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Does a lump sum contract protect the owner against a lien by the contractors sub?

CaliforniaMechanics Lien

I have a lump sum contract with a contractor and have been getting none $ unconditional waivers from subs not on the SOV. What is my exposure to a lien if they are not being paid by the contractor?

2 replies

Jun 15, 2021
A lump sum contract provides the owner on a private project to no protection against liens by subcontractors or material suppliers. Any subcontractor or material supplier providing you with a Preliminary Notice is entitled to record a lien against your property. It is the owner's responsibility to make sure that unconditional waivers are being provided by the subcontractors and suppliers.
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Jun 16, 2021

A lump sum contract doesn’t protect you against liens filed by subs or suppliers. However, a sub or supplier who doesn’t timely send you a preliminary notice doesn’t have any lien rights against your property. It’s good to get Lien Waivers from the GC and from anyone who received a preliminary notice from since they’re the ones who could lien your property. It’s possible for a sub or supplier who does work late in the project (like the flooring sub or landscape contractor) to send you a preliminary notice at the end of the project so you should be aware of those subs and make sure you get lien releases from them as well even if you haven’t gotten a preliminary notice yet from them. I’m happy to answer any questions you have about this.

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