I've never filed one period but I believe a contractor can file one prior to the work as a precaution. 

Is there any other precautions to take?

Randy, bank policy requires an ID to take out money.That said I take the secondary precaution of transferring the majority of the money out of the accounts that the tenants have slips for and into a main account that they do not know the act number.Lastly, I feel like everyone forgets that your full account number is on every check you hand out.

Kyle Meyers, As a precaution, check on the state laws about contacting the owners or occupants while you are only the lien holder.

Is my plan air tight and perfect, probably not, but I take a lot more precaution than most in the industry and still do a lot of deals without getting paralysis of analysis.

But as a precaution, I'd check with the city/county to be sure it's legally zoned for multi-family before writing.

Now even with everything I said it is always best to take precautions and be safe withe everything.******* I am not a doctor or lawyer or advising anyone to go start eating popcorn ceilings or huffing asbestos******

This provides some privacy but even with this precaution I have had properties on which I held mortgages tied up in litigation when the plaintiff filed suit against my borrower.

I was just curious as to wondering if there would possibly be anything illegal about knowing this information or anything of that matter just as a safety precaution and where i can find out more information about this building process.Also, I assume that there most likely will be either foreclosed homes, homes for sale by owner, etc. around the new development area.  

And with the lead paint, if you buy a home old enough that LBP was used, what precautions do you need to take - ie what happens if you want to do renovations that would disturb the lead paint?