Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>If a job continues on and off for over a year, shouldn't I issue a new prelim if the previous labor date for the same job was longer than 20 days?

If a job continues on and off for over a year, shouldn't I issue a new prelim if the previous labor date for the same job was longer than 20 days?

CaliforniaPreliminary Notice

We have a job that we have worked on, NOT consecutively, since December 2016. If the rule is that only one prelim is needed per job, then how does that work to follow the 20 day submission date for prelim if the last labor date was longer than 30 days prior?

1 reply

Jul 24, 2018

That's an interesting question. As mentioned in the question above - generally, only one preliminary notice is required on a given job to preserve the right to lien that job. When there are serious gaps of time between when labor, material, or services are provided, as long as all of that work is done pursuant to the same contract, it will be protected by the same preliminary notice. If work is being performed on the same job pursuant to multiple separate contracts - then multiple preliminary notices would likely be required. Regarding the 20 submission date/ 30 days prior portion of the question - I'm not sure I follow. But reiterating the timeframe for sending a California preliminary notice may help. Under § 8204(a) of the California Civil Code "a preliminary notice shall be given not later than 20 days after the claimant has first furnished work on the work of improvement." Preliminary notice may be sent later than that, but it will only protect the work performed 20 days prior to sending the notice (as well as the work performed after that notice).

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