Checklist · Real Estate

Perfecting and Enforcing a Mechanic's Lien: A Practical Checklist

Type: Checklist
Jurisdiction: National
Date: 2025-01-22
Topic: Real Estate

A step-by-step workflow for preserving and enforcing a construction lien claim, built around the fact that lien rights are lost far more often to calendar failures and signed waivers than to any dispute about the merits. It moves through jurisdictional intake at contract signing, preliminary notice service, contemporaneous documentation during performance, waiver discipline at each pay application, computing the recording deadline from the correct trigger, drafting and serving the claim, the parallel bond, stop-notice, and prompt-payment remedies, the foreclosure suit and its interaction with arbitration clauses, priority and collectability analysis, and payoff or release. It includes the owner's side: facial defenses, demands to commence suit, and bonding around a lien. A worked example follows a fictional HVAC subcontractor with a $570,000 receivable on a stalled mid-rise. Educational, not legal advice; lien deadlines are creatures of state statute and are rarely forgiving.

Perfecting and Enforcing a Mechanic's Lien: A Practical Checklist

Real Estate > Construction | Published 22 January 2025 - Updated 17 March 2026 | UpLaw - uplaw.us

Almost no mechanic's lien is lost because a court decided the work was not performed. They are lost because a preliminary notice went to the owner but not the lender, because an office manager signed an unconditional waiver to get a check released, because the owner recorded a notice of completion that nobody was watching for, or because the claim was recorded on day 91. This checklist is built around those failures.

Keywords: mechanic's lien, preliminary notice, recording deadline, notice of completion, lien waiver, foreclosure, bonding off, stop payment notice, Miller Act, payment bond, prompt payment act, retainage, contractor licensing, lien priority

Mechanic's lien law is entirely statutory and entirely state-specific. There is no federal mechanic's lien statute and no meaningful uniformity among the fifty state schemes: who may claim, what notice must precede a claim, when the clock starts, what the lien attaches to, and where it ranks against the construction lender all differ. Every step below must be verified against the statute of the state where the property sits. Where this checklist cites a specific statute, it does so as an illustration of the kind of rule to look for, not as a statement of your jurisdiction's law.

The doctrinal treatment behind this workflow is in Mechanic's Liens and the Right to Get Paid for Work Performed. The broader contract, delay, and defect context is in Construction Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Contracts, Delay Claims, and Defect Litigation.

Our running example. Harbison Mechanical, LLC (fictional) holds a $1.94 million HVAC subcontract with Crestline Builders, Inc. on Quarry Row, a six-story mixed-use building owned by Quarry Row Partners, LP, financed by Third Meridian Bank. Harbison has billed $1.59 million, collected $1.02 million, and is owed $570,000. Crestline has stopped answering the phone.

Phase 0 — The four questions that come before everything

[ ] Where is the dirt? Identify the state and county. This determines the entire statutory framework.
[ ] Is the property public or private? Public property cannot be liened; the remedy is a payment bond.
[ ] Is the claimant licensed — every license, every jurisdiction that requires one, every day of the project?
[ ] What is the claimant's tier? Direct contract with the owner, first-tier sub, second-tier sub, supplier to a sub, supplier to a supplier?

Why it matters, and the traps. Each of these can end the analysis before it begins. Recording a lien against public property accomplishes nothing and, in some states, exposes the claimant to slander-of-title liability. Licensing is the harshest trap: several states bar any recovery by an unlicensed contractor and let the owner affirmatively recover everything already paid, even where the license lapsed only briefly and the owner knew. California's version is Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code § 7031, applied unforgivingly in MW Erectors, Inc. v. Niederhauser Ornamental & Metal Works Co., 36 Cal. 4th 412 (2005). Tier matters because many statutes cut off lien rights below a certain level, and the "materialman of a materialman" is almost universally excluded.

Harbison. Private project, first-tier subcontractor, mechanical license verified continuous for the full project term through the state licensing board's online history. Proceed.

