Virginia mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
Virginia lien deadline
Filing deadline
Memorandum of Mechanic's Lien filed with the Circuit Court clerk of the city/county where the property lies, by the earlier of (a) 90 days after the last day of the month in which the claimant last furnished labor/materials or (b) 90 days after project completion or termination of the work. Remedial/warranty work does not extend the trigger. GC memoranda must be accompanied by a certification of mailing a copy to the owner filed simultaneously.
Notice prerequisites
No general pre-work notice. Exception: on 1-2 family dwellings where the building permit names a mechanic's lien agent, every claimant must send written notice (registered/certified mail or hand delivery) to that agent within 30 days of first furnishing, or within 30 days of the permit's issuance if work began before the permit was issued, including its contractor license number and permit info; a late notice limits the lien to work after the notice date.
Service on the owner
GC: mail the memorandum to the owner and file the certificate of mailing at the same time as the memorandum. Subcontractor: give the owner statutory notice of the lien filing (best practice simultaneously). Sub-subcontractor: written notice of amount and character of claim to both owner and GC. Owner liability is frozen at what it owes the GC when notice arrives, so delay can leave the lien worthless.
Enforcement
Suit in equity where the property (or an owner) is located, by the later of 6 months after the memorandum is recorded or 60 days after completion/termination of the building. All necessary parties (owners, GC, deed-of-trust trustees and beneficiaries) must be joined within the 6-month period or the suit is subject to dismissal; a verified itemized account must accompany the complaint.
Va. Code 43-1 et seq. (esp. 43-4, 43-4.01, 43-5, 43-7, 43-9, 43-17, 43-21, 43-22); misapplication of funds 43-13.
Va. Code Title 43, Ch. 1 — Mechanics’ and Materialmen’s Liens — published by the Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
Work on Public Property
No mechanics lien attaches to public property in any state. On a government job the remedy is the prime contractor’s payment bond, and it runs on its own act with its own deadlines — not the lien deadlines above.
- Who — The prime contractor, and only the prime. § 2.2-4341(B).
- When — 90 days from your own last work. § 2.2-4341(B).
- How — Registered or certified mail. § 2.2-4341(B).
- If late — Loss of the bond claim for everything except retainage.
- Sue by — 1 year. § 2.2-4341(C).
Is there a bond at all?
Sec. 2.2-4337(A): bonds are required 'Upon the award of any (i) nontransportation-related public construction contract exceeding $500,000 awarded to any prime contractor or (ii) transportation-related project authorized pursuant to Article 2 (Sec. 33.2-208 et seq.) of Chapter 2 of Title 33.2 exceeding $350,000 that is partially or wholly funded by the Commonwealth.' So $500,000 for ordinary public construction, $350,000 for Commonwealth-funded transportation projects. Sec. 2.2-4337(A)(2) requires 'A payment bond in the sum of the contract amount,' with an exception where the contract is an indefinite delivery or quantity contract with a LOCAL public body and that locality has adopted an ordinance under subsection G, in which case the bonds may instead equal 'the dollar amount of the individual tasks identified in the underlying contract.' Sec. 2.2-4337(E) preserves the public body's discretion to require bonds below the thresholds, so the absence of a statutory duty does not mean the absence of a bond -- always read the bid documents. Sec. 2.2-4338 permits alternative security (certified check, cashier's check or cash escrow in the face amount; or, with Attorney General or local attorney approval, a personal bond, property bond, or bank or savings institution letter of credit), except that 'The provisions of this section shall not apply to the Department of Transportation.'
Who can claim on it
Sec. 2.2-4337(A)(2): the payment bond 'shall be for the protection of claimants who have and fulfill contracts to supply labor or materials to the prime contractor to whom the contract was awarded, or to any subcontractors, in furtherance of the work provided for in the contract.' That is first tier and second tier and no further -- a supplier to a supplier is outside it. Sec. 2.2-4341(A) gives the action to a claimant 'who has a direct contractual relationship with the contractor'; Sec. 2.2-4341(B) gives it to a claimant 'who has a direct contractual relationship with any subcontractor but who has no contractual relationship, express or implied, with the contractor.' Sec. 2.2-4337(F) separately preserves the prime's right to require its own subcontractors to furnish payment bonds down the chain, which is a contractual, not statutory, remedy.
