Deadlines in the construction world are absolute, especially when it comes to mechanics lien rights. They are the thin line between securing your hard-earned cash and coming up empty-handed. Let’s face it: keeping track of notice timelines is a fast-paced, stressful puzzle. Missing a deadline can turn a profitable job into a slow, expensive mess. If you lose your right to file an enforceable lien, you lose your most powerful leverage.
For material suppliers, this gets tricky. Your project timeline involves order dates, ship dates, and delivery dates. When a state gives you a narrow preliminary notice window to protect your rights, which date actually starts the clock?
Look to the Statute
In most states, you have a reasonable buffer to get your preliminary notices out the door. California and Arizona have 20 days, Florida has 45 days, and North Carolina at least gives you 15 days. Oregon, however, throws a serious curveball for a Notice of Right to Lien!
Under Oregon law, the timeline is tight. Ridiculously tight! If you are working on an owner-occupied, residential project, and you don’t have a contract with the owner, you must deliver a Notice of Right to Lien within 8 days of your first furnishing. On other projects, this burden falls squarely on material suppliers who provide materials but no on-site labor.
Here’s how the deadline reads under ORS §87.021:
“The notice of right to a lien may be given at any time during the progress of the improvement, but the notice only protects the right to perfect a lien for materials, equipment and labor or services provided after a date which is eight days, not including Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays as defined in ORS 187.010, before the notice is delivered or mailed.”
What this means is that the law looks backward. Your notice only secures your right to get paid for the materials delivered within 8 days prior to the date you send it. If you wait 15 days to send the notice, your first week of deliveries is completely unprotected. You’re essentially working on faith. Don’t pull the trigger too late.
Ship Date vs. Delivery Date: When Does “Furnishing” Start?
Pop quiz hotshot: if you ship a truckload of drywall from your warehouse on Monday, but it doesn’t arrive at the job site until Thursday, which date is your “first furnishing”?
Generally, courts look at the actual date the material is physically delivered to the project site. That is your baseline. Since the notice must be given “during” the improvement, using a date prior to the actual delivery may be dangerous if the work hasn’t actually commenced (although, since commencement of the improvement is not defined, the shipping of materials may be enough to start the project).
Essential Reading: The Material Supplier’s 50-State Guide to Mechanics Lien Laws
In other states, the answer may be determined by different wording in the statute or case law, but generally, the actual date the material is delivered to the project is sufficient for the start date. There are some exceptions to this, particularly when it comes to specially fabricated materials. If they are fabricated offsite and made to specific specifications, some states start the clock on the date fabrication began.
However, relying on gray areas is a dangerous game. To keep your feet on the ground and stay out of trouble, you should always treat the physical delivery date as your absolute, rock-bottom deadline driver.
It’s worth noting that, in many states, the notice is considered “given” to the owner upon mailing – not receipt – so that buys some time for the potential lien claimant to get the notice prepared and sent on time.
Dive deeper: Mailing Construction Notices: Is notice served when mailed or received?
Action Plan
When the margins are thin, you need a robust protection strategy. Implement these steps tomorrow to secure your bottom line:
- Map the Logistics Immediately: The second an order is placed, identify the exact estimated delivery date. Don’t wait for the invoice to clear to calculate your deadline.
- Watch the Weekends: Some states either push deadlines to the earlier business day or following business day if the deadline lands on a weekend or federal holiday. Be sure you know how your project state handles these.
- Mail it to Nail it: In many states, a notice is considered “served” the day it’s dropped in the mail, not when it hits the owner’s or GC’s desk. Don’t wait for a courier; get it certified and postmarked.
- Assume the Tightest Window: When in doubt, always drop your notice in the mail based on the earliest possible date. It’s much better to be early, than to face the music on a late notice.