How to file a mechanics lien in Utah

Step by step

14 steps for a subcontractor in Utah.

1. 1

   Step 1: Confirm your contractor license is current before you sign

   Before you sign the contract, and keep it current through the whole job and through the day you sue.

   Utah bars an unlicensed contractor from bringing or keeping alive any court action to collect money for work that needed a license. A perfectly filed, perfectly timed lien is worth nothing if you cannot get into court to foreclose it.

   Where it goes

   Utah Division of Professional Licensing (DOPL), Utah Department of Commerce.

   How

   Check your license status with the Utah Division of Professional Licensing. When you sue, you must plead AND prove you were properly licensed both on the day the contract was signed and on the day your claim arose.

   Proof to keep

   Copies of your license showing the classification and the effective dates covering both the contract date and the nonpayment date.

   What the document must contain

   • Proof you held the right license classification when the contract was signed
   • Proof you held it when the cause of action arose (when you were not paid)

   If you miss it: You cannot commence or maintain any action in a Utah court to collect the money. The lien cannot be foreclosed.

   Utah Code § 58-55-604(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Find out whether this is a government job before you mobilize

   Before you start work.

   Utah gives you NO mechanics lien on a government project — state, county, city, school district. Utah Code § 38-1a-103 takes government projects out of the lien chapter. On those jobs your only security is a payment bond, and since 6 May 2026 the state's Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) is no longer required to obtain a payment or performance bond on contracts it administers, and the usual direct claim against the government entity for failing to get a bond does not apply to DFCM contracts. On a DFCM state building job there may be no lien, no bond and no statutory claim against the State.

   Where it goes

   The public owner or awarding agency (public jobs). The property owner or general contractor (private commercial jobs over $50,000).

   How

   Ask the awarding agency in writing, before you mobilize, whether a payment bond was obtained and ask for a copy. On a private commercial job, a payment bond is required if the original contract exceeds $50,000, and the owner is personally liable up to the contract price if they failed to get one.

   Proof to keep

   Your written request and the agency's or owner's written answer, plus a copy of the bond if one exists.

   What the document must contain

   • A copy of the payment bond, or a written answer that none exists

   If you miss it: You mobilize on a job with no lien rights and possibly no bond, and you find out only after you are not paid.

   Utah Code § 38-1a-103; § 63G-6a-1103(5)(b); § 14-1-19(5); § 14-2-1(2); § 14-2-2(1)(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: File your Preliminary Notice on the State Construction Registry within 20 days of your first day of work

   No later than 20 days after the day you first provide construction work on the property. For a supplier, the 20 days run from your FIRST delivery to the job, not from each delivery.

   This is the single most important thing you do in Utah, and it is the step most out-of-state contractors get wrong. Every claimant has to file it — including the general contractor who signed with the owner, and including individual laborers. Utah has no privity exemption. One notice covers everything you do under that one original contract; if you work under two separate original contracts on the same project, you file one for each. Filing early also sets the lien priority date for everyone on the job — a construction lien relates back to the very first preliminary notice filed on the project.

   Where it goes

   State Construction Registry (SCR), run by the Utah Division of Professional Licensing — secure.utah.gov/scr.

   How

   Electronic filing on the State Construction Registry. There is no paper option and nothing is mailed. If the general contractor already filed, you can link to their filing by entry number, which is the safest way to get the property and owner details right. Many GCs post a QR code on the job site that pre-fills your filing.

   Proof to keep

   The SCR entry number and the filing confirmation, showing the filing date. Screenshot it and put it in the job file on day one.

   What the document must contain

   • Your name, address, telephone number and email
   • The name and address of the party that hired you
   • The name of the record or reputed owner
   • The name of the original contractor for the work you are providing under
   • The address of the property, or a description of where the project is
   • The county the property is in
   • One of: the tax parcel ID number of every parcel in the project; the entry number of a previously filed notice of construction loan; the entry number of an earlier preliminary notice on the same project that carries the parcel numbers; or the entry number of the building permit

   If you miss it: You have no construction lien at all. If you file late, the notice does not reach backwards — you may not lien for ANY work you provided before the date five days AFTER you file. A sub who files on day 60 of a nine-month job has written off the first two months plus five more days. And a preliminary notice has NO effect whatsoever if you file it more than 10 days after a Notice of Completion has been filed. Separately, an owner who spots that you never filed can send you a certified-mail demand to withdraw your lien, give you 10 business days, and then get it wiped out in an expedited court proceeding — with your costs and the owner's attorney fees against you.

