the statement required by section eight.”
If the date is missed (the statute's own terms). The statute states plainly the lien "shall be dissolved unless" a civil action is commenced within this period.
Also stated next to this deadline.
Anchored to the Statement of Account's OWN filing date (modeled here using `noticeOfLienRecorded`, this app's generic "the lien/claim was recorded" fact) - not to the Notice of Contract date, and not to substantial completion or termination.
Unlike Georgia's or New York's enforcement schemes, Massachusetts has no separate requirement to record a further notice that suit has been commenced - confirmed by reading Chapter 254's own table of contents in full; §§ 12-33 concern bonds, attachments, and sale/distribution mechanics, not a post-commencement recording step.
Applies identically to every role - § 11 does not distinguish by claimant tier.
Weekend and holiday rollover
NoticeGuard does not model a weekend or holiday extension for Massachusetts. The dates above are the plain count from the date you enter. Check whether a Saturday, Sunday or holiday changes your date.
What this rule set does not cover
The notice-of-termination branch of the "earliest of three" structure (§§ 2/4/8, 90/120 days after a recorded Notice of Termination under § 2B) is NOT modeled - see the doc comment above for the reasoning on why omitting it does not risk overstating either deadline in practice, given the other two branches already modeled.
A subcontractor's lien does not attach merely from filing the Notice of Contract - § 4 also requires "giving actual notice to the owner of such filing." The statute states no independent day-count deadline for that notice itself, so nothing further is modeled here, but a subcontractor should not assume filing alone is sufficient - read § 4 directly.
A subcontractor's (or lower-tier claimant's) lien amount is capped to funds owed up the contract chain (§ 4) - a dollar-amount rule this app does not model, since it never collects dollar amounts.
§§ 2C and 2D (design professionals' own parallel lien scheme, with a 30-day-after-notice-of-contract-deadline Statement-of-Account period, shorter than the general 90/120-day rule) are not modeled - this app's `preconstructionServiceProvider` role uses the general §§ 2/4/8 rules, which may not be the correct provisions for a design professional specifically.
§ 1's separate 90-day lien period for laborers (a narrower category than any role this app models) is not incorporated.
Weekend/holiday rollover is NOT modeled - deliberately, not by oversight. M.G.L. c. 4, § 9 is a general statute of application, and its own text only rolls a deadline landing on a SUNDAY or legal holiday - not a Saturday, a real asymmetry worth naming, the same kind of trap Arizona's own holiday list has. No case confirming its application to Chapter 254 specifically was found either. The same honest gap as most other states in this app.
Only §§ 2, 4, 8, 9 (general rollover, Title I Chapter 4), and 11 have been read, plus the chapter's own table of contents (checked to confirm no separate "notice of commencement of action" requirement exists between §§ 12-33, unlike Georgia's or New York's equivalent). §§ 1, 2A, 2B, 2C, 2D, and 12-33 have not been read in full.
This app generates the Notice of Contract from § 2's own embedded fill-in-the-blank form. That form is genuinely short: only three blank fields (contract date, owner name, contractor name) plus one property-description placeholder - no separate price, address, or signature field appears in the statutory text itself, confirmed by reading the section directly. § 4's "Notice of Identification" sub-form and § 8's Statement of Account (required content only, no prescribed form) are not yet templated - a future session could add either.
NoticeGuard is an app that turns a job's dates into a countdown for each statutory step, shows the statute text each date was read from, exports a calendar file (.ics) and sends reminders 14, 7 and 1 day before each deadline. It tracks and reminds; it does not file anything for you.