Phase 1 — Intake at contract signing (the day the calendar gets built)

[ ] Open a project file with: full legal name and address of the owner, the general contractor, the lender, and the surety; the property's legal description (not just the street address); the APN or tax parcel number.
[ ] Pull the prime contract if the subcontract flows it down — you are bound by a document you have not read otherwise.
[ ] Read and note the subcontract's notice provisions, lien waiver requirements, pay-if-paid or pay-when-paid clause, retainage terms, and dispute forum.
[ ] Determine whether the subcontract contains a prospective lien waiver and whether the state voids it.
[ ] Docket, on the day of signing: the preliminary notice deadline (measured from first furnishing), a recurring monthly reminder to check the county recorder for a notice of completion or cessation, and a placeholder recording deadline to be recomputed at demobilization.
[ ] Confirm whether a payment bond exists and obtain a copy. Note its own notice and suit deadlines, which are contractual and often shorter than the statute's.
[ ] Identify whether the state has a prompt payment act and note its interest rate and fee-shifting provision.

Why it matters, and the traps. Everything downstream is a calendar problem, and the calendar must exist before anyone is worried. The single most common structural failure is that the deadlines get computed for the first time in the month the money stops — by which point one or more of them has passed. The second most common is obtaining the bond only after a claim arises, discovering a 60-day notice requirement, and discovering it on day 74.

Note the legal description point. Many statutes require a description adequate to identify the property; a street address alone has voided liens, particularly on subdivided or multi-parcel developments where the improvement sits on some parcels and not others.

Harbison. File opened at signing with the title report's legal description, Crestline's prime contract obtained (revealing a pay-if-paid clause and a 14-day conditions-precedent notice requirement), no payment bond on the project, and a docketed 20-day preliminary notice deadline.

Phase 2 — Preliminary notice

[ ] Determine whether the state requires a preliminary notice, notice to owner, notice of furnishing, or pre-lien notice for a claimant at your tier.
[ ] Serve it within the statutory window measured from first furnishing — commonly 20 to 45 days.
[ ] Serve it on all three: the owner, the general contractor, and the construction lender.
[ ] Use the statutory form verbatim where one is prescribed, including any all-caps consumer-style warning language.
[ ] Serve by the statutorily authorized method and retain proof of service (certified mail return receipt, courier confirmation, or a declaration of personal service).
[ ] Calendar a re-service if the scope is later expanded or a new tier relationship is created.
[ ] Default rule for the shop: serve a preliminary notice on every project in every state, whether or not you believe one is required.

Why it matters, and the traps. Preliminary notice exists to solve the owner's information problem: an owner with one prime contract has no way to know that forty companies now hold potential lien rights. States enforce the requirement as a condition precedent. California requires notice within 20 days of first furnishing and limits a late notice to work in the 20 days preceding it plus everything after. Cal. Civ. Code §§ 8200, 8204. Florida requires a notice to owner within 45 days as a condition precedent to a valid lien. Fla. Stat. § 713.06(2)(a).

The lender copy is the omission that costs the most. In stop-notice states, a claimant that never served the lender generally cannot reach undisbursed loan proceeds — often the only liquid money on a failing project. The cost of including the lender is one additional envelope.

Harbison. Served the owner and Crestline on day 12. Did not serve Third Meridian Bank. That omission likely forecloses a lender stop notice against the undisbursed loan balance. This is the single most consequential error in the example, and it happened on day 12, eighteen months before anyone knew there was a problem.

Phase 3 — Documentation during performance

[ ] Maintain daily reports showing manpower, activities, area worked, and weather.
[ ] Retain delivery tickets and material invoices tied to the project, showing date of delivery and, where the state requires incorporation, evidence of installation.
[ ] Keep a clean record of the last date of substantive work — distinguishable from punch-list, warranty, and corrective work.
[ ] Document change-order work separately, with dates, so it can support an extended furnishing date if it was additional scope rather than repair.
[ ] Log every RFI, submittal, and directive, and send a same-day confirming letter for any oral direction.
[ ] Track amounts by category: approved pay applications, retainage, priced but unapproved change orders, delay and impact costs. These are treated differently for lien purposes.
[ ] Check the county recorder monthly for a notice of completion, notice of cessation, or transfer of title.