   Utah Code § 38-1a-501(1)(a), (1)(c)(ii), (1)(d), (1)(e), (1)(h), (3); § 38-1a-503(1); § 38-1a-805(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: On a government job, file a preliminary notice to protect your bond claim

   By the later of 20 days after you start work, or 20 days after a Notice of Commencement is filed if your work started before that filing. Filing by 20 days from your first day is the safe, early date.

   There is no lien to protect on a government job — this notice preserves your claim on the payment bond. It is the same registry, a different statute. If you contracted directly with the owner or owner-builder, or you are an individual laborer paid wages, you are exempt. Temporary labor services, professional employer organizations and other labor-supplying entities are NOT exempt. And if no Notice of Commencement was filed within 15 days of work starting, no preliminary notice is required at all — but filing anyway costs little and removes the argument.

   Where it goes

   State Construction Registry — secure.utah.gov/scr.

   How

   Electronic filing on the State Construction Registry. Note that a Notice of Commencement exists only on government jobs. There is no Notice of Commencement on a private project in Utah — do not build your private-job routine around one.

   Proof to keep

   The SCR entry number and filing confirmation with its date.

   What the document must contain

   • The government project-identifying information
   • Your name, address and telephone number
   • The name and address of the party that hired you
   • The name of the record or reputed owner
   • The name of the original contractor you are working under
   • The address of the property or a description of where it is

   If you miss it: You cannot maintain a claim for compensation earned for work provided before the date five days after you actually file, except against the party you contracted with directly.

   Utah Code § 38-1b-202(1), (4), (5), (6), (8); § 38-1a-102(23)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Watch the registry for a Notice of Completion — it can cut your deadline in half

   From the day you file your preliminary notice until you record your lien.

   This is the lever the other side pulls in Utah, and it is the one that costs contractors their liens. The owner, the general contractor, the lender, the surety or the title company may each file a Notice of Completion with the registry once the job reaches final completion. The moment one is filed, your window to record a lien drops from 180 days to 90 days from that filing — and any preliminary notice filed more than 10 days after it is worthless. No one is required to call you. The statute sets no deadline for when they can file it. The good news: when you filed your preliminary notice, you were automatically treated as having requested notification of later filings on that project, so the registry will email you — if the address you gave it is correct and still monitored.

   Where it goes

   State Construction Registry — secure.utah.gov/scr/search/index.html.

   How

   Confirm the email address on your SCR filing is a monitored inbox, not a person who has left. You can also search the registry directly by tax parcel ID for private jobs (entry number for government jobs) and check the project at least monthly.

   Proof to keep

   Your dated registry searches, and the registry's notification emails. Keep the email showing the date any Notice of Completion was filed — that date starts your 90 days.

   What the document must contain

   • A monitored email address on file with the registry for each project

   If you miss it: You calendar 180 days, a Notice of Completion goes in on the completion date, and your lien deadline quietly expires 90 days early. There is no cure.

   Utah Code § 38-1a-507(1); § 38-1a-502(1)(a)(ii); § 38-1a-501(1)(d); § 38-1a-204(1), (2)(c)(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: If an Intent to Complete is filed on a big commercial job, file your Remaining to Complete within 20 days

   No later than 20 days after the day the owner or general contractor files a notice of intent to obtain final completion.

   On a commercial, non-residential job where the contract runs more than 120 days, the price is over $500,000, and nobody obtained a payment bond, the owner or GC must file a notice of intent to obtain final completion at least 45 days before a Notice of Completion can go in. That filing starts a 20-day clock for you to amend your preliminary notice with a balance statement. On the registry these are labelled 'Intent to Complete' and 'Remaining to Complete'. Missing it does not kill your lien, but it does cost you the right to demand adequate assurance that the money to pay you actually exists.

   Where it goes

   State Construction Registry — secure.utah.gov/scr.

