Preliminary notices in California
Subcontractors and suppliers on a private job in California serve a 20-day preliminary notice within 20 days after your first day furnishing labor or materials. It is required. That is tighter than the 26-day middle of the states that set a fixed window, so it belongs on day one of the job.
A late notice covers only work furnished in the 20 days before it's served.
Lien filing deadline in California
If the GC hired you, you have 90 days after completion of the project to record a mechanics lien in California, about the same as the national median of 90 days (counted from last furnishing on a sample job). 23 of the 51 jurisdictions we track use this same lien deadline, which makes it the most common rule.
30 days after a recorded notice of completion or cessation, if that is earlier.
Note what the clock counts from: completion of the project, not your own last day. A trade that finishes early may have more time than the number suggests, but the completion date is often unclear. The calculator uses your last furnishing date when you leave completion blank, which gives the earlier, safer date.
If you're the GC, in contract with the owner, you have 90 days after completion of the project instead. 60 days after a recorded notice of completion or cessation, if that is earlier.
Deadline to sue on the lien
To keep the lien alive you must sue to enforce it within 90 days after recording the lien. If you record on the last possible day, that is about 180 days after your last day on the job, about 185 days shorter than the national median of 365 days. 2 of the 48 jurisdictions we track have a shorter overall time to sue and 42 have a longer one.
Because the clock counts from recording, recording early also moves the lawsuit deadline earlier.
How California compares
Days are counted on a sample job with the lien recorded on its last allowed day, so states that count from recording or from completion can be compared with those that count from your last day on site. The median is across the jurisdictions with a dated rule on file.
- Preliminary notice (from first day)
- California: 20 daysNational median: 25.5 days
- Record the lien (from last day)
- California: 90 daysNational median: 90 days
- Sue to enforce (from last day)
- California: 180 daysNational median: 365 days
Public and federal projects
Public property can't be liened. On state and local public work in California, subcontractors and suppliers protect themselves with these payment bond steps instead:
| Step | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| 20-day preliminary notice | Subcontractors and suppliers hired by another subcontractor or supplier | 20 days after your first day furnishing labor or materials |
| Stop payment notice | Subcontractors and suppliers | 90 days after completion of the project |
| Payment bond lawsuit | Subcontractors and suppliers | 90 days plus 6 months after completion of the project (verify) |
Stop payment notice: 30 days after the agency records a notice of completion, if that is earlier.
Payment bond lawsuit: 6 months after the period to serve a stop payment notice ends.
Federal jobs in California follow the Miller Act instead of state law: those hired by a sub or supplier give the prime contractor notice within 90 days of their last furnishing, and suit is due within 1 year, in federal court. Prime contractors on federal work have no lien or bond claim.
Retainage and prompt payment in California
On public work the cap is 5%, the most common cap among states that set one. Up to 5% of each progress payment on most public works contracts.
Private work has a cap too: 5%. Up to 5% for private contracts entered on or after Jan. 1, 2026; earlier contracts follow their own terms.
Once the GC is paid, it has 7 days on private work and 7 days on public work to pay its subs. GC pays subs within 7 days of receiving each progress payment.
Late payments carry interest of 2% per month. That turns a slow payment into a number you can put in a demand letter.
| Public work | Private work | Federal work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retainage cap | 5% | 5% | 10% |
| Release | Within 60 days after completion; to subs within 10 days of receipt. | Owner releases within 45 days after completion; GC releases to subs within 10 days of receipt. | Released with final payment, or earlier once progress is satisfactory. |
| GC pays subs within | 7 days | 7 days | 7 days |
| Late-payment interest | 2% per month (24% a year) | 2% per month (24% a year) | Treasury prompt payment rate (reset every January and July) |
Not legal advice. Retainage and prompt payment rules differ by agency, contract size and contract date, and change often. Confirm the rules with the current statute, your contract and a construction attorney before relying on them.
Worked example: a HVAC sub in California
A HVAC subcontractor hired by the GC on a private restaurant fit-out in California starts work on March 2, 2026 and last furnishes on July 17, 2026. The project is completed on August 28, 2026. Run through California's rules, those dates give:
| Deadline | Date | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| 20-day preliminary notice | March 22, 2026 Weekend | First furnishing |
| Record the lien | November 26, 2026 | Project completion |
| Sue to enforce the lien | February 24, 2027 | Lien recording |
The first deadline on the calendar is “20-day preliminary notice” on March 22, 2026, counted from the day the crew started, long before any payment is late.
One date lands on a weekend (March 22, 2026). Not every state rolls a deadline to Monday, so the safe move is to record or serve by the Friday before.
Because California counts from project completion (August 28), not the sub's last day (July 17), the lien deadline is later than a last-furnishing state would give.
Open the lien deadline calculator for California and enter your own dates to get this table for your job, with countdowns and a PDF deadline calendar.
Check your own dates with the free tools
- Mechanics lien and notice deadline calculator (CA): every notice, lien and suit date for your role, tier and job type, including public bond claims.
- Retainage and prompt payment rules (CA): check your contract's retainage against the cap and work out late-payment interest.
- Schedule of values and pay application builder: bill each period with retainage calculated, so what you're owed is documented.
- Cash flow and retainage forecaster: see what slow payment and held retainage do to your bank balance.
Statutes cited
- Cal. Civ. Code §8200 to §8494 (private)
- Cal. Civ. Code §9000 to §9566 (public)
- Cal. Pub. Cont. Code §7107, §7201 (public)
- Cal. Civ. Code §8800 to §8822 (private)
- Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code §7108.5
- Federal work in California: 40 U.S.C. §3131 to §3134 (Miller Act)
Not legal advice. Lien and bond claim rules change and have exceptions for project type, contract terms and how notices are served. Confirm every deadline with the current statute or a construction attorney in the project's state before relying on it. Rules shown as "Verify with state statute" have exceptions or variations we could not reduce to one number.