How to file a mechanics lien in Virginia

Step by step

16 steps for a subcontractor in Virginia.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check that your license is valid and covers this work

   Before you sign, and keep it current through your last day on the job.

   Virginia takes lien rights away entirely from anyone who performed the labor without the Board for Contractors license or certificate the law required for that work. There is no partial credit and no cure after the fact.

   Where it goes

   Virginia Board for Contractors (Title 54.1, Chapter 11).

   How

   Confirm your license number, class and expiration with the Board for Contractors. You will need the number and both dates for the lien form anyway.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the license showing the number, the issue date and the expiration date. The memorandum of lien has to state all three.

   What the document must contain

   • License or certificate number
   • Date the license or certificate was issued
   • Date the license or certificate expires

   If you miss it: You have no lien. § 43-3(D) denies the lien outright to a person who performed labor without a required license or certificate.

   Va. Code § 43-3(D)(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Find out whether the property is publicly owned before you count on a lien

   Before you start work, or the day payment goes bad — whichever comes first.

   Virginia's answer for unpaid labor and materials on a public job is the contractor's payment bond, not a lien. Public construction contracts over $500,000 ($350,000 for state-funded transportation work) require a payment bond that secures prompt payment for all materials furnished and labor supplied in furtherance of the work, and it protects claimants who supply the prime contractor or any subcontractor. If the parcel is owned by the Commonwealth, a city, a county or a school board, work the bond track instead — and the bond clock runs from your own last day, not from month end.

   Where it goes

   The public body that awarded the contract, and the land records for the county or city.

   How

   Ask who holds title to the parcel and ask the prime for a copy of the payment bond.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the payment bond and the name and business address of the prime contractor.

   If you miss it: You spend the recording fee on a memorandum that gets you nothing, and you are probably already burning the 90-day bond-notice clock in the next step.

   Va. Code § 2.2-4337(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: On a public job with no contract with the prime: notice the prime within 90 days

   Within 90 days from the day you last performed labor or last furnished materials. This runs from YOUR last day — not from month end, and not from when the job finishes.

   If you contracted with a subcontractor and have no contract, written or implied, with the prime contractor, you can sue on the payment bond ONLY if you gave this notice in time. A claimant who does have a direct contract with the prime does not need it — that claimant simply waits until 90 days after their last labor or materials and then sues.

   Where it goes

   The prime contractor on the public contract.

   How

   Registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, in an envelope addressed to the contractor at any place where his office is regularly maintained for the transaction of business.

   Proof to keep

   The certified or registered mail receipt and return receipt, plus a dated copy of the notice.

   What the document must contain

   • The amount claimed
   • The person for whom the work was performed or to whom the material was furnished

   If you miss it: You cannot bring an action on the payment bond at all. On a public job that is usually the only security you had.

   Va. Code § 2.2-4341(B)(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: Read the contract for a lien waiver before you sign it

   Before you furnish any labor, services or materials.

   A general contractor, subcontractor, lower-tier subcontractor or material supplier cannot waive or cut down lien rights in a contract signed in advance of furnishing anything — that clause is void. But the protection stops there. A waiver you sign AFTER the work is done is fully effective, which is why the monthly progress-payment waiver you sign to get paid really does give up that period's lien rights.

   How

   Read the payment and waiver clauses before signing, and read every partial waiver you sign for a progress payment.

   Proof to keep

   A signed copy of the contract and a copy of every waiver you sign, with dates.

   If you miss it: An advance waiver is null and void, so the contract clause will not hurt you. A waiver signed after you furnished the work will.

   Va. Code § 43-3(C)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: On a 1- or 2-family home, read the posted building permit

   On your first day on site, before you do anything else.

   On a one- or two-family residential dwelling the permit has to be posted where you can see it, from before work starts until all work is complete. The owner may — but does not have to — have a mechanics' lien agent named on it. If an agent IS named, every claimant on that job owes the agent a 30-day notice, general contractor included. If the applicant did not ask for one, the permit says "None Designated" and nobody owes the notice.

   Where it goes

   The job site; otherwise the local building official who issues permits.

   How

   Photograph the whole permit, including the permit number and the mechanics' lien agent block. If no permit is posted, § 43-4.01(C) tells you to go find out from the local building authority whether a permit was issued, the date it was issued, and the name of the mechanics' lien agent if any.

   Proof to keep

   A dated photo of the posted permit, or the building official's written answer if nothing was posted.

   What the document must contain

   • The building permit number
   • The mechanics' lien agent's name, mailing address and telephone number, or the words "None Designated"
   • The date the permit was issued
   • The property description as shown on the permit

   If you miss it: You never find out the 30-day clock in the next step is running, and everything you furnish before you eventually notice the agent comes out of the lien.

   Va. Code § 43-4.01(A), (C); Va. Code § 36-98.01(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: Send the Notice to the Mechanics' Lien Agent within 30 days

   Within 30 days of your first day of labor or your first delivery. If you started before the permit was issued, within 30 days of the permit date.

