Preliminary notices in Virginia
Virginia 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 other notices below still apply.
Residential work adds a step: subcontractors and suppliers give a residential notice to mechanics' lien agent within 30 days after your first day furnishing labor or materials. It is required only in some cases. Residential work where a lien agent is named on the permit.
Lien filing deadline in Virginia
If the GC hired you, you have 90 days after the last day of the month of your last day furnishing labor or materials to record the memorandum of lien in Virginia, about 15 days longer than the national median of 90 days (counted from last furnishing on a sample job). 30 of the 51 jurisdictions we track have a shorter lien deadline and 20 have a longer one.
90 days after the last day of the month you last furnished, and no later than 90 days after completion. Covers work in the 150 days before last furnishing.
The count starts at the end of the month you last worked, so finishing on the 2nd or the 28th gives the same deadline.
Deadline to sue on the lien
To keep the lien alive you must sue to enforce it within 6 months after recording the lien. If you record on the last possible day, that is about 286 days after your last day on the job, about 79 days shorter than the national median of 365 days. 17 of the 48 jurisdictions we track have a shorter overall time to sue and 30 have a longer one.
Because the clock counts from recording, recording early also moves the lawsuit deadline earlier.
Or 60 days after completion, whichever is later.
How Virginia 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)
- Virginia: 105 daysNational median: 90 days
- Sue to enforce (from last day)
- Virginia: 286 daysNational median: 365 days
Public and federal projects
Public property can't be liened, so subcontractors and suppliers on state and local public jobs in Virginia claim against the GC's payment bond instead. We haven't reduced Virginia's bond claim deadlines to one set of numbers, because they vary by agency and project. The governing law is Va. Code §2.2-4337 to -4341. Verify the notice and suit deadlines with the statute and the bond itself before the job starts.
Federal jobs in Virginia 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 Virginia
On public work the cap is 5%, the most common cap among states that set one. Up to 5% of each progress payment.
On private work we have no statutory cap on file, so retainage is usually whatever the contract says. Read the retainage and release clauses before you sign.
Once the GC is paid, it has 7 days on public work to pay its subs. GC pays subs within 7 days of receipt.
Late payments carry interest of 1% 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% | Verify | 10% |
| Release | With final payment. | Verify with state statute | Released with final payment, or earlier once progress is satisfactory. |
| GC pays subs within | 7 days | Verify | 7 days |
| Late-payment interest | 1% per month (12% a year) | 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 concrete sub in Virginia
A concrete subcontractor hired by the GC on a private restaurant fit-out in Virginia starts work on March 2, 2026 and last furnishes on July 17, 2026. The project is completed on August 28, 2026. Run through Virginia's rules, those dates give:
| Deadline | Date | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Residential notice to mechanics' lien agent | April 1, 2026 | First furnishing |
| Record the memorandum of lien | October 29, 2026 | Last furnishing |
| Sue to enforce the lien | April 29, 2027 | Lien recording |
The first deadline on the calendar is “Residential notice to mechanics' lien agent” on April 1, 2026, counted from the day the crew started, long before any payment is late.
Open the lien deadline calculator for Virginia 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 (VA): every notice, lien and suit date for your role, tier and job type.
- Retainage and prompt payment rules (VA): 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
- Va. Code §43-1 to -71
- Va. Code §2.2-4337 to -4341 (public bonds)
- Va. Code §2.2-4333 and §2.2-4354 (public)
- Va. Code §11-4.6 (private)
- Federal work in Virginia: 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.