Worked on public job clear lake water authority building and finaled job out in Dec. 2021 and have not been paid retainage.
Unfortunately, public jobs are generally not subject to statutory liens like mechanic liens for retainage. Instead, the state of Texas requires that original contractors purchase payment bonds for public projects, when the original contract price is over $25k - $50k, depending on the jurisdiction.
If a payment bond was obtained by the original contractor you can typically make a claim for payment on that payment bond. However, notice of your claim is required to be sent *generally* by the 15th day of the third month after you provided labor or furnished materials and were not paid. If you did not do this, you probably will not be able to make a claim on the payment bond.
In that case, you are somewhat limited on what you can do. You can send notice of a claim on the payment bond and hope that you are paid out based on your notice, even though it is late. You could also send a demand letter to the original contractor, demanding the amount you are entitled to. Last option would likely be to file suit against the original contractor for the amount you are owed.
If you want to discuss this matter with one of our experienced attorneys at Murphy Legal, give us a call. Our number is (979) 690-0800.