Why it matters, and the traps. The recording deadline usually runs from the claimant's last furnishing, and the claimant will need to prove that date with contemporaneous documents rather than recollection. Two errors recur:

Warranty work does not extend the clock. Returning eleven weeks after demobilizing to adjust a rattling damper feels like last furnishing, but most courts hold that corrective, warranty, or trivial work does not restart the period. A claimant who relies on it files late.

Change-order work generally does extend it, if it was additional contracted scope. The distinction is fact-bound, which is why it must be documented while it is happening.

The title and recorder monitoring matters because someone else can move your deadline. In a state keyed to a notice of completion, an owner's recording can compress a subcontractor's window from 90 days to 30. Cal. Civ. Code §§ 8412, 8414. A subcontractor that demobilizes and stops watching can lose its lien while waiting for a return call.

Harbison. Last substantive work documented by daily reports and time cards as 14 March. Two damper adjustments in May are recorded as warranty and expressly not relied on for the deadline. No notice of completion recorded as of the deadline check.

Phase 4 — Waiver discipline at every pay application

[ ] Adopt a written rule: no one below the controller signs any document containing the words "waiver" or "release."
[ ] Sign conditional waivers for progress payments — effective only on actual receipt of the stated payment.
[ ] Never sign an unconditional waiver before the funds have cleared the account.
[ ] Check the "through" date on every waiver against work actually performed and billed in that period. A waiver through "the date hereof" can silently release a month of unbilled work.
[ ] Confirm whether the state prescribes statutory waiver forms and voids deviations, and reject non-conforming forms.
[ ] Read waivers for bundled releases of delay, impact, change-order, and claim rights beyond lien rights.
[ ] Maintain a waiver register: date signed, type, amount, through-date, payment received date.

Why it matters, and the traps. More lien rights are lost to signed waivers than to missed deadlines, and the signatures are usually collected by accounts receivable, not counsel. The mechanism is entirely routine: the waiver arrives stapled to the pay application, the clerk is told it is required to release the check, and it is signed. If it was unconditional, the security is gone whether or not the check arrives.

California prescribes four waiver forms verbatim and makes deviations ineffective. Cal. Civ. Code §§ 8132–8138. In states without prescribed forms, expect aggressive drafting: releases of "all claims of any kind through the date hereof," which sweep in delay claims, unpriced change orders, and unbilled work.

Prospective waivers — a subcontract clause waiving lien rights for the whole project before any work — are void as against public policy in many states and enforceable in others. Check this at signing, not at claim time.

Harbison. Waiver register audit reveals conditional partial waivers through January (payments received) and one unconditional partial waiver through 28 February signed by the office manager against a check that was later returned for insufficient funds. Approximately $186,000 of the $570,000 may have been released by that signature, depending on state law and whether failure of the consideration voids it. This is the second most consequential error in the example.

Phase 5 — Compute the recording deadline from the correct trigger

[ ] Identify the statutory trigger for your claimant tier: last furnishing by this claimant; completion of the project; recording of a notice of completion or cessation; substantial completion; or final inspection.
[ ] Compute the deadline and calendar it with two reminders — one at the halfway point and one five business days out.
[ ] Re-run a recorder search for a notice of completion or cessation immediately before recording.
[ ] Confirm the current record owner; title may have transferred mid-project, and naming a former owner voids liens in some states.
[ ] Verify the legal description against a current title report, not the original one.
[ ] Confirm no prior recorded release or waiver covers the claimed period.

