California lien deadlines

On a private California construction project, three statutory remedies protect your right to payment. Each has its own clock. STrOp tracks all three per project.

1. Preliminary 20-day Notice (Civil Code §8200)

• When: Within 20 days of first furnishing labor or materials to the project.
• What: Written notice to the owner, the GC (if you're a sub), and the construction lender (if any).
• Why: Without a timely 20-day Notice you cannot record a mechanic's lien or serve a stop notice. Full stop.
• STrOp behavior: Project Setup prompts you to capture the property owner, the lender, and the GC at award. On day 1 of mobilization, the system generates the 20-day Notice PDF and routes it to certified mail.

You can serve a late 20-day Notice — but it only protects work performed within 20 days before service forward, never retroactive.

2. Stop Notice (Civil Code §9350 for public, §8500 for private)

• When:
  • Private project: Within 90 days after completion of the project (or 30 days after a Notice of Completion is recorded).
  • Public project: Same window, but served on the awarding public agency.
• What: A formal demand directing the owner (private) or public entity to withhold construction funds equal to the amount you're owed.
• Why: Forces the source of funds to set aside money before it's all paid out to the GC.

3. Mechanic's Lien (Civil Code §8410)

• When:
  • Direct contractor: Within 90 days after completion OR 60 days after a Notice of Completion is recorded.
  • Sub or material supplier: Within 90 days after completion OR 30 days after a Notice of Completion is recorded.
• What: A recorded encumbrance against the real property securing your unpaid balance.
• Foreclosure follow-up: You must file a lien foreclosure action within 90 days of recording the lien, or the lien expires.

STrOp's reminder cadence

Every project with a non-zero AR balance triggers reminders:

Days from substantial completion	Reminder
0	"Substantial completion recorded — confirm date with GC"
25	"If a Notice of Completion was recorded on day 0, your lien window closes in 5 days (subs) or 35 days (directs)"
60	"30 days left to record a mechanic's lien based on standard 90-day window"
75	"15 days left — final reminder"
85	"5 days — record now or lose the remedy"

Common failure modes

• No 20-day Notice served. You discover at month 3 that no one served the preliminary notice. There's no fix — you've lost lien rights for everything before today.
• Counting from the wrong date. "Completion" under §8180 is a defined term — substantial completion, owner acceptance, or 60 days of cessation. Not the last day you swept the site.
• Late Notice of Completion discovery. If the owner recorded an NoC and you didn't know, your sub-tier 30-day window may already be running.

Get help fast

If a deadline is within 7 days and you don't have what you need ready to record, file a ticket as Urgent — blocking and call the founder line. We've sourced same-day notary and recording in San Francisco, LA, and Sacramento counties.