Preliminary notices in Washington
Subcontractors in Washington have no general preliminary notice in our summary, but material and equipment suppliers do: a notice to owner within 60 days after your first day furnishing labor or materials. Material and equipment suppliers. Subs on residential work need a notice too.
Lien filing deadline in Washington
If the GC hired you, you have 90 days after your last day furnishing labor or materials to record a mechanics lien in Washington, 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.
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.
Deadline to sue on the lien
To keep the lien alive you must sue to enforce it within 8 months after recording the lien. If you record on the last possible day, that is about 332 days after your last day on the job, about 33 days shorter than the national median of 365 days. 22 of the 48 jurisdictions we track have a shorter overall time to sue and 25 have a longer one.
Because the clock counts from recording, recording early also moves the lawsuit deadline earlier.
How Washington 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)
- Washington: 90 daysNational median: 90 days
- Sue to enforce (from last day)
- Washington: 332 daysNational median: 365 days
Public and federal projects
Public property can't be liened. On state and local public work in Washington, subcontractors and suppliers protect themselves with these payment bond steps instead:
| Step | Who | Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Supplier notice to the GC | Material and equipment suppliers hired by another subcontractor or supplier | 10 days after your first day furnishing labor or materials |
| Payment bond claim | Subcontractors and suppliers | 30 days after completion of the project (verify) |
| Retainage claim | Subcontractors and suppliers | 45 days after completion of the project |
Payment bond claim: within 30 days after the agency accepts the work.
Retainage claim: within 45 days after completion and acceptance.
Federal jobs in Washington 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 Washington
On public work the cap is 5%, the most common cap among states that set one. Up to 5%, held in escrow or a trust fund.
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.
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 | After completion and acceptance, the 45-day claim period and state tax clearances. | 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 | 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 roofing sub in Washington
A roofing subcontractor hired by the GC on a private elementary school addition in Washington starts work on March 2, 2026 and last furnishes on July 17, 2026. The project is completed on August 28, 2026. Run through Washington's rules, those dates give:
| Deadline | Date | Counted from |
|---|---|---|
| Record the lien | October 15, 2026 | Last furnishing |
| Sue to enforce the lien | June 15, 2027 | Lien recording |
The first deadline on the calendar is “Record the lien” on October 15, 2026.
Open the lien deadline calculator for Washington 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 (WA): every notice, lien and suit date for your role, tier and job type, including public bond claims.
- Retainage and prompt payment rules (WA): 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
- Rev. Code Wash. §60.04
- Rev. Code Wash. §39.08 and §60.28 (public)
- Rev. Code Wash. §60.28 and §39.76 (public)
- Federal work in Washington: 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.