Why it matters, and the traps. The recording deadline is jurisdictional in most states, and equitable tolling is generally unavailable. Deadlines commonly run 60, 90, or 120 days from the trigger. The trap is not the number of days; it is the trigger, because the trigger can be moved by the owner and because different tiers of claimant may run on different triggers on the same project.

Harbison. Deadline computed as 90 days from 14 March last furnishing. Recorder search five days before recording confirms no notice of completion. Title report confirms Quarry Row Partners, LP is still the record owner and confirms Third Meridian's deed of trust recorded before any visible commencement — a priority problem addressed in Phase 9.

Phase 6 — Segregate lienable from non-lienable amounts

[ ] Categorize the total claim: approved and unpaid pay applications, retainage, approved change orders, priced but unapproved change orders, delay and acceleration costs, interest, attorney's fees, lost profit on terminated scope.
[ ] Determine which categories are lienable in this state. Retainage and approved billings almost always are. Delay damages, interest, and fees usually are not.
[ ] Deduct amounts released by prior waivers.
[ ] Deduct amounts subject to a legitimate, documented backcharge.
[ ] Lien only for the defensible number. Pursue the balance as contract, bond, and prompt-payment claims.

Why it matters, and the traps. Overstatement is asymmetric risk. Depending on the state, an inflated lien may be reduced, voided entirely for bad faith, or generate affirmative liability under a frivolous-lien statute with mandatory fees — plus slander of title and tortious interference exposure. A lawyer who records a lien known to be inflated also risks discipline under Model Rules 3.1 and 4.4(a); see Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility: A Comprehensive Guide to the Model Rules.

Harbison. Of the $570,000: $412,000 approved unpaid billings, $96,000 retainage, $47,000 priced-unapproved change orders, $15,000 delay and acceleration. Less the $186,000 arguably released by the February unconditional waiver. Lien recorded for $369,000 (billings plus retainage plus in-scope change orders, net of the waiver), with the delay claim and the disputed waiver amount pursued separately on contract and prompt-payment theories.

Phase 7 — Draft, record, and serve the claim

[ ] Include every statutorily required element: claimant's name and address; amount claimed; description of labor or materials furnished; name of the party who hired the claimant; owner's name; legal description; and any prescribed verbatim statutory notice.
[ ] Verify or notarize as the statute requires.
[ ] Record in the land records of the county where the property sits — not the county of the claimant's office, and not with the secretary of state.
[ ] Obtain the recorded copy with recording data.
[ ] Serve a copy on the owner (and often the general contractor and lender) within the days the statute allows after recording, by the authorized method, and retain proof.
[ ] Docket the foreclosure suit deadline the same day the lien is recorded.
[ ] Send the recorded lien with a demand letter quantifying statutory interest and fee exposure.

Why it matters, and the traps. Recording without service is a complete failure in a number of states. So is a defective verification, a street address where a legal description is required, or a misnamed owner. The lien claim is a short document with disproportionate technical risk; it deserves a second reader.

The demand letter is where most construction receivables are actually collected. It should recite the amounts, attach the pay applications, identify the lien and its recording data, quantify prompt-payment interest and mandatory attorney's fees, name any surety, and state the date suit will be filed. See Writing an Effective Demand Letter: A Practical Checklist.

Harbison. Lien recorded, served on the owner, Crestline, and the lender by certified mail with returns retained. Demand letter computes $369,000 plus statutory interest at 1.5% per month plus mandatory fees under the state prompt payment act — a number materially larger than the principal, and the number that gets attention.

Phase 8 — Run the parallel remedies simultaneously

[ ] Payment bond claim, if a bond exists. Read the bond for its own notice and suit deadlines.
[ ] Miller Act claim on federal projects: written notice to the prime within 90 days of last furnishing if you have no direct contract with the prime; suit no earlier than 90 days and no later than one year after last furnishing, in the district where the contract was performed. 40 U.S.C. § 3133.
[ ] Little Miller Act claim on state and local projects — deadlines are frequently shorter than the federal ones.
[ ] Stop payment notice where available, served on the owner and, if a preliminary notice was given to the lender, on the lender (bonded where required). Cal. Civ. Code §§ 8500–8560.
[ ] Prompt payment act demand with interest and fee computation.
[ ] Contract claim against the party that hired you, notwithstanding a pay-if-paid clause — plead it and let the defense be asserted.
[ ] Unjust enrichment / quantum meruit against the owner where the state permits it.
[ ] Trust fund or diversion claims where the state treats construction payments as statutory trust funds, which can create personal liability for principals who diverted them.