   How

   File the amendment to your existing preliminary notice on the State Construction Registry.

   Proof to keep

   The SCR entry number and date for the amendment, plus the backup showing how you calculated the remaining balance.

   What the document must contain

   • A good faith estimate of the total amount remaining due to complete your contract, purchase order or agreement
   • Identification of each original contractor or subcontractor you have a contract with for the work
   • A separate statement of all known amounts or categories of work in dispute

   If you miss it: Your lien survives, but you lose the right to demand a statement of adequate assurance and to go to court to force the owner or contractor to post security. Be accurate: deliberately overstating the balance to get more than you are owed or to gain an unfair advantage exposes you to twice the overage or the other side's actual damages, whichever is greater.

   Utah Code § 38-1a-506(1), (2), (3), (4), (6), (8), (9)(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Record your Notice of Construction Lien with the county recorder

   Treat your real deadline as 90 days after the job reaches final completion. The outside limit is 180 days after final completion IF nobody files a Notice of Completion — but if one is filed, you get 90 days from that filing and never more than 180 days from final completion. Recording by completion plus 90 is always safe. 'Final completion' is defined, not a judgment call: the date the city issues a permanent certificate of occupancy; if none is required, the date of the city's final inspection; if neither applies, the date no substantial work is left on the original contract (unless the owner is holding money to make sure it gets finished); and if the original contract is terminated early, the last date substantial work was done. Note that the clock runs from completion of the WHOLE original contract, not from your own last day on site. One narrow exception: a subcontractor who does substantial work after the certificate of occupancy is issued or the required final inspection is done records within 180 days after that subcontractor's own work is finally complete — but repair work and warranty work do not count as substantial work, so do not lean on this without checking it.

   This is the lien itself — the document that attaches to the property. It must be notarized and it must be recorded, not mailed.

   Where it goes

   The county recorder's office for the county the property is in — and EVERY county, with a separate $40, if the property spans more than one.

   How

   Submit it for recording in the office of the county recorder. Every Utah county must accept electronic recording. The recording fee is $40 per document per county; counties of the second through sixth class add $5 unless the county has a balance in its restricted recording-fee account, and if the document carries more than 10 property descriptions there is $2 for each extra one. A recorder may not charge more than one recording fee per instrument. Note that the recorder's own document rules require the legal description of the property (not just a street address), a title or caption on the first page, and a legible notary seal — a lien that satisfies the lien statute can still be bounced at the counter for these.

   Proof to keep

   The recorded copy with the recorder's entry number, book and page, and the recording date stamp. That recording date is what starts your 180-day enforcement clock.

   What the document must contain

   • The name of the reputed owner if known; if not known, the name of the record owner
   • The name of the person who employed you or to whom you provided the work (the party that hired you)
   • The date you first provided construction work and the date you last provided it
   • A description of the project property sufficient to identify it
   • Your name, current address and current phone number — the phone number is expressly required and is the element forms most often drop
   • The amount claimed under the lien
   • Your signature, or your authorized agent's
   • A notarial acknowledgment or certificate under Title 57, Chapter 3
   • If the property is an owner-occupied residence: a statement describing what steps the owner may take to require you to remove the lien under § 38-11-107, in the form prescribed by DOPL rule

   If you miss it: You have no lien. There is no extension and no cure. Do not pad the amount: intentionally recording a lien for more than you are owed, in order to cloud title, squeeze the owner or gain an unfair advantage, is a class B misdemeanor and makes you liable for twice the overage or the affected party's actual damages, whichever is greater.

   Utah Code § 38-1a-502(1), (2); § 38-1a-102(17), (35); § 17-71-407(3), (6); § 17-71-402(2)(a), (3); § 38-1a-308(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: Mail the owner a copy of the recorded lien within 30 days

   Within 30 days after you record the lien.

   A separate obligation from recording. It is not the recorder's job to tell the owner — it is yours.

   Where it goes

   The reputed owner, or the record owner. For a preconstruction lien, the same 30-day certified-mail rule applies.

   How

   Deliver it, or mail it by certified mail. If the record owner's current address is not readily available to you, you may use the name and address on the county's last completed real property assessment rolls.

