Preliminary notices in Delaware
Delaware is one of the states with no general preliminary notice for subcontractors on commercial work in our summary. That doesn't mean you can skip paperwork: the lien itself still has a hard deadline, and the owner often learns about your claim only when the lien is recorded.
Lien filing deadline in Delaware
If the GC hired you, you have 90 days after your last day furnishing labor or materials to record a mechanics lien in Delaware, 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.
Some material claims may allow longer. Verify this with the statute before relying on it.
The clock starts on your last day furnishing labor or materials under your contract. In many states, warranty visits and punch list work done mainly to extend the deadline don't restart it, so use your last day of real contract work.
If you're the GC, in contract with the owner, you have 180 days after completion of the project instead.
Deadline to sue on the lien
A lien that isn't enforced in time expires. For Delaware we don't show one date: delaware's statement of claim is filed as a court action, so filing it starts enforcement. Verify with the statute.
How Delaware 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.
- Record the lien (from last day)
- Delaware: 90 daysNational median: 90 days
- Sue to enforce (from last day)
- Delaware: No single number: verify with state statuteNational median: 365 days
Public and federal projects
Public property can't be liened, so subcontractors and suppliers on state and local public jobs in Delaware claim against the GC's payment bond instead. We haven't reduced Delaware's bond claim deadlines to one set of numbers, because they vary by agency and project. Verify the notice and suit deadlines with the statute and the bond itself before the job starts.
Federal jobs in Delaware 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 Delaware
We haven't reduced Delaware's retainage and prompt payment rules to single numbers yet: they depend on the agency, the contract size or the contract date. Rather than guess, the table shows "Verify" and the statutes to read are 29 Del. C. §6962 (public); 6 Del. C. §3501 to §3509 (private). Your contract's payment terms still matter, and the federal rules below apply on federal work.
| Public work | Private work | Federal work | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Retainage cap | Verify | Verify | 10% |
| Release | Verify with state statute | Verify with state statute | Released with final payment, or earlier once progress is satisfactory. |
| GC pays subs within | Verify | Verify | 7 days |
| Late-payment interest | Verify | Verify | 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 flooring sub in Delaware
A flooring subcontractor hired by the GC on a private medical office building in Delaware starts work on March 2, 2026 and last furnishes on July 17, 2026. The project is completed on August 28, 2026. Run through Delaware's rules, those dates give:
| Deadline | Date | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Record the lien | October 15, 2026 Verify | Last furnishing |
| Sue to enforce the lien | Verify with state statute | No single date |
The first deadline on the calendar is “Record the lien” on October 15, 2026.
Rows marked "Verify" depend on facts or readings we can't settle for you, and rows without a date have no single number in the statute. Check them against 25 Del. C. §2701 to §2736.
Open the lien deadline calculator for Delaware 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 (DE): every notice, lien and suit date for your role, tier and job type.
- Retainage and prompt payment rules (DE): 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
- 25 Del. C. §2701 to §2736
- 29 Del. C. §6962 (public)
- 6 Del. C. §3501 to §3509 (private)
- Federal work in Delaware: 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.