Different parties are involved in a construction project. These include the contractor, subcontractor, suppliers and so on. And these parties should be paid.
If anyone is not paid for their service, they can foreclose the property to receive compensation. This is referred to as a lien for labor. To do this, the party should have lien rights. Here is what to know about this matter:
Who can file a lien for labor?
According to Arizona law, “every person who labors or furnishes professional services, materials, machinery, fixtures or tools in the construction, alteration or repair of any building, or other structure or improvement,” has a lien on such a building, structure or improvement.
Therefore, if you offer any service to a construction project, you may have lien rights. Accordingly, you can force the sale of the property to get your compensation.
What can affect your rights?
Despite offering your services to a project, a few issues can affect your rights. For example, if you are required to be a licensed contractor in Arizona but don’t hold a valid license, you may not have lien rights. Further, if you provide professional services but lack a valid certificate of registration issued according to Title 32, Chapter 1, you may not have lien rights.
Additionally, to enforce a lien for labor rights, any person who provides professional services in a construction project should have a contract with the project owner or any party who has an agreement with the owner, such as the contractor, engineer, or architect.
It’s also crucial to send a preliminary notice to the project owner or the party in charge of your payment within the first 20 days of offering your services. Doing this can protect your lien rights.
If you don’t receive your payments after working on a construction project, consider legal help to protect your rights.