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How do we know Substantial Completion date?

We have a project in LA for which we are subcontractor to GC on a commercial job. Signed contract calls for Net 30 payment terms. For GC’s, this usually means at least 45-60 days. The deadline in LA is 60 days after Substantial Completion or 30 days if Notice of Substantial Completion is filed by GC/Owner. How do we know when either of these dates are reached? We don't want to miss our filing deadline.

1 reply

Nov 6, 2018

Good question. When deadlines are given as a number of days from a certain document's filing, or from the completion of an entire project (irrespective of the potential claimant's work) it can be difficult to determine when that deadline is approaching. And, since missing the deadline is not good for retaining the ability to file a valid and enforceable lien, it's important to be able to figure out when the deadline actually is.

In Louisiana, LA R.S. 9:4822(K) notes that subcontractors (among others): "may give notice to the owner of an obligation to that person arising out of the performance of work under the contract. The notice shall be given prior to:
(a) The filing of a notice of termination of the work; or
(b) The substantial completion or abandonment of the work, if a notice of termination is not filed."

If such notice is given before a notice of termination is filed (or the project has been completed), the property owner is required to notify the party giving notice within three days of the filing a notice of termination of the work; or the substantial completion or abandonment of the work, if a notice of termination is not filed.

This provides a mechanism to learn the date from which the deadline begins to count. Otherwise, a potential lien claimant can 1. check with the recorder to see if a notice of termination has been filed (and/or can monitor the project site to see if work is ongoing); or 2. can base "best practice" lien filing deadlines off of their own last furnishing to the project.

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