Below is the overview of lien rights in California, including what the California rule is and how to handle in Siteline high-level. For more details and to learn exactly how to handle in Siteline, simply click the link under "What to do" to jump to that detailed section later in this article.

This workflow is designed for commercial subcontractors performing progress-billed work on private projects. Siteline’s Lien Rights Management workflow does not currently cover public projects, including federal, state, or Native reservation projects. It also assumes that your company is acting as a subcontractor, rather than as the direct contractor, a sub-subcontractor, or a supplier to a subcontractor. Retention is not currently included in the Lien Rights Management calculations. See How to Track Lien Rights in Siteline for the current product scope.

Siteline does not have a live connection to every California county recorder’s office. Your team still needs a process for learning when an owner records a Notice of Completion or Notice of Cessation and adding that document and date to Siteline.

Mechanic’s liens apply to private works of improvement. Subcontractors, material suppliers, equipment lessors, laborers, and certain other parties that furnish work to improve private property may have lien rights under California Civil Code § 8400.

You cannot record a mechanic’s lien against California public property. Public projects use different remedies, including stop payment notices and payment bond claims.

California also has strict contractor licensing rules. If your work requires a contractor’s license, you generally must be properly licensed throughout performance to bring or maintain an action for compensation. See California Business and Professions Code § 7031.

Better yet, start having new projects tracked automatically:

Stay on top of deadlines by setting up email reminders:

A preliminary notice is not a lien and does not mean payment is late. It preserves the ability to pursue a mechanic’s lien and certain other payment remedies if a problem develops later.

Under California Civil Code § 8200, most subcontractors must serve a preliminary notice on:

The notice should be served no later than 20 days after you first furnish labor, services, equipment, or materials. California permits service by personal delivery and specified mail or carrier methods. See California Civil Code § 8110.

Send it anyway. A late preliminary notice is allowed, but it generally protects only work furnished during the 20 days before service and work furnished afterward.

For example: If you first furnished work 45 days ago and serve the preliminary notice today, the notice generally protects the prior 20 days of work and future work. The first 25 days may remain unprotected. See California Civil Code § 8204.

Before the first notice, add your preferred California form to the Form Library as described in Create and Mail Lien Documents.

Then:

You can check delivery details from the Tracker or the project’s three-dot menu. Mailing options and product functionality may change, so use the current Siteline mailing instructions when sending.

Lien rights depend on facts and dates, not just invoice aging. Important dates can include:

Do not assume the last invoice date, contract end date, or scheduled completion date is the legally controlling date. Ask counsel when the project’s completion status is uncertain.

From the Lien Rights Tracker:

From an individual project:

Siteline uses the project information and entered dates to populate deadlines. Those deadlines also appear in configured daily or weekly reminder emails.

​Additional warning while creating pay apps: If you haven't entered key dates, when you are creating a pay app from the Billing workflow, you will also get a reminder and can enter in key dates from there as well. The screenshot below show an example in blue for a date of first furnishing.

The Tracker uses status labels to help prioritize work:

Use Look Ahead as a weekly task list. It surfaces missing dates, overdue actions, and upcoming requirements across projects.

For a claimant other than a direct contractor, the ordinary lien-recording deadline is generally the earlier of:

See California Civil Code § 8414. That means a recorded Notice of Completion can reduce the available filing window from 90 days to 30 days. Because Siteline does not receive live updates from every California county recorder, someone on your team must identify the notice and add it to the project promptly.

If you served a proper preliminary notice, California Civil Code § 8190 generally requires an owner that records a Notice of Completion or Notice of Cessation to give you a copy within 10 days after recordation. If the owner does not give the required notice, the recorded notice is generally ineffective to shorten your lien-recording period.

There are statutory exceptions, including certain owner-occupied residential property and ownership or security-interest changes. Do not assume you have the longer deadline without getting legal advice.

If a dispute arises over whether the owner gave notice, California’s proof-of-notice rule generally calls for a declaration stating the type of notice, date, place and manner of notice, and the recipient’s name and address. For mailed notice, the declaration must be accompanied by one of the delivery records recognized by the statute, such as an applicable mailing receipt, return receipt, delivery confirmation, signature confirmation, tracking record, attempted-delivery record, or returned envelope. See California Civil Code § 8118.

After you save the recorded date, Siteline recalculates the project’s lien deadline. In the common subcontractor scenario, the display changes from 90 days after project completion to 30 days after the recorded Notice of Completion. The revised date flows into the project’s lien-rights details, the Tracker, Look Ahead, and configured deadline reminders.

A claimant other than a direct contractor generally records a lien only after ceasing to furnish work and before the earlier of:

See California Civil Code § 8414. California generally does not require a separate Notice of Intent to Lien before recording a mechanic’s lien. Your contract, filing provider, attorney, or internal collections process may still call for additional communication.

Siteline provides a summary of relevant lien-law information in the collections workflow, but legal advice and preparation or recordation of the claim should come from qualified counsel or your filing provider.

Recording a lien is not the final deadline. A claimant generally must begin an action to enforce the lien within 90 days after the lien is recorded. If an enforcement action is not filed on time, the lien expires and becomes unenforceable. See California Civil Code § 8460.

Confirm enforcement deadlines independently with counsel. Do not assume every litigation or post-recordation deadline is calculated in Siteline.

Use this repeatable process to keep projects from falling through the cracks:

Is a California preliminary notice the same as filing a lien?

No. A preliminary notice tells key project parties that you are furnishing work and preserves the ability to pursue certain remedies later. It is not a lien and does not mean payment is late.

Can I send a preliminary notice more than 20 days after starting work?

Yes. Send it as soon as possible. A late notice generally protects only the 20 days of work before service and work furnished afterward. Earlier work may remain unprotected.

Does Siteline find every California Notice of Completion automatically?

No. Siteline does not have a live connection to every California county recorder’s office. Your team must monitor for notices and upload the recorded document and date. Siteline then updates the applicable project deadline.

What happens after I upload a Notice of Completion?

Enter the date the notice was recorded and save it. Siteline recalculates the lien deadline, commonly changing the subcontractor deadline from 90 days after completion to 30 days after recordation, and updates the project, Tracker, Look Ahead, and reminders.

What if the owner recorded a Notice of Completion but did not send me a copy?

If you served a proper preliminary notice, California Civil Code § 8190 generally requires the owner to give you a copy within 10 days. Failure to do so may make the recorded notice ineffective to shorten your deadline, subject to exceptions. Preserve the evidence and ask California counsel which deadline applies.

Do I need a preliminary notice if I contracted directly with the owner?

A claimant with a direct contract with the owner generally gives the preliminary notice to the construction lender or reputed construction lender, if any. Confirm the rule for your project and role with counsel.

Does California require a Notice of Intent to Lien?

California generally does not require a separate Notice of Intent before recording a mechanic’s lien on a private project.

What if the project is public?

You cannot record a mechanic’s lien against California public property. Stop payment notice and payment bond remedies may apply instead, with different requirements and deadlines.

Does a Protected status in Siteline guarantee that a lien will be enforceable?

No. Siteline helps organize project information, calculate deadlines, prepare documents, and track actions based on the data entered. Enforceability depends on the project facts and compliance with California law.