Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Bond claim on a public works project in Washington State - how long do we have to file our claim?

Bond claim on a public works project in Washington State - how long do we have to file our claim?

Per RCW 39.08.030 'such persons do not have any right of action on such bond for any sum whatever, unless within thirty days from and after the completion of the contract with an acceptance of the work by the affirmative action of the board, the subcontractor (my firm) must present to and file with such board..., a notice in writing'. We filed our Notice within 30 days of our last service. We provided rental equipment and labor to the project. Our customer (a subcontractor on the project) is asserting that we filed too early and that the 30 days to file is from the completion of the contract (as stated above). The Levelset deadline was set based on our last day of service. I'm concerned that the Levelset deadline may have been too early if calculated from our last day of service -- not 30 days from the completion of the contract. Can you clarify from which day I should start calculating -- my last day of service or the date of completion of the contract between my customer and the public entity?

3 replies

Aug 21, 2020

The applicable deadline for making a claim against the bond provided on a public works project in Washington is set forth by 39.08.030. This statute states, as you mention, that claimants "shall not have any right of action on such bond for any sum whatever, unless within thirty days from and after the completion of the contract with an acceptance of the work . . ." This sets the deadline to make a claim, such that a claim made after the 30-day period from completion and acceptance of the work expires is invalid. It does not, however, mandate that the claim be made after the completion of the project as a whole. In fact, some lawyers suggest that "[t]o avoid early acceptance by the public body of a portion of the overall work, serve the notice of payment bond claim within thirty (30) days after the delivery of materials or equipment is complete." [emphasis added]

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Aug 21, 2020

As you mentioned above, a WA subcontractor cannot file a lawsuit against the project's payment bond unless they've first made a claim against the project's payment bond. The deadline to make a payment bond claim on a Washington public project is 30 days after the completion and acceptance of the overall project. Note, of course, that this is just a deadline. Meaning, that's the last possible date that a claim could be made and still be effective. Claims may be made before that time and still be effective. And, honestly, it makes much more sense to make a claim before that date than to try and make a claim exactly on the deadline date. Further, as you likely know, it can be extremely hard for subcontractors to know when the entire project is completed - typically, the sub's work is finished at some point prior to the overall project completion. So, basing the timeframe for making a claim on when last performance occurred is often a useful placeholder for making sure the claim is definitely made before the actual deadline for making a claim. For further discussion on WA payment bond claims: Washington Bond Claim Guide and FAQs.

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Sep 4, 2022

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