When a California sub loses money it was owed, the cause often isn't the merits of the claim. It's a date. Lien, stop payment notice and bond rights are created by statute, and the statutes are strict about timing.
Here are the ten deadlines worth building into every job, with the short version first.
| # | Deadline | When |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Notice of changes and claims | Whatever your contract says, often a few days |
| 2 | Preliminary notice | Within 20 days of first furnishing work |
| 3 | Mechanics lien (private work) | 30 days after a recorded notice of completion or cessation, otherwise 90 days after completion |
| 4 | Lawsuit to enforce a lien | Within 90 days of recording the lien |
| 5 | Stop payment notice (public work) | 30 days after a recorded notice of completion, acceptance or cessation, otherwise 90 days |
| 6 | Payment bond lawsuit (public work) | Within 6 months after the stop payment notice period ends |
| 7 | Miller Act notice and lawsuit (federal work) | Notice within 90 days of your last work if you're second tier; sue within 1 year |
| 8 | Prompt payment by the GC | 7 days after the GC is paid |
| 9 | Retention release by the GC | 10 days (private) or 7 days (public) after the GC receives it |
| 10 | Public works contractor registration | Renew before it lapses; registration runs July 1 to June 30 |
1. The notice periods in your own contract
The shortest deadline on most jobs isn't in a statute. Subcontracts often require written notice of a change, delay or claim within a few days, sometimes 48 hours, in a set form, and say that late notice waives the claim.
Do this: pull every notice period out of the subcontract at the start of the job and give the list to your project manager and foreman. Extra work, no change order.
2. Preliminary notice: 20 days
On private works, the 20-day preliminary notice is a prerequisite to a mechanics lien and a stop payment notice for nearly everyone who doesn't contract directly with the owner. It must go out within 20 days of first furnishing labor, materials or equipment (Civil Code section 8204). Served late, it covers only work from the 20 days before service onward. On public works, a preliminary notice is also a prerequisite to a stop payment notice or bond claim for anyone who doesn't contract directly with the prime contractor (Civil Code section 9300).
Do this: send one on every job, keyed to your first delivery date. The 20-day preliminary notice.
3. Mechanics lien: 30 or 90 days
If you don't contract directly with the owner, you must record your lien within 30 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation, or, if none is recorded, within 90 days after the project is completed (Civil Code section 8414). A recorded notice of completion can cut your window from months to weeks.
Do this: watch for recorded notices on every job where money is outstanding. Mechanics lien deadlines.
4. Lien lawsuit: 90 days after recording
Recording a lien isn't the end. You must file a lawsuit to enforce it within 90 days after recording, or the lien becomes unenforceable (Civil Code section 8460).
Do this: diary day 90 the day you record, and decide well before it whether to sue, extend or release.
5. Public works stop payment notice: 30 or 90 days
You can't lien public property. On public jobs, a stop payment notice makes the public entity hold back money from the prime contractor. It must be given within 30 days after a notice of completion, acceptance or cessation is recorded, or within 90 days after completion or cessation if none is recorded (Civil Code section 9356).
6. Public works payment bond lawsuit: 6 months
A suit on the prime contractor's payment bond must be filed no later than six months after the period for giving a stop payment notice ends (Civil Code section 9558). Payment bonds on public jobs.
7. Federal jobs: the Miller Act
On federal projects, second-tier claimants (those who contract with a subcontractor rather than the prime) must give the prime written notice within 90 days after last furnishing labor or materials. Any suit must be filed within one year after that last day (40 U.S.C. section 3133).
Do this: record your last day of work on every federal job. Both clocks run from it.
8. Prompt payment: 7 days
This one is the GC's deadline, not yours, but you need to know it to enforce it. A California contractor must generally pay its subs within seven days of receiving a progress payment, unless otherwise agreed in writing, and late payment carries a 2% monthly penalty (Business and Professions Code section 7108.5). California's prompt payment laws.
9. Retention release: 10 days or 7 days
On private works, a direct contractor must pay each sub its share of retention within 10 days after receiving it (Civil Code section 8814). On public works, the prime must pay subs their retention within 7 days after receiving it (Public Contract Code section 7107). Both have exceptions for good-faith disputes.
10. Public works contractor registration
To bid or work on most California public works, you must be registered with the Department of Industrial Relations (Labor Code section 1725.5). Registration runs on the state's July-to-June fiscal year, and you can register for up to three years at a time. Let it lapse and you can't be listed on a bid or perform the work, with limited exceptions for small projects.
Do this: put your registration expiry date on the company calendar alongside your license and insurance renewals.
Make it routine
None of these deadlines is hard to meet if someone owns it. Pick one person, give them the list, and make "notice and deadlines" a standing line in every job start-up and closeout meeting.
These are general rules. Exceptions apply, and your contract can impose shorter deadlines. When money is at stake and a date is close, get advice the same day.
General information, not legal advice about your situation. Reading it doesn't create an attorney-client relationship. Attorney advertising. ReCo.Legal is not a law firm; legal services are provided by independent, licensed attorneys.