Why it matters, and the traps. These remedies have different defendants, different deadlines, and different damages measures, and they fail independently. A pay-if-paid clause may defeat the contract claim while leaving the lien fully intact, because the lien is a statutory right against the owner's property rather than a contract right — an asymmetry that makes the lien most valuable precisely when the contract is weakest. California and New York void pay-if-paid clauses outright as inconsistent with lien rights. Wm. R. Clarke Corp. v. Safeco Insurance Co. of America, 15 Cal. 4th 882 (1997); West-Fair Electric Contractors v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 87 N.Y.2d 148 (1995).

Statutory trust fund claims are the most underused remedy in the list. Where they exist, they can reach the general contractor's principals personally and survive the general contractor's bankruptcy as non-dischargeable in some circumstances.

Harbison. No bond exists. Lender stop notice unavailable (Phase 2 failure). Prompt payment act demand served. Contract claim and statutory trust fund claim asserted against Crestline and its managing member.

Phase 9 — Priority and collectability, before spending money on foreclosure

[ ] Order a current title report and identify every recorded encumbrance with dates and amounts.
[ ] Determine the state's relation-back rule: does the lien take priority as of first furnishing by this claimant, or as of first visible commencement of work on the project by anyone?
[ ] Compare the lien's priority date against the construction lender's deed of trust recording date.
[ ] Identify any super-priority claims (laborers' wages, tax liens) and any homestead constraints.
[ ] Estimate the property's value and compute whether a foreclosure sale would produce anything for lien claimants.
[ ] Count the other liens on the project — a dozen liens signals systemic failure and changes the negotiation entirely.
[ ] Assess the general contractor's solvency and whether a bankruptcy filing is likely.

Why it matters, and the traps. A foreclosure decree is worthless if the lender's deed of trust consumes the sale proceeds. Under a first-visible-commencement relation-back rule, a lender that recorded after the site was cleared can be subordinate to every lien on the project — which is why lenders inspect and photograph undisturbed dirt before closing. Under a rule protecting prior recorded mortgages, the same claimant is behind the loan and, on an underwater project, holds a lien worth nothing on the merits.

That does not make the lien worthless. On an over-leveraged project the lien's value is leverage over a lender or owner that needs clean title to refinance or sell. But that value is negotiated, not adjudicated, and knowing which situation you are in determines whether to spend $150,000 litigating.

Harbison. Third Meridian's deed of trust recorded before visible commencement, and the state subordinates liens to prior recorded construction mortgages. Property value is roughly equal to the loan balance. Foreclosure would yield nothing. Strategy shifts to leverage: the lien blocks the owner's planned permanent-loan takeout, and the trust fund claim reaches Crestline's principal personally.

Phase 10 — Foreclosure suit and the arbitration problem

[ ] File suit to foreclose within the statutory window — often 90 days to one year from recording. Cal. Civ. Code § 8460 (90 days).
[ ] Name the owner, every party with a recorded interest, and other lien claimants as the statute requires.
[ ] Plead the foreclosure alongside the contract, unjust enrichment, bond, prompt payment, and trust fund claims.
[ ] If the subcontract has an arbitration clause, file the foreclosure action to preserve the lien and immediately move to stay it pending arbitration — most states expressly permit this.
[ ] Watch for an owner's demand to commence suit, which can compress the window to as little as 30 days.
[ ] Record a notice of pendency of action / lis pendens where required or permitted.
[ ] Comply with any statutory requirement to record a notice of credit or extension if the deadline is extended by agreement.

