Preliminary notices in Texas
Texas's notice rule runs month by month. Subcontractors and suppliers send a notice of claim for unpaid work by the 15th day of the 3rd month after each month you furnish, so every month of unpaid work has its own deadline. Commercial work: by the 15th day of the 3rd month after each month you furnished (2nd month on residential).
This is the rule that catches people out: by the time a second invoice goes unpaid, the notice for the first month may already be due. Put the dates in your calendar when you start the job, not when payment is late.
Lien filing deadline in Texas
If the GC hired you, you have until the 15th day of the 4th month after the month the project is completed to record the lien affidavit in Texas, about 32 days longer than the national median of 90 days (counted from last furnishing on a sample job). 40 of the 51 jurisdictions we track have a shorter lien deadline and 7 have a longer one.
15th day of the 4th month after the month the original contract was completed, terminated or abandoned (3rd month on residential).
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.
Recording isn't the last step. GCs, subcontractors and suppliers then send the lien affidavit to owner and GC within 5 days after recording the lien.
Deadline to sue on the lien
To keep the lien alive you must sue to enforce it within 12 months after the last day to record the lien. If you record on the last possible day, that is about 487 days after your last day on the job, about 122 days longer than the national median of 365 days. 35 of the 48 jurisdictions we track have a shorter overall time to sue and 12 have a longer one.
1 year after the last day to record the lien affidavit (commercial).
How Texas 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)
- Texas: 122 daysNational median: 90 days
- Sue to enforce (from last day)
- Texas: 487 daysNational median: 365 days
Public and federal projects
Public property can't be liened. On state and local public work in Texas, subcontractors and suppliers protect themselves with these payment bond steps instead:
| Step | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Notice to the prime contractor | Subcontractors and suppliers hired by another subcontractor or supplier | By the 15th day of the 2nd month after each month you furnish (verify) |
| Notice of claim to prime and surety | Subcontractors and suppliers | By the 15th day of the 3rd month after each month you furnish |
| Payment bond lawsuit | Subcontractors and suppliers | By the 15th day of the 3rd month after your last month furnishing, then 12 months after that |
Notice to the prime contractor: claimants without a contract with the prime: by the 15th day of the 2nd month after each month furnished.
Notice of claim to prime and surety: by the 15th day of the 3rd month after each month furnished.
Payment bond lawsuit: within 1 year after the claim notice is mailed, and no sooner than 60 days after it.
Federal jobs in Texas 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 Texas
On public work the cap is 10%, above the 5% median of states that set one. Up to 10%; 5% on contracts of $5 million or more for many agencies.
Private work: The owner must hold 10% for 30 days after completion for lien claimants (statutory retainage).
Once the GC is paid, it has 7 days on private work and 10 days on public work to pay its subs. Owner pays within 35 days of a pay request; GC pays subs within 7 days of receipt.
Late payments carry interest of 1.5% 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 | 10% | Verify | 10% |
| Release | With final payment after completion. | After the 30-day statutory period, if no claims. | Released with final payment, or earlier once progress is satisfactory. |
| GC pays subs within | 10 days | 7 days | 7 days |
| Late-payment interest | Prime rate plus 1% per year | 1.5% per month (18% 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 steel sub in Texas
A steel subcontractor hired by the GC on a private distribution warehouse in Texas starts work on March 2, 2026 and last furnishes on July 17, 2026. The project is completed on August 28, 2026. Run through Texas's rules, those dates give:
| Deadline | Date | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Notice of claim for unpaid work: March 2026 work | June 15, 2026 | First furnishing |
| Notice of claim for unpaid work: April 2026 work | July 15, 2026 | First furnishing |
| Notice of claim for unpaid work: July 2026 work | October 15, 2026 | First furnishing |
| Record the lien affidavit | December 15, 2026 | Project completion |
| Send the lien affidavit to owner and GC | December 20, 2026 Weekend | Lien recording |
| Sue to enforce the lien | December 15, 2027 | The lien deadline |
The first deadline on the calendar is “Notice of claim for unpaid work: March 2026 work” on June 15, 2026, counted from the day the crew started, long before any payment is late.
2 more monthly notice dates fall between the rows shown; the calculator lists every one.
One date lands on a weekend (December 20, 2026). Not every state rolls a deadline to Monday, so the safe move is to record or serve by the Friday before.
Because Texas 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 Texas 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 (TX): every notice, lien and suit date for your role, tier and job type, including public bond claims.
- Retainage and prompt payment rules (TX): 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
- Tex. Prop. Code ch. 53 (as amended for contracts on or after Jan. 1, 2022)
- Tex. Gov't Code ch. 2253 (public bonds)
- Tex. Gov't Code ch. 2251 and §2252.032 (public)
- Tex. Prop. Code ch. 28 and §53.101 (private)
- Federal work in Texas: 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.