   Proof to keep

   The certified mail receipt and the return receipt, plus a copy of what you mailed and the address you used. If you used the assessment rolls, keep a dated copy of the roll entry.

   What the document must contain

   • A copy of the notice of lien exactly as recorded

   If you miss it: Your lien SURVIVES — this does not void it. What you lose is the ability to be awarded your costs and attorney fees against the owner in the foreclosure action. That can be the difference between a claim worth pursuing and one that isn't.

   Utah Code § 38-1a-502(4)(a), (4)(b), (4)(c); § 38-1a-402(5)(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: File your foreclosure lawsuit within 180 days of the day you recorded

   Within 180 days after the day you recorded the notice of construction lien (or the notice of preconstruction lien). One exception: if the owner files bankruptcy before those 180 days run out, you have 90 days after the automatic stay is lifted or expires.

   Filing the lien only preserves the claim. You have to sue to enforce it, and Utah gives every claimant the same 180 days — subcontractors do not get a shorter or longer window than the general contractor.

   Where it goes

   A Utah district court with jurisdiction over the property.

   How

   Through counsel, in a Utah court with jurisdiction. This step and the next one are two separate filings in two separate places that must BOTH happen inside the same 180 days.

   Proof to keep

   The file-stamped complaint showing the filing date, and the case number.

   What the document must contain

   • A complaint to foreclose the construction lien or preconstruction lien

   If you miss it: The lien is automatically and immediately void. Utah goes further than most states: the court has NO subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate a lien that became void this way. There is no tolling, no equitable relief and no relation back. Nothing can be done about it afterwards.

   Utah Code § 38-1a-701(2)(a), (2)(b), (4)(a), (4)(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: Record a Notice of Pendency of Action in every county within that same 180 days

    Within the same 180 days you had to file the lawsuit. Not 180 days from filing suit — 180 days from recording the lien.

    This is the quietest way to lose a Utah lien. Filing the lawsuit is NOT enough on its own. You must also record a notice that the lawsuit is pending (a lis pendens) with the county recorder, in the same way you would for any action affecting title to real property. Contractors who sued on day 179 and did nothing else have lost the lien.

    Where it goes

    The county recorder's office for EACH county the property is in — every applicable county, the same as the lien itself.

    How

    Record it with the county recorder, in the manner provided for actions affecting the title or right to possession of real property.

    Proof to keep

    The recorded copy with the recorder's entry number and date stamp, from each county.

    What the document must contain

    • A notice of the pendency of the action, in the form used for actions affecting title to real property

    If you miss it: The lien is void — except as against parties you actually named in the lawsuit and people who had actual knowledge that the action had commenced. And the burden of proving somebody had actual knowledge is on you.

    Utah Code § 38-1a-701(3)(a), (3)(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: If the property is a home, serve the Chapter 11 instructions and owner response form with your complaint

    With the service of the complaint on the owner. Not afterwards.

    When you foreclose a lien on a residence, Utah makes you hand the homeowner a set of instructions explaining their rights under the Residence Lien Restriction and Lien Recovery Fund Act, plus a form they can use to assert those rights. Both must meet the requirements DOPL has set by rule. 'Residence' here means a detached single-family dwelling or multifamily up to and including a duplex — a triplex or fourplex is outside it.

    Where it goes

    Served on the owner of the residence.

    How

    Include the instructions and the form in the service packet with the complaint.

    Proof to keep

    The proof of service listing the instructions and form as documents served, and a copy of exactly what was served.

    What the document must contain

    • Instructions to the owner about their rights under Title 38, Chapter 11
    • A form the owner can use to specify the grounds on which they are exercising those rights
    • Both meeting the form requirements established by DOPL rule

    If you miss it: You are barred from maintaining or enforcing the lien on that residence. This is fatal, and it is independent of every deadline you hit correctly.

    Utah Code § 38-1a-701(6)(a), (6)(b), (6)(c); § 38-11-102(21)(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: If the owner bonds around your lien, add the bond to your lawsuit within 90 days

    Within 90 days after you receive the notice of release of lien and substitution of alternate security, if your foreclosure suit is already pending when it is served on you.

