Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>My company is a supplier to subs who get the jobs from a broker who work for the GC. Am I to low on the totem pole to implement a lien program? Thanks
My company is a supplier to subs who get the jobs from a broker who work for the GC. Am I to low on the totem pole to implement a lien program? Thanks
My company is a supplier to subs who get the jobs from a broker who work for the GC. Am I to low on the totem pole to implement a lien program? Thanks
1 reply
Jul 3, 2018
That's a good question, and it's not always an easy one to answer. The Ohio mechanics lien statute, at § 1311.02, provides lien rights for those who "...as a subcontractor, laborer, or material supplier, performs any labor or work or furnishes any material to an original contractor or any subcontractor, in carrying forward, performing, or completing any improvement, has a lien to secure the payment therefor upon the improvement..." among others. Thus, a supplier who has been hired by a subcontractor - even when that subcontractor was not hired by the prime contractor - will have the right to lien. Of course, other requirements for filing a lien may apply - specifically, all parties who did not contract directly with the property owner (excluding laborers) must file a Notice of Furnishing. Granted, if the property owner does not record a Notice of Commencement, or if the owner records a defective Notice of Commencement, a preliminary notice is not required. It's generally considered to be best practice to give notice anyway, though.