Source: https://arizonaconstructionandthelaw.com/back-to-the-future-little-miller-act-twenty-notices-may-once-again-be-sent-by-first-class-mail-with-a-certificate-of-mailing/
Timestamp: 2019-04-20 00:21:56+00:00

Document:
As a reminder, Cemex upended the longstanding construction industry practice of mailing preliminary twenty-day notices on Little Miller Act projects via first class mail with a certificate of mailing. This had been done as a cost saving measure because: (1) Arizona’s mechanic’s lien statute requiring twenty-day notices—A.R.S. § 33-992.01—expressly provides in Subsection (F) that the notices may be provided by “first class mail sent with a certificate of mailing;” and (2) the Little Miller Act section requiring 20-day notices in certain instances—A.R.S. § 34-223(A)—incorporated by reference a significant portion of § 33-992.01. Nevertheless, Cemex held that this industry practice did not comply with § 34-223(A). Specifically, the Court found that the mailing provisions of § 33-992.01(F) were excluded from § 34-223(A), such that Little Miller Act 20-day notices were required to “to be served by registered or certified mail,” like Little Miller Act ninety-day post-completion notices.
The legislature also finds that the construction industry believes the Cemex decision incorrectly applied the legislature’s intent in interpreting this notice requirement. It is the intent of the legislature to clarify that under section 34‑223, Arizona Revised Statutes, as amended by this act, the written preliminary twenty‑day notice may be sent by first class mail with certificate of mailing, certified or registered mail.
In sum, Cemex will cease being good law on August 6, 2016 and would-be Little Miller Act payment bond claimants can resume serving their 20-day notices by first class mail with a certificate of mailing at that time. But until that time, Little Miller Act 20-day notices should continue to be served by registered or certified mail.

References: § 33
 § 34
 § 33
 § 34
 § 33
 § 34