Mechanics Liens on a Roof Job: How Not to Pay Twice
Collect lien releases as you pay. In California, a subcontractor, supplier or laborer who isn't paid for work on your roof can record a mechanics lien against your house even if you've paid your roofer in full, which is how owners end up paying twice. The protection is in the paperwork: subcontractors and suppliers have to send you a preliminary notice to keep their full lien rights, and after each payment you can ask the roofer for unconditional lien releases for the work you've paid for and hold the next payment until you get them (Business and Professions Code 7159.5). Liens also run on deadlines: the roofer has until 90 days after the job is complete to record one, or 60 days after you record a notice of completion if that comes first, and a recorded lien expires unless the claimant sues within 90 days. This page explains the law; it isn't legal advice about a particular lien.
How you can end up paying twice
Every home improvement contract has to carry the same warning, and it says it plainly: anyone who helps improve your property and isn't paid may record a mechanics lien, and "even if you pay your contractor in full, unpaid subcontractors, suppliers, and laborers who helped to improve your property may record mechanics liens and sue you in court to foreclose the lien" (Business and Professions Code 7159). A lien is for the lesser of the reasonable value of the claimant's work and the price that claimant agreed to, and it isn't limited by the contract price for the job (Civil Code 8430). If, before work starts, you file the contract with the county recorder and record the contractor's payment bond for at least half the price, a court can limit lien enforcement to what you still owe the contractor (8600).
On a roof job, the people who can lien are the roofer, any subcontractor, the roofing supply house that delivered the shingles, underlayment and flashing, and the crew.
Preliminary notices: who sends one and when
A subcontractor or supplier has to give you a preliminary notice before it can record a lien (Civil Code 8200). The notice isn't a lien; it tells you that party has lien rights on your project.
- Timing. It's due within 20 days after the party first provides work. A late notice still counts, but only for work done in the 20 days before it was served and after (8204).
- Who doesn't send one to you. Laborers don't have to give one, and your roofer, who contracts with you directly, only gives one to a construction lender, if there is one (8200(e)).
- What to do with them. The contract's lien warning tells you to get a list of the subcontractors and suppliers from your contractor, find out when each started or delivered, then wait 20 days and watch for the notices before paying for their part.
Releases and joint checks
California has four statutory lien release forms, and a release that doesn't follow the form is unenforceable:
- Conditional waiver and release on progress payment and on final payment (Civil Code 8132, 8136). They take effect only when the payment is actually received, which is why a check is exchanged for the conditional form.
- Unconditional waiver and release on progress payment and on final payment (8134, 8138). They're enforceable once signed, even if the claimant wasn't paid, so they come after the money has cleared.
The contract law backs you up: after any payment, and before the next, the contractor has to get you, if you ask, full and unconditional releases from any potential lien claimant for the work you've paid for, and you can withhold further payments until you have them (7159.5). The lien warning also suggests paying with a joint check, made out to the contractor and the subcontractor or supplier who sent you a preliminary notice, so both have to endorse it. Paying in stages that match the work, as the contract law requires, keeps the amount at risk small; how payments must be scheduled is in California roofing contracts: what the law requires.
The deadlines
Lien rights run out on fixed dates, and the owner can shorten some of them.
| Step | Deadline | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Preliminary notice | Within 20 days after the claimant first provides work | Civil Code 8204 |
| Notice of completion (optional, by the owner) | Recorded within 15 days after completion; a copy goes within 10 days to the direct contractor and everyone who sent a preliminary notice | 8182, 8190 |
| Your roofer's lien | After finishing its contract, and before the earlier of 90 days after completion or 60 days after a notice of completion | 8412 |
| A subcontractor's or supplier's lien | After it stops working, and before the earlier of 90 days after completion or 30 days after a notice of completion | 8414 |
| Lawsuit to enforce the lien | Within 90 days after the lien is recorded, or the lien expires | 8460 |
"Completion" includes actual completion, the owner using the house after work stops, or work stopping for 60 days in a row (8180). If you record a notice of completion but don't send the required copies, it doesn't shorten the deadline for the people you didn't send it to (8190).
If a lien is recorded anyway
A lien that's paid gets released. One you dispute can be cleared from the title by recording a lien release bond from an admitted surety for 125 percent of the claim, which moves the dispute from the house to the bond (Civil Code 8424). And a lien whose claimant doesn't sue within 90 days of recording it expires (8460). The details of a dispute are a question for a lawyer.
What we've seen
On a Simi Valley project signed in December 2020, covering solar, a re-roof and a service panel upgrade, the homeowner's reviewing engineer asked for a contract clause requiring unconditional lien releases from every supplier and subcontractor; we accepted it before signing, and each payment stage was held until the reviewer signed off on the work in front of it (the Simi Valley case). On a 2022 Panorama City solar job, the unconditional lien release on final payment went to the owner the day the meter was set (the Panorama City case).
Frequently asked
Can a roofing supplier put a lien on my house if I paid the roofer?
How long does a roofer have to file a lien in California?
What's the difference between a conditional and an unconditional lien release?
Do I have to record a notice of completion?
What if I never received a preliminary notice?
Related reading
Sources & methodology
Code sections, rules and figures on this page come from the primary sources below. Codes, local requirements and product terms change; each was verified October 8, 2026.
- California Business and Professions Code §7159 (Mechanics Lien Warning in the contract)
- California Business and Professions Code §7159.5 (lien releases with payments)
- California Civil Code §8200 and §8204 (preliminary notice)
- California Civil Code §8132, §8134, §8136 and §8138 (waiver and release forms)
- California Civil Code §8180, §8182 and §8190 (completion; notice of completion)
- California Civil Code §8412 and §8414 (time to record a lien)
- California Civil Code §8424 (lien release bond), §8430 (lien amount), §8460 (enforcement) and §8600 (payment bond)
We hand over the lien releases with the payments
Call (323) 844-7777. We put the payment stages in the contract, tie each one to work done or materials delivered, and give you the lien release for each payment you make. Have ready the address and any preliminary notices you've already received.
Prepared by Cali Energy, October 8, 2026. This article is for general educational purposes only and is not legal, tax, financial, engineering, or utility advice. Rates, incentives, codes, permit requirements, equipment specifications, prices, and program terms may change; figures and timelines are estimates, not guarantees. Confirm current requirements with the applicable utility, AHJ, program administrator, manufacturer, or a licensed professional. See our Content Disclaimer. Cali Energy · 19201 Parthenia St, Unit E, Northridge, CA 91324 · CSLB #1032379 (B, C-10, C-39)