    An owner, general contractor or subcontractor who disputes your lien can record a bond or cash deposit and get the property released from the lien. The security stands in place of the property — 150% of your claim if the claim is $25,000 or more, 175% if it is between $15,000 and $25,000, 200% if it is under $15,000 — and it is made payable to you. But if a suit is already pending when you are served, you have to bring the security into the case.

    Where it goes

    The court where your foreclosure action is pending.

    How

    Institute proceedings to add the alternate security as a party to your lien foreclosure suit. If no suit is pending yet, you must commence a suit against the security within the same time you would have had to enforce the lien under § 38-1a-701.

    Proof to keep

    The date you received the notice and its attachments, and the file-stamped pleading adding the security.

    What the document must contain

    • A pleading adding the alternate security (the surety bond or cash deposit) as a party to the foreclosure action

    If you miss it: The alternate security is discharged and released. The property is already out of reach, and now the bond is too — you are left with an unsecured claim against whoever owes you.

    Utah Code § 38-1a-804(1), (2)(c), (3)(a), (4)(b), (5)(a), (5)(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: On a government job, sue on the payment bond within one year of your last day

    You may not sue until you have gone 90 days past your last day of work without being paid in full. You must commence the action within ONE YEAR after the last day you performed the work or supplied the equipment or material the claim is based on.

    This replaces the lien on a government project. Note the one-year clock runs from YOUR last day, not from any project completion date. On a private commercial job over $50,000 the pattern is the same — 90 days to wait, one year to sue — and if the owner never obtained the required bond, the owner is personally liable to you for the reasonable value of your work up to the contract price, also with a one-year limit.

    Where it goes

    A court of competent jurisdiction in a county where the construction contract was to be performed.

    How

    An action on the payment bond, brought through counsel. The obligee named in the bond does not have to be joined. The court awards reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.

    Proof to keep

    Dated delivery tickets, daily reports and invoices establishing your true LAST day on the job — that single date controls both the 90-day wait and the one-year cutoff.

    What the document must contain

    • A complaint on the payment bond stating the unpaid amount and the last date of your work or supply

    If you miss it: The action is barred. Utah states it flatly: the action is barred if not commenced within one year after the last day on which you performed the labor or service or supplied the equipment or material.

    Utah Code § 63G-6a-1103(4)(a), (4)(b), (4)(c), (4)(e); § 14-2-1(4), (5)(b); § 14-2-2(1), (2)(opens the statute in a new tab)
14. 14

    Step 14: Record a cancellation within 10 days once you are paid in full

    Within 10 days after someone with an interest in the property asks you to.

    Once the full amount owed under the lien — including costs and cancellation fees — has been paid, any interested party can ask you to clear the lien off title. You have 10 days.

    Where it goes

    The county recorder's office for each county where the lien was recorded.

    How

    Submit a cancellation of the lien for recording with each applicable county recorder.

    Proof to keep

    The dated written request you received, and the recorded cancellation with its entry number and date, from each county.

    What the document must contain

    • A cancellation of the preconstruction or construction lien identifying the recorded lien

    If you miss it: You owe the person who asked $100 for every day past the deadline that the cancellation is not submitted, or their actual damages, whichever is greater. On an owner-occupied home there is a related rule that works in your favour: if you remove the lien within 15 days of the owner obtaining a certificate of compliance and mailing it to you by certified mail, you are not liable for the owner's costs, attorney fees or damages.

    Utah Code § 38-1a-803(1), (2), (3); § 38-11-107(3)(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Utah

Where you file

Office

County Recorder — submit for recording in the office of EACH applicable county recorder (every county in which any part of the project property lies). Preliminary notices, notices of preconstruction service, notices of completion and the other registry filings are NOT recorded with the county; they are filed electronically with the State Construction Registry at secure.utah.gov/scr.

Recording fee

$40–$45

Notarization

Required

How it is served

Certified mail

Copies

1

Fees and office procedures change; confirm them with the recording office before you file.

