Menu
Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Can I put a lien on a job that has been on going for years? Can the owner prevent from receiving a lien?

Can I put a lien on a job that has been on going for years? Can the owner prevent from receiving a lien?

CaliforniaConstruction ContractLawsuitLien DeadlinesMechanics LienNotice of Intent to LienPreliminary Notice

We have been working on building for a few years and the job has not yet been completed. We sent a preliminary notice last year. Recently new job tasks were added, we provided a new estimate on top of the original invoice. Do we need to issue a new preliminary notice on the new job task?

1 reply

Oct 11, 2021

Preliminary notice is required once per contract. So, if the new work is a change order, no additional preliminary notice is needed. But if the work constitutes a completely new contract, better to serve additional preliminary notice. With respect to lien rights, on long projects your lien rights as a subcontractor should not expire until either 90 days of total project completion or 30 days from the issuance of a notice of completion or notice of cessation. However, if no work on the project is performed at all for continuous period of 60 days, that would also be considered a completion for lien purposes, meaning you would have 150 days from the last day work was performed to record your lien.

1 person found this helpful
Helpful