Washington Notice of Right to Claim a Lien
RCW 60.04.031 puts the notice duty on anyone furnishing professional services, materials or equipment, and Washington measures the 60 day window backward from the day you serve it rather than forward from first delivery. Attorney review available.
Find out where you stand in Washington
What is your role on the construction project?
DocDraft provides document preparation, not legal advice.
Introduction
Every person furnishing professional services, materials or equipment for the improvement of real property is who RCW 60.04.031 puts under this duty, and Washington then does something with the clock that catches out-of-state credit managers every year. There is no date by which the notice must go out. Subsection (1) says the notice may be given at any time, and then protects only the work supplied after the date which is 60 days before the notice is mailed by certified or registered mail or delivered in person. The window therefore runs backward from the day you serve, not forward from your first delivery, and it keeps sliding: a supplier who sends nothing for five months has not missed a deadline, it has simply written off the first three months of material. On new construction of a single-family residence the look-back is 10 days rather than 60, which leaves a lumber yard almost no cushion at all. Three classes are excused outright by subsection (2): anyone who contracted directly with the owner or the owner's common law agent, laborers whose claim of lien is based solely on performing labor, and subcontractors who contracted directly with the prime contractor. That third exemption is wider than most states allow and is the reason a first-tier Washington sub often has nothing to send, while the yard supplying that sub does. The notice goes to the owner or reputed owner, and also to the prime contractor where that contractor is in compliance with RCW 19.27.095, 60.04.230 and 60.04.261, unless you contracted with the prime directly. Subsection (4) prints the form itself, captioned NOTICE TO OWNER, and requires lower-case and upper-case ten-point type. Subsection (6) is the sanction: a lien authorized by the chapter shall not be enforced unless the claimant has complied with this section. DocDraft builds your Washington notice from your facts, with attorney review available before you serve it.
Key Things to Know
- 1
RCW 60.04.031(1) aims the duty at every person furnishing professional services, materials or equipment for the improvement of real property, who must give the owner or reputed owner notice in writing of the right to claim a lien. Pure labor is outside it, and so is anyone who signed with the owner.
- 2
Washington has no filing deadline for this notice. The statute says it may be given at any time, and then protects only work supplied after the date which is 60 days before the notice is mailed by certified or registered mail or personally delivered, so the window measures backward from service.
- 3
On new construction of a single-family residence that look-back shrinks to 10 days before the notice is given. A supplier on a new house build that waits a fortnight has already lost the first load.
- 4
The owner or reputed owner always gets it. The prime contractor also gets a copy where the prime contractor is in compliance with RCW 19.27.095, 60.04.230 and 60.04.261, unless the potential lien claimant contracted directly with that prime contractor.
- 5
Subsection (2) excuses three classes: persons who contract directly with the owner or the owner's common law agent, laborers whose claim of lien is based solely on performing labor, and subcontractors who contract for the improvement directly with the prime contractor, except on an existing owner-occupied residence remodel.
- 6
Only two delivery routes date the window: certified or registered mail to the owner or reputed owner, or personal delivery with evidence of delivery in the form of a receipt or other acknowledgment signed by the owner, or an affidavit of service. Ordinary first class mail dates nothing.
- 7
Subsection (4) prints the form and requires the notice to be substantially in it, in lower-case and upper-case ten-point type, carrying the NOTICE TO OWNER caption and the THIS IS NOT A LIEN paragraph. Subsection (6) then says a lien under the chapter shall not be enforced unless the claimant complied with the section.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Preliminary Notice in Washington, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Preliminary Notice guide walks through them.
Open the Preliminary Notice guideCustomize your Preliminary Notice Template with DocDraft
Washington Requirements for Preliminary Notice
Who RCW 60.04.031 Puts Under the Duty
Every person furnishing professional services, materials, or equipment for the improvement of real property must give the owner or reputed owner notice in writing of the right to claim a lien. That is suppliers, equipment lessors, design professionals and lower-tier subcontractors. Labor alone is outside the duty.
The Sixty Day Window Runs Backward From Service
Subsection (1) lets the notice be given at any time, but it protects only work supplied after the date which is sixty days before the notice is mailed by certified or registered mail or personally delivered. Nothing is ever late in Washington. Waiting simply slides the window forward and strips protection from your earliest deliveries.
Ten Days Instead of Sixty on New Single-Family Construction
On new construction of a single-family residence the notice protects only services, materials or equipment supplied after a date which is ten days before the notice is given. A supplier to a new house build therefore has to serve within days of its first delivery to keep that delivery inside the window.
Recipients: The Owner, and a Complying Prime Contractor
The owner or reputed owner receives it in every case. The prime contractor also receives a copy where that contractor is in compliance with RCW 19.27.095, 60.04.230 and 60.04.261, unless the claimant contracted directly with the prime. Washington does not list the construction lender as a recipient of this notice.
Three Classes Subsection (2) Excuses
Notices are not required of persons who contract directly with the owner or the owner's common law agent, laborers whose claim of lien is based solely on performing labor, or subcontractors who contract for the improvement of real property directly with the prime contractor. The third exemption is withdrawn on an existing owner-occupied residence remodel.
Certified or Registered Mail, or Personal Delivery With Evidence
Two routes only. Mail by certified or registered mail to the owner or reputed owner, or deliver or serve personally and obtain evidence of delivery in the form of a receipt or other acknowledgment signed by the owner or reputed owner, or an affidavit of service. The date of that service is the anchor for the whole look-back calculation.
The Statutory NOTICE TO OWNER Form, in Ten-Point Type
Subsection (4) requires the notice to include the listed information and to be substantially in the statutory form, using lower-case and upper-case ten-point type where appropriate. It carries the NOTICE TO OWNER caption, the PROTECT YOURSELF FROM PAYING TWICE line, a THIS IS NOT A LIEN paragraph that must tell the owner laborers may lien without any notice, separate owner-occupier and commercial paragraphs, and a reverse side on joint checks and lien releases.
Owner-Occupied Remodels, and the Recordable Notice of Furnishing
On the repair, alteration or remodel of an existing owner-occupied single-family residence or appurtenant garage, a claimant who did not contract with the owner-occupier must serve and is then limited to amounts not yet paid to the prime contractor when the notice is received, which subsection (3)(b) defines as actual receipt or three days after mailing by registered or certified mail, excluding weekends and legal holidays. Separately, subsection (5) lets a design professional record a NOTICE OF FURNISHING PROFESSIONAL SERVICES where no improvement has commenced and the services are not visible on site. Subsection (6) makes compliance a condition of enforcing the lien at all.