What trips people up in Utah

• Assuming a general contractor needs no preliminary notice because it signed with the owner. In Utah the original contractor MUST file its own SCR preliminary notice within 20 days or it has no lien. This is the opposite of most states, and it is the single most common way an out-of-state GC loses a Utah lien. § 38-1a-501(1)(a), (1)(e).
• Assuming an individual laborer is exempt. There is no wage-laborer exemption on a private Utah project. The exemptions for privity claimants and wage laborers in § 38-1b-202(1)(a) apply only to GOVERNMENT projects.
• Filing the preliminary notice late and thinking it fixes the past. It does not reach back at all. You may not lien for any work you provided before the date five days AFTER you filed — so a late filer loses everything up to filing plus five days, and gains nothing retroactively. § 38-1a-501(1)(c)(ii).
• Calendaring 180 days for the lien. The 180 days only applies if NOBODY files a Notice of Completion. The owner, the general contractor, the lender, the surety and the title company can each file one at any time after final completion, which cuts you to 90 days from that filing — and none of them has to tell you. Work off 90 days from final completion. § 38-1a-502(1)(a)(ii); § 38-1a-507(1)(a).
• Filing a preliminary notice more than 10 days after a Notice of Completion. It has NO effect whatsoever. You did the work, paid the fee, and have nothing. § 38-1a-501(1)(d).
• Measuring 'completion' from your own last day on the job. The lien clock runs from final completion of the WHOLE original contract, and 'final completion' is a defined term: permanent certificate of occupancy; else the city's final inspection; else the date no substantial work remains under the original contract; else the last date substantial work was performed if the contract was terminated early. § 38-1a-102(17).
• Filing the foreclosure lawsuit on time and not recording the lis pendens. Both have to happen inside the same 180 days, in two different places. Without the recorded Notice of Pendency of Action the lien is void except as to parties you actually named and people with actual knowledge — and you carry the burden of proving that knowledge. This is the biggest silent forfeiture in the Utah system. § 38-1a-701(3).
• Missing the 180-day enforcement deadline and hoping for relief. The lien is automatically and immediately void and the court has no subject matter jurisdiction to adjudicate it. There is nothing a judge can do. § 38-1a-701(4).
• A design professional computing its deadline off project completion. The preconstruction lien is due 90 days after the preconstruction service is complete, and the statute deems that service complete THE DAY CONSTRUCTION COMMENCES. On a long build, a completion-based date is over a year late. §§ 38-1a-402(1), 38-1a-404.
• Doing both design and construction-phase work and filing only one notice. Utah contemplates two separate liens on the same property with separate notice and recording deadlines. A construction lien may include preconstruction amounts, but a preconstruction lien may NOT include construction amounts. § 38-1a-301(2), (3).
• Working on an owner-occupied home as a subcontractor and assuming a timely lien is worth something. If the owner had a written contract with a licensed general contractor and paid that contractor in full, you are barred from the lien AND from any money judgment against the owner. You are barred outright if the general contract totals $5,000 or less, licensed or not. A buyer who occupies within 180 days of purchase is protected too. Utah's Department of Commerce announced in June 2026 that the Residence Lien Recovery Fund — the backstop that used to pay barred subcontractors — is depleted; the statutory bar is unaffected either way, but the substitute remedy no longer pays. §§ 38-11-107(1), 38-11-204(4)(a)-(b).
• Recording a residential lien without the DOPL-prescribed statement telling the owner how to force the lien off, or serving a residential foreclosure complaint without the Chapter 11 instructions and owner response form. The second one bars you from maintaining or enforcing the lien entirely. §§ 38-1a-502(2)(i), (5); 38-1a-701(6).
• Mixing up Utah's two definitions of residential. The Chapter 11 homeowner protections reach only a detached single-family dwelling or multifamily up to and including a DUPLEX; the commercial payment-bond carve-out reaches single-family detached plus multifamily up to a FOURPLEX. A triplex is inside one and outside the other. §§ 38-11-102(21); 14-2-1(1)(d).
• Treating a public job like a private one. There is no lien on a Utah government project. And since 6 May 2026 the state's DFCM is not required to obtain payment or performance bonds on contracts it administers, and the usual direct claim against the government entity for failing to get a bond does not apply to DFCM contracts. Verify bonding before you mobilize. §§ 38-1a-103; 63G-6a-1103(5)(b); 14-1-19(5).
• Recording one lien on a property that spans two counties. Recording is required in the office of EACH applicable county recorder, and each charges its own fee. § 38-1a-502(1).
• Leaving your current phone number off the recorded lien. It is expressly required content and it is the element that form templates most often drop. § 38-1a-502(2)(e).
• Recording a lien that satisfies the lien statute but not the recorder's document rules. The recorder also requires the legal description of the property, a caption on the first page, and a legible notary seal. § 17-71-402(3).
• Padding the lien amount with interest, fees or damages. An intentionally excessive lien is a class B misdemeanor and exposes you to twice the overage or actual damages, whichever is greater — and on a residential project of $50,000 or less the claim may be pushed into statutory arbitration. Interest and attorney fees ARE recoverable, just in the lawsuit, not in the recorded number: interest runs at the contract rate but is capped at the legal rate for any claimant not in privity with the owner, and a subcontractor with a valid lien is awarded its costs plus its attorney fees for preparing and recording the lien. §§ 38-1a-308; 38-1a-309; 38-1a-706(2).
• Skipping the preliminary notice and hoping nobody checks. Since 1 July 2024 the owner has a fast, cheap kill switch: a certified-mail demand to withdraw, 10 business days, then an expedited petition to nullify — and if the court grants it, the lien is void ab initio and you pay the owner's costs and attorney fees. § 38-1a-805.
• Signing a lien waiver that is not in the statutory form, or taking a check with a non-conforming restrictive endorsement. Utah bars waiving lien rights by contract in advance; a waiver only binds you if it is executed in the statutory form, or the restrictive endorsement is substantially in the form the statute sets out. This cuts both ways — a contractor who thinks it has released a sub may not have. §§ 38-1a-105; 38-1a-802(2), (4).
• Forgetting that a lien attaches only to the interest the owner actually has. On a tenant improvement where the owner holds less than fee simple, the lien reaches only that lesser interest — unless the fee owner authorized the work AND gets a substantial benefit beyond the term of the lesser interest. § 38-1a-301(4).
• Being unlicensed. No amount of perfect lien work survives it — you cannot commence or maintain the collection action at all, and you must plead and prove you were properly licensed both when the contract was signed and when the claim arose. § 58-55-604.

