Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Is preparation of bid documents for a construction project - which were issued only in electronic format - considered as supplying labor only (2 month limit) or labor and materials (4 month limit)?

Is preparation of bid documents for a construction project - which were issued only in electronic format - considered as supplying labor only (2 month limit) or labor and materials (4 month limit)?

I am an engineer who was working with two people (one of whom is the property owner) on a commercial project. I submitted a proposal and it was signed by one of the people. I was later notified by email by the 2nd person that I should revise my proposal to address it to the 2nd person and a different company name. I did this but never received that proposal back signed. In the mean time the project progressed - pricing was done and it was discovered the project was way over budget. At that point the 2nd person - who was the owner of the property on which the project was located - issued emails indicating everyone on the design team should send progress drawings as of that date and stop work. I (and all other people working on the project) sent invoices for the work done. Nothing has been paid. The only 'deliverable' was emails with pdfs of the design. Would I be limited to the 2 month period for laborers to file a lien or will I have the 4 month period?

1 reply

Sep 11, 2018

Deadlines for mechanics liens in Colorado can be confusing. 2-moths, 4-months, longer . . . it can be difficult to know when a claim must be filed. And, making it more confusing, those deadlines start to run from different dates.

Generally speaking, the deadline for mechanics lien filings in Colorado is 4 months from last furnishing labor and/or materials to the project. This may be modified in several ways, however.

The first way the deadline can be modified, is that the deadline is shortened to 2 months for wage laborers. Laborers furnishing no materials are generally "handymen" type workers or wage-laborer employees of a contractor or subcontractor. note, however, that this 2-month deadline period starts from a different trigger (from building completion instead of last furnishing).

Additionally, the period can be shorted to two months for any claimant when the project was on a 1 or 2 family home, but only if the property was sold prior to the lien being filed.

Finally, Colorado allows the deadline to be extended under certain circumstances. If a particular notice is filed within the applicable lien deadline period the claimant "may thereafter file a lien statement and shall extend the time for filing of the mechanic’s lien statement to four months after completion of the structure or other improvement or six months after the date of filing of said notice, whichever occurs first."

Accordingly, for claimants unsure of the applicable;e deadline, the extension notice may be filed within the first two-months after labor or material is furnished, and then the extended period would apply.

0 people found this helpful

Helpful