What notice you owe
ONLY the non-privity claimant. A Sec. 2.2-4341(A) claimant -- one in a direct contractual relationship with the prime -- owes NO notice at all; it need only wait out the 90-day non-payment period and sue. The Sec. 2.2-4341(B) claimant -- one who contracted with a subcontractor and has 'no contractual relationship, express or implied, with the contractor' -- 'may bring an action on the contractor's payment bond ONLY IF he has given written notice to the contractor' (emphasis added). That written notice is the entire extra burden; Virginia imposes nothing else on the remote claimant -- no registry filing, no notice to the public body, no notice to the surety.
Who it goes to
The prime contractor, and only the prime contractor. Sec. 2.2-4341(B): 'written notice to the contractor.' The public body is not a recipient; neither is the surety. Sec. 2.2-4341(A) adds, for the suit itself, that 'The obligee named in the bond need not be named a party to the action.'
By when
90 days, running from the claimant's OWN last work: 'within 90 days from the day on which the claimant performed the last of the labor or furnished the last of the materials for which he claims payment' (Sec. 2.2-4341(B)). Not from completion of the project, not from acceptance, not from first furnishing.
How it must be served
Prescribed and narrow. Sec. 2.2-4341(B): 'Notice to the contractor shall be served by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope addressed to such contractor at any place where his office is regularly maintained for the transaction of business.' Registered or certified mail only; addressed to a regular business office.
What it has to say
Sec. 2.2-4341(B): the notice must state 'with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the name of the person for whom the work was performed or to whom the material was furnished.' Two elements only, and the standard is 'substantial accuracy,' not exactness.
If the notice is late, or never given
Loss of the bond claim for everything except retainage. The permission in Sec. 2.2-4341(B) is conditional ('may bring an action ... only if he has given written notice'), so a remote claimant who misses the 90 days has no action on the bond. But the same subsection ends: 'Claims for sums withheld as retainages with respect to labor performed or materials furnished, shall not be subject to the time limitations stated in this subsection.' Retainage survives the blown 90-day notice.
When the suit clock starts
The claimant's own last work: 'the day on which the person bringing such action last performed labor or last furnished or supplied materials' (Sec. 2.2-4341(C)). Note that this is the same trigger as the notice, so the two clocks start together rather than in sequence.
How long you have to sue
One year. Sec. 2.2-4341(C): 'Any action on a payment bond shall be brought within one year after the day on which the person bringing such action last performed labor or last furnished or supplied materials.' Separately, Sec. 2.2-4341(A) bars suit until the claimant 'has not been paid in full before the expiration of 90 days after the day on which the claimant performed the last of the labor or furnished the last of the materials.' Contrast the PERFORMANCE bond, Sec. 2.2-4340: 'No action against the surety on a performance bond shall be brought unless within five years after completion of the contract' -- do not borrow that period for a payment bond claim.
Where suit is brought
Not prescribed in Sec. 2.2-4341. The section says only that the obligee named in the bond need not be a party. No court or venue is specified in the payment bond section.
The trap
Both Virginia clocks run from the claimant's own last day of work rather than in sequence, so the retainage carve-out in Sec. 2.2-4341(B) rescues a late NOTICE but not a late SUIT -- the one-year bar in subsection (C) has no retainage exception, and a remote claimant relying on the retainage language can preserve its notice and still lose the claim at month thirteen.
The act itself
No popular name. The payment bond provisions of the Virginia Public Procurement Act (VPPA), Article 3 of Chapter 43 of Title 2.2 ('Bonds').
Where this comes from
Va. Code Secs. 2.2-4337 through 2.2-4341. Sec. 2.2-4337 (bonds required; thresholds); Sec. 2.2-4338 (alternative forms of security); Sec. 2.2-4340 (action on performance bond); Sec. 2.2-4341 (actions on payment bonds; waiver of right to sue). Exemptions from the VPPA generally: Sec. 2.2-4343.
Va. Code Title 43, Ch. 1 — Mechanics’ and Materialmen’s Liens — published by the Virginia Division of Legislative Automated Systems.
Statutory summary as of 29 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in Virginia.