After you file

• Mail or deliver a copy of the recorded lien to the owner within 30 days by certified mail. Skipping this does not void the lien, but it does forfeit your costs and attorney fees against the owner. § 38-1a-502(4).
• Calendar TWO dates from the recording date, not one: file the foreclosure lawsuit within 180 days, AND record a Notice of Pendency of Action with every applicable county recorder within those same 180 days. Both or neither. §§ 38-1a-701(2), (3).
• If the owner files bankruptcy before the 180 days expire, the enforcement deadline becomes 90 days after the automatic stay is lifted or expires. § 38-1a-701(2)(b).
• If the property is a residence, serve the Title 38 Chapter 11 instructions and the owner response form WITH the complaint. Omitting them bars you from maintaining or enforcing the lien. Expect the court to stay the case while the owner applies to DOPL for a certificate of compliance; the owner must send you a copy of that application by certified mail, and DOPL will notify you whether the certificate issues or is denied. § 38-1a-701(6).
• If a certificate of compliance issues on an owner-occupied home, removing the lien within 15 days of the owner mailing it to you by certified mail protects you from costs, attorney fees and damages. The 15 days run from the postmark on the certificate. § 38-11-107(3).
• Watch for a Notice of Release of Lien and Substitution of Alternate Security. If one is recorded, the property comes out from under your lien and a bond or cash deposit — 150% to 200% of your claim, payable to you — takes its place. You must be served a copy within 30 days, and if your suit is already pending you must add the security as a party within 90 days of receiving it, or the security is discharged. § 38-1a-804.
• Keep proving your licensure. You must allege and prove you were properly licensed both when the contract was signed and when the cause of action arose. § 58-55-604.
• Once you are paid in full, record a cancellation within 10 days of being asked. Late cancellation costs $100 a day or actual damages, whichever is greater. § 38-1a-803.
• On a government or bonded private job, the bond clock runs separately from anything else: you cannot sue until 90 days after your last day of work, and the action is barred one year after that same last day. §§ 63G-6a-1103(4); 14-2-1(5)(b); 14-2-2(2).