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Enter your dates to estimate the three deadlines that protect your right to get paid. Miss one and you can lose your lien rights — so don't leave it to memory.
Estimate only — not legal advice. California lien deadlines have exceptions (multiple completions, cessation, bonded jobs, public works, and deadlines that fall on a weekend/holiday roll to the next business day). Miss one and you can lose your lien rights entirely. Confirm every date with a construction attorney before relying on it.
The three dates that matter
1. Preliminary 20-day notice. Almost everyone except a direct contractor with a direct contract must serve this within 20 days of first furnishing to preserve full lien rights (Civ. Code § 8200, § 8204).
2. Record the mechanics lien. The clock depends on whether the owner records a Notice of Completion or Cessation — 60 days for a direct contractor, 30 days for subs/suppliers from that recording, or 90 days after completion if no notice is recorded (§§ 8412–8414).
3. Foreclose. Recording a lien isn't the finish line — you have 90 days from recording to file suit to enforce it (§ 8460), or it lapses.
Bullwork's compliance tracking flags these dates per project so a missed notice never costs you a job's worth of receivables.
Questions
The 20-day preliminary notice must generally be served within 20 days of first furnishing labor or materials (Civil Code § 8204). Serve it late and you only protect amounts furnished in the 20 days before notice — so earlier is always safer.
If a Notice of Completion or Cessation is recorded, a direct contractor has 60 days and everyone else (subs/suppliers) has 30 days from that recording. If no notice is recorded, everyone has 90 days after completion of the work of improvement (Civil Code §§ 8412–8414).
You must file a lawsuit to foreclose within 90 days of recording the mechanics lien (Civil Code § 8460). Miss it and the lien generally becomes unenforceable.
Generally a deadline that falls on a weekend or holiday rolls to the next business day, but exceptions and project-specific facts apply. Always confirm a real deadline with a construction attorney.
Bullwork tracks lien and compliance deadlines per project, so getting paid isn't left to a sticky note.
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