In California, a contractor who has a direct contract with the property owner has 90 days after the work of improvement is completed to record a mechanic’s lien. That window shrinks to 60 days if the owner records a Notice of Completion or Notice of Cessation. Subcontractors, material suppliers, and equipment lessors work on the same 90-day outer deadline, but their window collapses to just 30 days once the owner records one of those notices. Miss the applicable deadline and the lien is unenforceable.
Deadlines for a Direct Contractor
A direct contractor is someone whose contract is with the property owner.1California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 8018 – Direct Contractor Definition Two deadlines govern when that contractor can record a mechanic’s lien:
- If no Notice of Completion or Notice of Cessation is recorded, the direct contractor has 90 days after completion of the work of improvement.
- If the owner records a Notice of Completion or Notice of Cessation, the deadline becomes 60 days from the date that notice is recorded.
The lien has to be recorded after the contractor finishes work under the direct contract, and before the earlier of the two deadlines above.2California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code CIV 8412 – Direct Contractor Lien Deadline Recording too early is as fatal as recording too late.
Deadlines for Subcontractors and Suppliers
Everyone else on the project, including subcontractors, material suppliers, and equipment lessors, works under tighter deadlines than the direct contractor:
- If no notice is recorded, 90 days after completion of the work of improvement.
- If a Notice of Completion or Notice of Cessation is recorded, only 30 days from the recording date.
The lien has to be recorded after the claimant stops providing work and before whichever deadline applies.3California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 8414 – Subcontractor Lien Deadline The 30-day version is the deadline that catches people out. A subcontractor who isn’t watching the county recorder’s filings during a payment dispute can lose lien rights without ever seeing the clock start. During any dispute over payment, checking the recorder’s filings on the property is time well spent.
When the Clock Starts: What “Completion” Means
Every deadline above runs from “completion” of the work of improvement, and California defines that term by whichever of these events comes first:
- Actual completion of all the work.
- The owner occupies or uses the improvement and labor on the project has stopped.
- Labor on the project ceases continuously for 60 days.
- The owner records a Notice of Cessation after work has stopped for at least 30 continuous days.
On a public works project, completion happens when the public entity formally accepts the work.4California Legislative Information. California Code Civil Code CIV 8180 – Completion Disputes about the completion date are one of the most common ways lien claims get knocked out. An owner who can show completion happened earlier than the claimant assumed can push the lien outside its window.
How a Notice of Completion or Cessation Shortens the Window
The owner can record a Notice of Completion within 15 days after the actual date of completion. The notice has to be signed and verified and must state the completion date and describe the owner’s interest in the property.5California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 8182 – Notice of Completion A small error in the stated completion date won’t void the notice as long as the true completion date is within the 15 days before recording.
A Notice of Cessation does similar work when a project stalls short of being finished: the owner can record it after labor has stopped for at least 30 continuous days. Both notices are filed with the county recorder, and once filed they trigger the shortened lien windows (60 days for direct contractors, 30 days for everyone else). Owners who want to cap their exposure to lien claims often record a Notice of Completion as quickly as they can.
Within 10 days of recording either notice, the owner has to serve a copy on every subcontractor and supplier who provided a preliminary notice.6California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 8190 – Notice Service Requirement If you gave a preliminary notice and the owner records, you should hear about it. Don’t rely on that happening.
The Preliminary Notice That Has to Come First
Lien deadlines aren’t the only timing rule that matters. Most claimants have to send a preliminary notice to the owner, the direct contractor, and the construction lender (if any) before they can record a lien at all.7California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 8200 – Preliminary Notice A claimant with a direct contract with the owner only has to send the notice to the construction lender. Laborers are exempt from the preliminary notice entirely.
The notice should go out within 20 days of the first day the claimant provides labor or materials. A late notice doesn’t erase lien rights completely, but it limits them: the claimant can only lien for work performed during the 20 days before the notice was served, and anything after that.8California Legislative Information. California Code CIV 8204 – Preliminary Notice Timing Weeks or months of unpaid work can vanish in that gap, so the 20-day window should be treated as hard.
Recording Is Not the Finish Line: The 90-Day Enforcement Deadline
The lien itself doesn’t force anyone to pay. It clouds the property’s title, which can block a sale or a refinance, but turning that leverage into money requires a foreclosure lawsuit.
You have 90 days from the date the lien was recorded to file that lawsuit. Miss it and the lien expires and becomes unenforceable.9California Legislative Information. California Civil Code 8460 – Enforcement of Lien No extension, no grace period. This is where the most money gets left on the table, because claimants sometimes assume the recorded lien alone will shake money loose. It often does. When it doesn’t, the 90 days can be gone before anyone notices.
If the property owner files for bankruptcy, the federal automatic stay halts most enforcement activity, including lien foreclosure. Whether the 90-day clock is tolled depends on the specifics of the bankruptcy case, and a claimant in that situation should get legal advice right away rather than wait the bankruptcy out.
A Parallel Option: Stop Payment Notice
A mechanic’s lien isn’t the only tool. Subcontractors and suppliers can also serve a stop payment notice, which directs the owner or construction lender to withhold funds that would otherwise go to the direct contractor. The stop payment notice has to be served before the lien recording deadline expires, and the claimant must have given a timely preliminary notice. Served on a construction lender, it can be especially effective because it freezes loan funds earmarked for the project. The timeline tracks the mechanic’s lien deadlines above, but nothing has to be recorded with the county.