Washington mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
Washington lien deadline
Based on the general 90-day period from last furnishing. Exceptions apply — treat this as a planning estimate, not legal advice.
Filing deadline
Claim of Lien must be filed for recording with the county auditor where the property lies within 90 days after the claimant last furnished labor, professional services, materials, or equipment (or the last date employee benefit contributions were due). Punch-list/remedial completion work on the original contract extends the trigger; warranty work does not.
Notice prerequisites
Three preliminary notices exist. (1) Registered contractors dealing directly with owners must give a statutory Notice to Customer disclosure before starting work on residential jobs of four or fewer units of $1,000 or more, and on commercial jobs of $1,000 to under $60,000 - omitting it bars the lien. (2) Anyone who did not contract directly with the owner, other than laborers and subcontractors who contracted directly with the prime contractor, must give the owner a Notice of Right to Claim a Lien. It can be sent at any time, but it protects only what you furnished from 60 days before it was given (10 days on new single-family construction). On a repair or remodel of an existing owner-occupied single-family home, every claimant not in contract with the owner, including subcontractors of the prime, must give the notice, and the lien can be paid only from amounts the owner has not yet paid the prime contractor when the notice is received. (3) Professionals whose work is invisible on inspection should record a Notice of Furnishing Professional Services to keep priority against good-faith purchasers/mortgagees.
Service on the owner
A copy of the recorded Claim of Lien must reach the owner by certified/registered mail or personal service within 14 days of filing. Failure does not invalidate the lien but forfeits attorney fees and costs in foreclosure. Filing comes first.
Enforcement
Foreclosure suit in the Superior Court of the county of the property within 8 months of recording; the true owner must be named or the action fails, and unjoined interest-holders are unaffected. If the claimant keeps working, a fresh lien recorded within 90 days of the actual last work can restart the clock. Discretionary award of fees, title-report and bond costs to the prevailing party.
RCW 60.04 (esp. 60.04.021, .031, .091, .141, .161, .171, .181, .221, .230); registration RCW 18.27; public retainage RCW 60.28; public bonds RCW 39.08.
RCW ch. 60.04 — Mechanics’ and Materialmen’s Liens — published by the Washington State Legislature.
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 public body — present to and file with the board or body that let the contract. RCW 39.08.030(1)(a).
- When — THREE different periods that do not coincide. The bond one is 30 days from completion and acceptance.
- How — None prescribed beyond present-and-file. Read the practical note below.
- If late — Total — no right of action on the bond for any sum. RCW 39.08.030(1)(a).
- Sue by — Retainage: 4 months from filing, and it is self-executing. RCW 60.28.030.
Is there a bond at all?
No threshold for the bond itself -- RCW 39.08.010(1)(a) requires a bond 'Whenever any board, council, commission, trustees, or body acting for the state or any county or municipality or any public body must contract with any person or corporation to do any work.' But there is a small-contract escape that the claimant must check: RCW 39.08.010(3) -- 'On contracts of one hundred fifty thousand dollars or less, at the option of the contractor or the general contractor/construction manager as defined in RCW 39.10.210, the respective public entity may, in lieu of the bond, retain ten percent of the contract amount for a period of thirty days after date of final acceptance, or until receipt of all necessary releases from the department of revenue, the employment security department, and the department of labor and industries and settlement of any liens filed under chapter 60.28 RCW, whichever is later.' RCW 39.08.010(4) also lets the public entity accept an individual surety on contracts of $150,000 or less. Bond AMOUNT: RCW 39.08.030(1)(a) requires the full contract price, except that cities, towns, public transportation benefit areas and passenger-only ferry service districts may by ordinance or resolution fix a lesser amount, but 'the same may not be for a less amount than 25 percent of the contract price'; water-sewer districts must be at the full contract price.
Who can claim on it
BOND -- RCW 39.08.010(1)(a)(ii): the bond is conditioned that the contractor 'Pay all laborers, mechanics, and subcontractors and material suppliers, and all persons who supply such person or persons, or subcontractors, with provisions and supplies for the carrying on of such work.' RCW 39.08.010(1)(b) then flattens the tiers: 'any person or persons performing such services or furnishing material to any subcontractor has the same right under the provisions of such bond as if such work, services, or material was furnished to the original contractor.' The State also has a right of action for taxes, increases and penalties under Titles 50, 51 and 82 RCW. Excluded: RCW 39.08.010(2) -- the chapter does 'not apply to any money loaned or advanced to any such contractor, subcontractor, or other person in the performance of any such work.' RETAINAGE -- RCW 60.28.011(2): 'Every person performing labor or furnishing supplies toward the completion of a public improvement contract has a lien upon moneys reserved by a public body under the provisions of a public improvement contract.' RCW 60.28.011(12)(b) defines 'person' as 'a person or persons, mechanic, subcontractor, or materialperson who performs labor or provides materials for a public improvement contract, and any other person who supplies the person with provisions or supplies for the carrying on of a public improvement contract.'
