Payment Bond Claims

The Illinois Bond Act applies to public construction projects. The 180 day notice is a condition precedent to the right to maintain an action under the Bond Act. That means that before you have the right to file an action you must give timely notice.

Any person having a claim for labor, material under the Bond Act will not have any such right of action unless he filed a verified notice of said claim with the officer, board, bureau or department awarding the contract, within 180 days after the last item or work or the furnishing of the last item of materials, and shall have furnished a copy of such verified notice to the contractor within 10 days of filing of the notice with the agency awarding the contract.

Compliance with the Bond Act’s six month post project completion limitations period is a jurisdictional requirement. Without having jurisdiction, the Court can not entertain your claim. The Act clearly states that no action shall be brought until the expiration of 120 days after the date of the last item of work or the furnishing of the last item of work or the furnishing of the lost item or materials, nor shall any action of any kind be brought later than 6 months after the acceptance by the State of political subdivision thereof of the building project or work.

General contract law is applied to bonded private construction projects. It is important as a subcontractor to beware of the contractual limitations to bring an action against a general contractors bond.