Why it matters, and the traps. The recorded lien expires by operation of law if suit is not filed in time, and courts do not forgive it. The arbitration wrinkle catches practitioners who read the subcontract, see a mandatory arbitration clause, file a demand with the AAA, and let the lien lapse because no court action was filed. The correct move is both: court filing to preserve, immediate stay to honor the clause. See Drafting an Arbitration Clause: A Practical Checklist and AAA Commercial Arbitration from Demand to Award: A Comprehensive Guide.

Note also that lien foreclosure is a state-law claim against local real property; it is almost never in federal court. See Personal Jurisdiction, Venue, and Forum Selection: A Comprehensive Guide if a federal forum is being considered for the related claims.

Harbison. Foreclosure complaint filed on day 71, motion to stay pending AAA arbitration filed the same week, lis pendens recorded.

Phase 11 — If the debtor files bankruptcy

[ ] Confirm that the automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. § 362 does not bar what you need to do.
[ ] Note that § 546(b) preserves the ability to perfect a lien that relates back to a pre-petition date, notwithstanding the stay — do not let a bankruptcy filing cause you to miss a recording deadline.
[ ] File a proof of claim as a secured creditor to the extent of the lien and as unsecured for the balance.
[ ] Evaluate whether the surety's obligation survives (it does) and pursue the bond independently.
[ ] Watch for preference exposure on payments received within 90 days of the petition, and the ordinary-course and new-value defenses.

Why it matters, and the traps. Construction creditors routinely mishandle this because the two systems interact counterintuitively: the stay stops collection but not perfection. See Filing a Proof of Claim in a Bankruptcy Case: A Practical Checklist, When a Customer Files Bankruptcy: A Creditor's Checklist, and Bankruptcy Law: A Comprehensive Guide to Chapters 7, 11, and 13.

Phase 12 — Resolution, payoff, and release

[ ] Negotiate from the leverage the lien actually creates: the owner cannot refinance, sell, or deliver clear title while it is recorded.
[ ] Exchange payment for a recordable release in the statutory form, delivered simultaneously.
[ ] Where payment is partial, record a partial release stating the remaining amount, and confirm the remaining lien's validity is not impaired.
[ ] Record the release within the statutory period after payment — many states impose penalties for failure to release a satisfied lien.
[ ] Update the waiver register and close the file with a deadline post-mortem: what failed, and what internal control prevents it next time.

Harbison. Settled at $305,000 plus $40,000 in fees, funded by the owner in exchange for a full release, with the owner taking an assignment of Harbison's claims against Crestline. The disputed $186,000 waiver was the concession; the failure to serve the lender was the reason there was no better alternative.

Phase 13 — The owner's and general contractor's side

Before any lien appears:

[ ] Require a payment bond.
[ ] Use joint checks to subcontractors and suppliers.
[ ] Maintain a notice log of every preliminary notice received, and match it against waivers obtained before each disbursement.
[ ] Require sworn contractor's statements listing every subcontractor and supplier with amounts paid and owed, updated with each pay application.
[ ] Withhold retainage to the statutory maximum.
[ ] Record a notice of completion promptly, to compress every claimant's window.

After a lien is recorded:

[ ] Check the lien for facial defects: late recording, defective or missing legal description, no preliminary notice, missing verification, wrong owner named, non-lienable amounts, unlicensed claimant, expired by failure to sue.
[ ] Serve a demand for a statement of account or a demand to commence suit where the statute permits, forcing the claimant to sue quickly or release.
[ ] Consider bonding around the lien — typically a surety bond at 1.5 to 2 times the lien amount, which releases the property and substitutes the bond as collateral. This is the standard move when a closing or refinancing cannot wait for the merits.
[ ] Evaluate a frivolous-lien or slander-of-title claim where the lien is clearly overstated or the claimant clearly ineligible.
[ ] Pursue the general contractor's indemnity obligation for liens, and its surety.
[ ] Consider interpleader where multiple liens exceed the remaining contract balance.

