Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>If we file documents on behalf of the owner of our commercial construction projects, when does the Affidavit of completion get filed? My concern is job may be "complete", but we have not yet received all change orders to final bill at that time. does filing the affidavit cause an issue?

If we file documents on behalf of the owner of our commercial construction projects, when does the Affidavit of completion get filed? My concern is job may be "complete", but we have not yet received all change orders to final bill at that time. does filing the affidavit cause an issue?

TexasLien Deadlines

We have a job that the owner has not yet provided their change order form, therefore, we are unable to final bill the project in full, including retention. If the Affidavit of Completion is filed, does that affect anything regarding what has not yet been billed for?

1 reply

Mar 15, 2018

That's a great question. In Texas, an Affidavit of Completion is available to formally signal the end of a project. To be effective, an Affidavit of Completion must be filed on or before the 10th day after the date of completion. One of the requirements for this affidavit is a statement that the improvements under the original contract have been completed. Also, the date of completion must be included in the filing. As you mentioned, this can create some tension. Often, work under an original contract may be finished while change orders or punch list items remain. However, just because an Affidavit of Completion has been filed does not necessarily mean that issues will be created with future payments on change orders or other work. Rather, the main purpose of an Affidavit of Completion is to start the clock for retainage claims. The date of project completion, which would be set by a proper filing, would trigger a 40 day window to make a claim a lien on retained funds. For other mechanics lien claims, time frames are based upon the claimant's last furnishing to the project.

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