What notice you owe
BOND: every claimant except the State claiming taxes. There is no privity distinction in RCW 39.08.030 -- a first-tier subcontractor must file the notice of claim exactly as a remote supplier must. RCW 39.08.030(1)(b): 'The 30-day notice requirement under this subsection does not apply to claims made by the state for taxes, increases, and penalties.' RETAINAGE: every claimant must file the lien notice under RCW 60.28.011(2); and IN ADDITION, a claimant that furnishes materials, supplies or equipment must have given the separate RCW 60.28.015 notice to the CONTRACTOR, without which 'no suit or action shall be maintained in any court against the retained percentage.'
Who it goes to
BOND: the public body. RCW 39.08.030(1)(a) requires the claimant to 'present to and file with such board, council, commission, trustees or body acting for the state, county or municipality, or other public body, city, town or district' the notice. Not the prime, not the surety. RETAINAGE lien notice: same route -- RCW 60.28.011(2) requires it be given 'in the manner provided in RCW 39.08.030,' i.e. filed with the public body. RCW 60.28.015 notice: the CONTRACTOR (the prime), by registered or certified mail or by personal service with a signed receipt.
By when
THREE different periods, and they do not coincide. (1) BOND, RCW 39.08.030(1)(a): no right of action 'unless within 30 days from and after the completion of the contract with an acceptance of the work by the affirmative action of the board, council, commission, trustees, officer, or body acting for the state, county or municipality, or other public body, city, town or district' the claimant files the notice. Two conditions must both occur -- completion AND affirmative acceptance -- before the 30 days start. (2) RETAINAGE, RCW 60.28.011(2): 'the notice of the lien of the claimant must be given within forty-five days of completion of the contract work, and in the manner provided in RCW 39.08.030.' Forty-five days, and from completion of the contract work, not from acceptance. (3) RETAINAGE on a GC/CM job with early subcontract acceptance, RCW 60.28.011(11): after the public body gives public notice of acceptance of a completed subcontract, there is 'a forty-five day period for giving notice of liens,' and 'Claims against the retained funds after the forty-five day period are not valid.' The RCW 60.28.015 supplier notice to the contractor has NO stated deadline; instead it is retrospectively limited -- it 'shall cover the material, supplies, or equipment furnished or leased during the sixty days preceding the giving of such notice as well as all subsequent materials, supplies, or equipment furnished or leased,' so late notice silently truncates the claim to the last 60 days plus everything after.
How it must be served
BOND: none prescribed beyond 'present to and file with' the public body -- no mail method, no service rule. Note the practical consequence: filing, not mailing, is what counts, so proof of receipt by the public body is the claimant's problem. RETAINAGE lien notice: 'in the manner provided in RCW 39.08.030,' i.e. the same filing. RCW 60.28.015 notice to the contractor is the only one with a prescribed method: 'by (1) mailing the same by registered or certified mail in an envelope addressed to the contractor, or (2) by serving the same personally upon the contractor or the contractor's representative and obtaining evidence of such service in the form of a receipt or other acknowledgment signed by the contractor or the contractor's representative.'
What it has to say
BOND and RETAINAGE lien notice: the statutory form, reproduced verbatim in noticeForm below, requires the public body's name, the claimant's name, the sum claimed, the names of the principal and surety on the bond, and a brief description of the work. RCW 39.08.030(1)(b): 'Such notice must be signed by the person or corporation making the claim or giving the notice, and the notice, after being presented and filed, is a public record open to inspection by any person.' RCW 60.28.015 notice contents: it must state 'in substance and effect that such person, firm, or corporation is and/or has furnished materials and supplies, or equipment for use thereon, with the name of the subcontractor ordering the same, and that a lien against the retained percentage may be claimed for all materials and supplies, or equipment furnished by such person, firm, or corporation for use thereon.'