Why it matters, and the traps. Owners tend to discover mechanic's lien law the day they learn they may pay twice for the same work. In "full price" states a subcontractor's lien is not limited to what the owner still owes the general contractor; in derivative states like New York it is capped at the unpaid contract balance (N.Y. Lien Law § 4). Which system governs determines whether prompt payment protects the owner or endangers it. The notice log and sworn statement discipline is what converts an invisible chain of forty potential claimants into a manageable list.

Notes and Resources

Primary sources to pull for every matter

The state's mechanic's lien statute in full, including definitions, notice, timing, contents, priority, and release provisions.
The state's prompt payment act and retainage statute.
The state's contractor licensing statute and any disgorgement provision.
The state's anti-indemnity statute, if indemnity is in play.
The state's frivolous lien and slander of title provisions.
The Miller Act, 40 U.S.C. §§ 3131–3134, and the applicable Little Miller Act.
The federal Prompt Payment Act, 31 U.S.C. §§ 3901–3907.
11 U.S.C. § 362 and § 546(b) if insolvency appears.

Key decisions to know

United States v. Spearin, 248 U.S. 132 (1918) — implied warranty of owner-furnished plans.
Clifford F. MacEvoy Co. v. United States ex rel. Calvin Tomkins Co., 322 U.S. 102 (1944) — Miller Act coverage limits.
F. D. Rich Co. v. United States ex rel. Industrial Lumber Co., 417 U.S. 116 (1974) — Miller Act; American Rule on fees.
J. W. Bateson Co. v. United States ex rel. Board of Trustees, 434 U.S. 586 (1978) — remoteness limit on Miller Act claimants.
Wm. R. Clarke Corp. v. Safeco Insurance Co. of America, 15 Cal. 4th 882 (1997) — pay-if-paid void (CA).
West-Fair Electric Contractors v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co., 87 N.Y.2d 148 (1995) — pay-if-paid void (NY).
MW Erectors, Inc. v. Niederhauser Ornamental & Metal Works Co., 36 Cal. 4th 412 (2005) — unlicensed contractor bar.
Jacob & Youngs, Inc. v. Kent, 230 N.Y. 239 (1921) — substantial performance and the measure of defect offsets.

Secondary sources

Philip L. Bruner & Patrick J. O'Connor, Jr., Bruner & O'Connor on Construction Law (mechanic's liens, ch. 8; bonds, ch. 12).
Justin Sweet & Marc M. Schneier, Legal Aspects of Architecture, Engineering and the Construction Process.
Restatement (Third) of Restitution and Unjust Enrichment §§ 10, 25 (2011).
Restatement (Second) of Contracts §§ 348, 356.

Internal controls worth adopting today

No one below the controller signs anything titled "waiver" or "release."
Unconditional waivers are signed only after funds clear.
Preliminary notice goes out on every project, to owner, general contractor, and lender.
Deadlines are docketed at contract signing and recomputed at demobilization.
A monthly recorder check runs on every open project until final payment.

Perfecting and Enforcing a Mechanic's Lien: A Practical Checklist

Phase 0 — The four questions that come before everything

Phase 1 — Intake at contract signing (the day the calendar gets built)

Phase 2 — Preliminary notice

Phase 3 — Documentation during performance

Phase 4 — Waiver discipline at every pay application

Phase 5 — Compute the recording deadline from the correct trigger

Phase 6 — Segregate lienable from non-lienable amounts

Phase 7 — Draft, record, and serve the claim

Phase 8 — Run the parallel remedies simultaneously

Phase 9 — Priority and collectability, before spending money on foreclosure

Phase 10 — Foreclosure suit and the arbitration problem

Phase 11 — If the debtor files bankruptcy

Phase 12 — Resolution, payoff, and release

Phase 13 — The owner's and general contractor's side

Notes and Resources

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