I am a licensed GC acting as a construction manager for a property owner, which is a limited liability company, and we are building a new spec house. There is technically no general contractor. I hired a plumber to complete the rough plumbing for the house. Even though I gave the plumber all information about the ownership and construction lender, his proposal/estimate was addressed to me personally, and not the property owner, and I signed it. Is the plumber required to file a 20 day preliminary notice? Also, that same plumber walked off the project (did not complete his contractual obligation) on 1/24/2022 and demanded partial payment. We obviously argued that we didn’t owe them anything and we had to hire another contractor to complete the job. 11 months later, he filed a mechanics lien naming me personally as the owner, which I am not. I believe he only has 90 days from the time he completed or stopped working on the project to file a mechanics lien, is that correct?
Unless a sub contracts with the owner, the sub needs to serve a 20-day prelim. As an aside, even if the sub contracts with the owner, it still needs to serve the lender, if any, with a prelim.
As for his claim, even though he named you, and not the owner, he can likely correct that.
As for the timing of things, as a subcontractor, he has 30 days from recordation of a Notice of Completion (NOC) or cessation to record a lien, or 90 days after completion of the project (not just his scope of work, but the entire work of improvement) if no NOC or cessation is recorded. He must file suit within 90 days of recording the lien.
Good luck.
Thanks,