The form the statute prescribes
To (here insert the name of the state, county or municipality or other public body, city, town or district): Notice is hereby given that the undersigned (here insert the name of the laborer, mechanic or subcontractor, or material supplier, or person claiming to have furnished labor, materials or provisions for or upon such contract or work) has a claim in the sum of . . . . . . dollars (here insert the amount) against the bond taken from . . . . . . (here insert the name of the principal and surety or sureties upon such bond) for the work of . . . . . . (here insert a brief mention or description of the work concerning which said bond was taken). (here to be signed) . . . .
If the notice is late, or never given
BOND: total. RCW 39.08.030(1)(a) -- 'such persons do not have any right of action on such bond for any sum whatever, unless within 30 days ... [the claimant] must present to and file with [the public body] a notice in writing in substance as follows.' RETAINAGE: also total, and by two independent routes -- the lien notice itself (RCW 60.28.011(2); and on GC/CM jobs RCW 60.28.011(11), 'Claims against the retained funds after the forty-five day period are not valid'), and the supplier notice to the contractor (RCW 60.28.015, 'no suit or action shall be maintained in any court against the retained percentage to recover for such material, supplies, or equipment or any part thereof unless the provisions of this section have been complied with'). Losing one remedy does not lose the other: RCW 60.28.030 closes with 'The four months limitation shall not, however, be construed as a limitation upon the right to sue the contractor or his or her surety where no right of foreclosure is sought against the fund.'
When the suit clock starts
RETAINAGE: from the FILING OF THE CLAIM. RCW 60.28.030: 'Any person, firm, or corporation filing a claim against the reserve fund shall have four months from the time of the filing thereof in which to bring an action to foreclose the lien.' BOND: chapter 39.08 RCW prescribes no limitation period at all. The bond is a written contract, so the general six-year period of RCW 4.16.040(1) ('An action upon a contract in writing, or liability express or implied arising out of a written agreement') is the ordinarily applicable limit, running from accrual under general principles.
How long you have to sue
RETAINAGE: four months from filing the claim, and it is self-executing -- RCW 60.28.030: 'If a claimant fails to bring action to foreclose his or her lien within the four months period, the reserve fund shall be discharged from the lien of his or her claim and the funds shall be paid to the contractor.' BOND: no chapter-specific period; six years under RCW 4.16.040(1) as a written contract. There is also a floor, not a ceiling, on the bond side: RCW 39.08.030(1)(b) allows the claimant to recover 'attorneys' fees in such sum as the court adjudges reasonable,' BUT 'attorneys' fees are not allowed in any suit or action brought or instituted before the expiration of thirty days following the date of filing of the notice.' Suing too soon costs the fee award.
Where suit is brought
RETAINAGE: RCW 60.28.030 -- 'The lien shall be enforced by action in the superior court of the county where filed.' The public body is relieved of pleading: it 'shall not be required to make any detailed answer to any complaint or other pleading but need only certify to the court' the contractor's name, the work, the contract date, the date of completion and final acceptance, the amount retained, the taxes certified, and all claims filed with their dates, claimants and amounts; that certification 'shall operate to arrest payment' of the funds needed to cover them. Prevailing claimant recovers attorney fees. BOND: no court or venue prescribed in chapter 39.08 RCW.
The trap
The two clocks look alike and are not: 30 days from completion AND affirmative acceptance for the bond notice, 45 days from completion of the contract work for the retainage lien -- and a materials or equipment supplier that never sent the separate RCW 60.28.015 notice to the prime cannot touch the retainage no matter how timely its lien notice was, while a claimant who does perfect the retainage lien loses it outright four months later unless it has filed a foreclosure action.
The act itself
No popular name. Washington gives the claimant TWO separate statutory remedies on the same public job, with different recipients, different clocks and different consequences: (1) the CONTRACT BOND under chapter 39.08 RCW, and (2) the LIEN ON THE RETAINED PERCENTAGE under chapter 60.28 RCW. They are not alternatives to be chosen between -- a careful claimant perfects both, because each can fail for reasons that do not defeat the other.
Where this comes from
BOND: RCW 39.08.010 (bond required; conditions; retainage in lieu of bond on small contracts), RCW 39.08.030 (conditions of bond; notice of claim; action on bond; attorneys' fees), RCW 39.08.100 (marine vessel alternative security). RETAINAGE: RCW 60.28.011 (retained percentage; lien created; 45-day notice; bond in lieu of retainage; definitions), RCW 60.28.015 (supplier's written notice to the contractor), RCW 60.28.021 (release of excess over lien claims), RCW 60.28.030 (foreclosure of lien; four-month limitation; attorney fees).
RCW ch. 60.04 — Mechanics’ and Materialmen’s Liens — published by the Washington State Legislature.
Statutory summary as of 29 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in Washington.