What happens to my 90 days if the owner records a Notice of Completion?

It shortens. A direct contractor has 60 days from the recording, and a subcontractor, supplier or equipment lessor has 30 days. A claimant still counting 90 days from completion records a lien that has already expired.

What if I miss the 20-day preliminary notice?

You do not lose the whole job. The notice protects the twenty days before you serve it and everything after, so serving late loses the earliest part of your work and keeps the rest. Serve it as soon as you realise, rather than giving up the claim.

How long do I have to enforce a California mechanics lien?

Ninety days from the day the lien was recorded. Everybody assumes it is a year. A recorded lien that is not sued on within ninety days is unenforceable and the owner can have it removed.

Does a direct contractor serve a preliminary notice?

Not on a private job for lien purposes, although a direct contractor still has to serve one on the construction lender where there is one.

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California, United States

California lien deadline calculator

It is 90 days until the owner records a Notice of Completion. Then it is 60 for a direct contractor and 30 for everybody else. Enter your dates and see which one you are actually on.

Who did you contract with?

Sub, supplier or equipment lessorDirect contractor

You serve a preliminary notice within 20 days of first furnishing. If a Notice of Completion is recorded, your window to record a lien drops to 30 days.

First day you furnished labour, services, equipment or materials

The preliminary notice runs from here. It protects the twenty days before you serve it and everything after, so an early notice covers the whole job.

Completion of the work of improvement

A project fact, not your own last day. Occupancy plus cessation of labour, or acceptance by the owner, can each amount to completion.

Date a Notice of Completion or Cessation was recorded

Check the county recorder before you rely on the 90 days. This is the date that shortens everything, and nobody is obliged to tell you it happened.

Date your mechanics lien was recorded

Starts the ninety days you have to bring the action. Not a year.

Check the recorder, do not wait to be told

An owner who records a Notice of Completion is not required to hand you a copy in a way that reaches the person doing your paperwork. The recording is public and the clock starts on it, so the safe habit is to check the county recorder as a job closes out rather than counting ninety days from a completion date you assumed.

Worked example

Two months on site as a sub, counted

First furnishing Jun 22, 2026, the work finished Aug 16, 2026, no Notice of Completion recorded by the owner.

Serve the preliminary notice by
Jul 12, 2026
The notice protects the twenty days before you serve it and everything after. Work done earlier than that window has no lien, no stop notice and no bond claim, so serving late does not lose the job, it loses the front of it.
Counted as 20 days from your first furnishing of labour, services, equipment or materials (2026-06-22).
Cal. Civ. Code s.8204
Record the mechanics lien by
Nov 14, 2026
No Notice of Completion was recorded, so the full period runs. If the owner records one, this date moves in, and it moves in sharply.
Counted as 90 days from completion of the work of improvement (2026-08-16), with no Notice of Completion recorded.
Cal. Civ. Code s.8414

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Questions this page answers

What happens to my 90 days if the owner records a Notice of Completion?: It shortens. A direct contractor has 60 days from the recording, and a subcontractor, supplier or equipment lessor has 30 days. A claimant still counting 90 days from completion records a lien that has already expired.
What if I miss the 20-day preliminary notice?: You do not lose the whole job. The notice protects the twenty days before you serve it and everything after, so serving late loses the earliest part of your work and keeps the rest. Serve it as soon as you realise, rather than giving up the claim.
How long do I have to enforce a California mechanics lien?: Ninety days from the day the lien was recorded. Everybody assumes it is a year. A recorded lien that is not sued on within ninety days is unenforceable and the owner can have it removed.
Does a direct contractor serve a preliminary notice?: Not on a private job for lien purposes, although a direct contractor still has to serve one on the construction lender where there is one.

Or have the notice go out on day one, every job

Set up a job once and the twenty days start counting themselves, the lien window sits behind it, and the day a Notice of Completion moves the date the job says so instead of you finding out when a recorder rejects the filing.

Built deepest for Ontario and running across Canada, the United Kingdom, Florida, Texas and California, each on its own statute rather than one set of dates renamed.

Open the demo business

Where these figures come from

preliminary_notice_days (US-CA) Published source Last read from the source Aug 12, 2026.
claim_of_lien_days (US-CA) Published source Last read from the source Aug 12, 2026.
claim_of_lien_after_noc_direct_days (US-CA) Published source Last read from the source Aug 12, 2026.
claim_of_lien_after_noc_other_days (US-CA) Published source Last read from the source Aug 12, 2026.
lien_foreclosure_days (US-CA) Published source Last read from the source Aug 12, 2026.

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Two months on site as a sub, counted

Serve the preliminary notice by

Record the mechanics lien by

Questions this page answers

Or have the notice go out on day one, every job

Where these figures come from

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