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Are we covered by lien laws for UST tank jobs on residential and commercial jobs?

We fill UST tank jobs for residential and commercial customers. Typically residential are COD unless the customer is not available. Commercial tanks are billed and range from $1,200 to $40,000+. Typically we see between $2,500-$17,000 jobs. We average appx. 100-150 tank fills per year

1 reply

Apr 25, 2018

That's a good question, especially considering the unique nature of that work. North Carolina is friendly to those who perform construction work in the state - lien rights are broadly available to those who improve property. Lien rights are available to prime contractors as well as first, second, and third tier subs and suppliers (as long as the proper notices are sent). As for the work that is performed, it would seem that filling a UST tank would suffice for protection under the North Carolina lien statute. In North Carolina, a lienable "improvement" refers to "all or any part of any building, structure, erection, alteration, demolition, excavation, clearing, grading, filling, or landscaping, including trees and shrubbery, driveways, and private roadways, on real property." A tank that has been installed beneath the surface at a property would certainly seem to qualify as an "improvement" under this definition set out by North Carolina law. Further, the installation of underground tanks would seem to fit nicely within North Carolina's scope of lienable work. Under North Carolina's lien statute, to "improve" means "to build, effect, alter, repair, or demolish any improvement upon, connected with, or on or beneath the surface of any real property..." Thus, while the work of filling underground tanks might not seem like traditionally lienable work, it would appear that North Carolina's statutory scheme would provide for mechanics liens based on the filling of underground tanks.

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