Payment & collections
The mechanics lien is the most powerful collection tool California gives a contractor, and the easiest to lose. It runs on a sequence of deadlines that cannot be extended by negotiation, and a contractor can forfeit a valid lien through conduct that feels entirely reasonable — going back to finish a punch list, or waiting while an owner promises payment. This guide, reviewed by Jayson R. Elliott, covers the current Civil Code framework, the recording windows, and the ways liens get invalidated.
Payment & collections
A mechanics lien attaches to the improved real property itself. That is what makes it effective: it clouds title, which means it tends to surface at exactly the moment the owner needs clean title — a sale or a refinance.
It is generally unavailable against public property. A contractor unpaid on a public works project looks instead to a stop payment notice against undisbursed funds or to a claim against the payment bond, both covered on their own guides. The current statutory scheme reflects that split directly: private works occupy Civil Code section 8170 and following, public works section 9100 and following.
Civil Code section 8200 requires preliminary notice before recording a lien claim, giving a stop payment notice, or asserting a claim against a payment bond, and provides that compliance is a necessary prerequisite to the validity of a lien claim or stop payment notice. The notice goes to the owner or reputed owner, the direct contractor to which the claimant provides work, and the construction lender if there is one, and it must be given not later than 20 days after the claimant first furnishes work.
A direct contractor in privity with the owner is in a different position from a subcontractor or supplier on this point, but a direct contractor on a lender-financed project still has notice obligations to attend to. The preliminary notice guide covers who must serve, on whom, and the consequences of serving late.
The earliest date differs by role, and it is not the same question as the deadline.
A direct contractor may record after completing the direct contract — meaning the contractor’s own contracted work is finished, which is not always the same as the entire project being finished. Civil Code section 8412 governs. A claimant other than a direct contractor may record after ceasing to provide work on the project, under Civil Code section 8414.
One consequence is worth stating plainly: a contractor who has stopped work because of non-payment, and who is excused from further performance, may be in a position to record — but must then refrain from further work, for reasons covered below.
The recording deadline runs from completion, and completion is defined by statute at Civil Code section 8180 rather than by ordinary usage. Events that can constitute completion include actual completion of the work of improvement, occupation or use by the owner coupled with cessation of labor, and a cessation of labor for a continuous 60-day period.
That last one matters on stalled projects. A job that simply stops can reach statutory completion without anyone declaring it finished, which starts the recording clock without an obvious triggering event.
An owner may also record a notice of completion or a notice of cessation, which shortens everyone’s deadline. Under Civil Code section 8182, an owner’s notice of completion must itself be recorded within a limited window after actual completion — commonly stated as 15 days — and a notice of cessation generally may be recorded only after labor has ceased for a continuous 30 days. A notice that does not meet its own requirements may be invalid, in which case the default 90-day window applies rather than the shortened one.
Situation
Direct contractor (§8412)
Other claimants (§8414)
Earliest you may record
After completing the direct contract
After ceasing to provide work
No notice of completion or cessation recorded
90 days after completion
90 days after completion
Valid notice recorded
The EARLIER of: 90 days after completion, or 60 days after the notice is recorded
The EARLIER of: 90 days after completion, or 30 days after the notice is recorded
Notice recorded but invalid
Default 90-day window generally applies
Default 90-day window generally applies
Note the asymmetry: where a notice of completion is recorded, the subcontractor or supplier window runs 30 days from it while the direct contractor gets 60 — in each case capped by the 90-day limit measured from completion. A supplier who contracts directly with the owner is still not a direct contractor for this purpose and gets the shorter window.
Read the statute as it is written: the deadline is the EARLIER of the two dates, not a 90-day window that a notice replaces. That distinction has a practical consequence. A notice of completion recorded late does not extend anything – if the owner records on day 85, sixty days from that is day 145, which is later than the 90-day limit, so the 90-day limit still governs. The shortening only bites when the notice is recorded early enough that its own window closes first.
The statute also sets the earliest date. A direct contractor may not record until it has completed the direct contract; any other claimant may not record until it has ceased to provide work. Recording too early is its own defect.
Recording is not the whole step. Civil Code section 8416 governs the contents of the claim of lien and requires the claimant to serve it — the claim must include the claimant’s address, and a copy must go to the owner. A lien that is recorded but not served as required is exposed on a ground that has nothing to do with the merits of the underlying debt.
This is where valid liens most often die quietly. Under Civil Code section 8460, an action to enforce the lien must be commenced within 90 days after recording the claim of lien. If suit is not filed in that window, the lien expires and becomes unenforceable.
Recording therefore starts a new deadline rather than completing the process. The common failure pattern is a contractor who records, hears encouraging things from the owner, keeps negotiating, and lets the 90 days run. There is a narrow statutory mechanism involving a recorded extension of credit, but it is limited and should not be assumed available — the reliable move is to file within the window and negotiate from a perfected position.
A lien is a route to a judgment, and Business and Professions Code section 7031 bars a person acting in the capacity of a contractor from bringing or maintaining an action to collect compensation for work requiring a license without alleging licensure at all times during performance — regardless of the merits. Licensure and proper classification should be confirmed before contracting, before recording, and before filing suit, not after a dispute develops.
Before you ask
Absent a recorded notice of completion or cessation, Civil Code sections 8412 and 8414 give both direct contractors and other claimants 90 days after completion of the work of improvement. If the owner records a valid notice of completion or cessation, the deadline becomes the earlier of those 90 days and the notice window — 60 days from the recording for a direct contractor under section 8412, or 30 days for other claimants under section 8414. Because it is the earlier of the two, a late-recorded notice does not extend anything.
Yes, and unevenly. Where a notice of completion or cessation is validly recorded, a direct contractor must record before the earlier of 90 days after completion or 60 days after the notice under Civil Code section 8412, and other claimants — subcontractors and suppliers — before the earlier of 90 days after completion or 30 days after the notice under section 8414. If the notice itself is invalid, the default 90-day window generally applies instead.
Civil Code section 8460 requires an action to enforce the lien to be commenced within 90 days after recording the claim of lien. If suit is not filed in that period the lien expires and becomes unenforceable, which is why recording should be treated as starting a new deadline rather than finishing the process.
This is a genuine risk. Performing further contract work on the project after recording a mechanics lien can invalidate the lien, so a return trip that seems cooperative can undo the remedy. A contractor asked to complete work after recording should get advice before going back on site.
Civil Code section 8180 defines completion for this purpose, and it is broader than finishing the job. Events that can constitute completion include actual completion of the work of improvement, occupation or use by the owner coupled with cessation of labor, and a cessation of labor for a continuous 60-day period — so a stalled project can reach statutory completion without anyone declaring it done.
Generally no. Mechanics liens do not attach to public property, which is why the statutory scheme addresses public works separately at Civil Code section 9100 and following. An unpaid contractor on a public project generally looks to a stop payment notice against undisbursed funds or to a claim against the payment bond.
Keep reading
Breadcrumb + pillar parent
“the preliminary notice guide”
Public works alternative
Payment bond alternative
Licensure precondition section
Classification reference
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Inline first mention: claim of lien, work of improvement, notice of completion, notice of cessation, direct contractor, perfected
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If this describes your situation, an attorney affiliated with Bay Legal PC, CA Bar No. 332479, can review it with you.