TL;DR: A California direct contractor generally has 90 days after completion to record a mechanics lien, but a homeowner’s recorded notice of completion or cessation can reduce that window to 60 days. A subcontractor’s window can shrink to 30 days, and the owner must be served before the lien is recorded.
The lien clock can start before the job feels finished
Completion is not tied to the date you send the unpaid invoice. Under Civil Code 8180(a), a work of improvement is complete upon any of four events:
- Actual completion of the work.
- The owner occupies or uses the improvement and labor stops.
- Labor stops for a continuous 60-day period.
- After labor has stopped for 30 days, a notice of cessation is recorded.
That third rule matters when a customer stops paying and you walk away. If no one returns to the job for 60 continuous days, the work can count as complete for lien purposes even if the panel upgrade, rewire, or other electrical scope is unfinished.
Your deadline can start running while the dispute still feels active. Waiting for another promise to pay does not pause the statutory clock.
The first call also matters for a different reason. The person booking the electrical work may not be the owner of record. A tenant, property manager, adult child, or spouse may call. The address they give you is only a street address.
A mechanics lien and preliminary notice are aimed at the owner. When the bill goes unpaid, you may have the caller’s name and an address, but not the owner’s name. Ask, “Are you the owner, and if not, who is?” on the first call. For more on a renter’s authority to order work, see who can authorize work when a renter calls.
A direct homeowner contract gives you 90 days, unless it gives you 60
If you contracted directly with the homeowner, Civil Code 8412 controls the lien deadline. You must record the claim of lien after completing your direct contract and before the earlier of:
- 90 days after completion of the work of improvement.
- 60 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation.
The shorter deadline is the one that matters. If the homeowner records a notice of completion, your 90-day assumption is wrong. Your window may be 60 days from that recording.
Preliminary notice works differently for a direct contractor. Under Civil Code 8200(e)(2), a claimant with a direct contract with the owner generally must give preliminary notice only to the construction lender, if there is one. On a typical cash-paid homeowner job with no construction lender, you usually do not serve preliminary notice on the homeowner.
That does not remove the lien deadline. It only changes the preliminary-notice requirement.
The homeowner already receives a mechanics lien warning in the home improvement contract. See the SB 517 home improvement contract article for that warning and the related subcontractor disclosure requirements.
A written scope and signed change orders can also reduce the payment dispute before it becomes a lien problem. Use this estimate and change-order guidance to keep the agreed work documented.
A subcontractor’s first day on site starts a separate notice clock
If you wired the job for a general contractor or solar installer, you are not a direct contractor under these rules. Civil Code 8414 requires a claimant other than a direct contractor to record after it stops providing work and before the earlier of:
- 90 days after completion of the work of improvement.
- 30 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation.
That 30-day deadline can arrive quickly. A subcontractor cannot assume the same 60-day period that may apply to a direct contractor.
There is also a preliminary notice deadline. Under Civil Code 8200 and 8204, you must give preliminary notice to the owner or reputed owner, the direct contractor, and the construction lender, if any. Compliance is “a necessary prerequisite to the validity of a lien claim.”
The notice “shall be given not later than 20 days after the claimant has first furnished work.” For an electrician, that means the count starts from the first day you furnished labor or materials, not from the first missed payment and not from the last day you worked.
A late preliminary notice is still allowed, but its effect is limited. The lien covers work performed within 20 days before the notice was served and work performed after service. Earlier work is outside that coverage.
For a small shop, the operational rule is simple. Get the owner, general contractor or solar installer, lender information, and first furnishing date into your file before the crew starts. A subcontractor may also have other payment issues, including retention. See the private construction retention cap article.
Serve the owner before recording the claim
The order matters under Civil Code 8416.
First, serve a copy of the claim of mechanics lien on the owner or reputed owner. Then record the claim with the required proof of service affidavit included. The recorded claim must contain “A proof of service affidavit completed and signed by the person serving a copy of the claim of mechanics lien” under Civil Code 8416(a)(7).
That affidavit must show the date, place, and manner of service. Service is by registered mail, certified mail, or first-class mail, evidenced by a certificate of mailing, postage prepaid.
Do not record first and serve later. The owner is served before the claim is recorded because the proof of that service is part of the claim that gets recorded.
Failure to serve as required makes the lien “unenforceable as a matter of law.” This is not a paperwork detail to fix after recording. It is part of the lien process.
The dates also need to match your file. Keep the service date, mailing method, certificate of mailing, owner name, property address, and recorded claim together. If the owner name is wrong or the proof is missing, your deadline may be the least of the problem.
Recording the lien gives you 90 days to file suit
Recording the claim does not finish the collection process. Under Civil Code 8460(a), you must commence an action to enforce the lien within 90 days after recording it. If you do not, “the claim of lien expires and is unenforceable.”
The lien gives you a recorded claim against the property. It does not give you unlimited time to decide what happens next. Within that 90-day period, you must file the enforcement action or resolve the debt.
A recorded extension-of-credit agreement can affect that deadline under Civil Code 8460(b), but do not assume an informal promise from the customer changes anything.
Before recording, especially on a larger unpaid amount, talk to a construction attorney or use a lien service. This is general information, not legal advice.
Your C-10 license status can decide whether collection survives
Business and Professions Code 7031(a) creates a separate problem. A contractor cannot bring or maintain an action to collect compensation for work requiring a license “without alleging that they were a duly licensed contractor at all times during the performance of that act or contract”.
A lapse in your C-10 license during the job can sink the collection entirely, lien or not. Pull the license history into your file when the payment dispute starts. Do not treat the lien deadline as the only legal issue.
For private-works payment disputes involving changes, another deadline may apply. See the private-works change-order claim deadline article.
A $6,250 claim may belong in small claims court instead
A mechanics lien is most useful on larger residential work, such as a panel upgrade or rewire. For a small unpaid service call, small claims court may be the simpler path.
Under Code of Civil Procedure 116.220(a)(1) and 116.221, small claims generally handles money claims up to $6,250. The limit is up to $12,500 only for an action brought by a natural person.
That distinction matters to your business structure. An LLC or corporation is generally held to the $6,250 limit. A sole proprietor suing in their own name falls under the natural-person limit.
The claim amount does not change the need to track dates. It changes which collection route may make sense.
Capture the owner and job dates before the invoice goes unpaid
At booking, record whether the caller is the owner. If not, record who they are and who owns the property. Save the full property address, not only the address spoken quickly over the phone.
Wirewoman answers 24/7, books the job, and within 30 seconds of hang-up texts your shop the caller’s name, address, problem in the caller’s words, urgency, and booked time. Every call is logged to a dashboard with a recording and transcript.
That gives you a dated starting record of who called, from where, and what they asked for. If the caller says they are a tenant or manager, that answer is in the transcript. The booking record is not the lien clock and is not legal proof of anything. The clock runs from completion and, for preliminary notice, from first furnishing of work. The call record is the beginning of your paper trail.
At job close, capture:
- The first day you furnished work.
- The last day you furnished work.
- The date the work was actually completed, if completed.
- Any 60-day period with no labor.
- Whether the owner recorded a notice of completion or cessation.
- The owner’s name or reputed owner’s name.
- Whether you contracted directly with the owner or worked under a GC or solar installer.
- The preliminary notice date and recipients, if you were a subcontractor.
Check the county recorder for a recorded notice of completion or cessation. Do it before relying on the ordinary 90-day deadline.
Ask who owns the property on the first call, save the first-furnishing and completion dates at close, and calendar the correct notice, lien, service, and 90-day enforcement deadlines before you record anything.