   This is Virginia's only preliminary notice, and it exists only on one- or two-family residential dwellings where an agent is actually named on the permit. General contractors are NOT exempt — § 43-4.01(C) carves out only § 43-3(B) site-development claimants. There is no equivalent on commercial work. There is no monthly or recurring notice anywhere in Virginia.

   Where it goes

   The mechanics' lien agent named on the building permit.

   How

   Registered or certified mail, or physical delivery. A return receipt or other receipt showing delivery is your evidence.

   Proof to keep

   The return receipt or delivery receipt, a dated copy of the notice as sent, and your photo of the permit.

   What the document must contain

   • Your name, mailing address and telephone number
   • Your contractor license or certificate number, if any, and the dates it was issued and expires
   • The building permit number shown on the permit
   • A description of the property as shown on the building permit
   • A statement that you are seeking payment for labor performed or materials furnished

   If you miss it: It does not kill the lien — it amputates it. Your lien is cut down to labor performed or materials furnished on or after the date you actually give the notice. Everything before that date is unsecured. So if you are already late, send it today rather than writing the job off. No notice is required at all where the permit names no agent, or as to a memorandum of lien you recorded before the permit was issued.

   Va. Code § 43-4.01(B), (C)(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Site development work: file the disclosure before the lots are sold

   Before the lot or condominium unit is sold.

   If you furnish labor or materials for site development improvements, streets, stormwater facilities, sanitary sewers or water lines in a subdivision or condominium, you can lien the individual lots on a per-lot allocation — but only if this disclosure is on file first. Lots are usually gone by the time payment goes bad, which is why this one gets missed.

   Where it goes

   The clerk of the circuit court of the jurisdiction in which the land lies.

   How

   File the disclosure document with the clerk.

   Proof to keep

   The clerk's recorded copy with the recording date.

   What the document must contain

   • Full disclosure of the nature of the lien that may be claimed
   • The total value of the work you contracted for in the subdivision or condominium
   • The portion of that value allocated to each lot or unit
   • A description of the development or condominium

   If you miss it: The fractional per-lot lien under § 43-3(B) is not available to you.

   Va. Code § 43-3(B)(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: If you contracted with the general contractor: send the owner written notice of your claim

   As soon as payment is late. The statute sets NO separate day count for this notice — but every day you wait can shrink what you can collect, and the notice must be given to perfect.

   Recording the memorandum alone does not perfect a subcontractor's lien in Virginia. You must also give the owner written notice of the amount and character of your claim. And the size of your lien is fixed by this notice: it cannot exceed what the owner owed the general contractor at the time you gave the notice, plus whatever the owner becomes indebted to the GC afterwards. If the owner has already paid the GC in full, your perfected lien is worth zero — the owner raises that as an affirmative defense under § 43-7(A). That is why early beats accurate here.

   Where it goes

   The owner of the property, or the owner's agent.

   How

   In writing. Service may be by a sheriff or constable, who returns the time and manner of service, or by certified or registered mail — a return receipt is prima facie evidence of receipt (§ 43-14.1).

   Proof to keep

   The sheriff's return, or the certified/registered mail receipt and return receipt, plus a dated copy of the notice.

   What the document must contain

   • The amount of your claim
   • The character of your claim (what the work or materials were)

   If you miss it: Your lien is not perfected. The memorandum on its own does not get you there.

   Va. Code § 43-7(A); form at Va. Code § 43-8; service under Va. Code § 43-14.1(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: If you contracted with a subcontractor: notice the owner AND the general contractor

   As soon as payment is late. Again, no separate statutory day count — but the amount cap makes waiting expensive.

   Third-tier claimants owe two notices, not one: the owner or the owner's agent, and the general contractor or his agent. Your lien is capped twice over — it cannot exceed what that subcontractor could itself have claimed under § 43-7, which in turn is capped at what the owner owed the general contractor.

   Where it goes

   The owner or the owner's agent, AND the general contractor or his agent.

   How

   In writing. Sheriff or constable service, or certified or registered mail with return receipt (§ 43-14.1).

   Proof to keep

   Two sets of receipts — one for the owner, one for the general contractor — plus dated copies of both notices.

   What the document must contain

   • The amount of your claim
   • The character of your claim

   If you miss it: Your lien is not perfected. Missing either recipient is missing the requirement.

   Va. Code § 43-9; form at Va. Code § 43-10(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: Optional: send the first notice on the personal-liability route

    Optional

    Any time you are furnishing labor or material and payment looks shaky. Send it before the job finishes — the second notice has a hard 30-day fuse once the work ends.

    This is separate from the lien and it is the only Virginia mechanism that reaches the owner or the general contractor PERSONALLY rather than just the real estate. It takes two notices. This is the first one, and on its own it does nothing. It is optional, and the remedies under this chapter are cumulative (§ 43-23.2), so using it does not cost you the lien.

    Where it goes

    The owner, or the owner's agent, or the general contractor. Who you notify here decides who can be held personally liable later.

    How

    The two notices must either be recorded and indexed in the clerk's office under § 43-4.1, or mailed by registered or certified mail with a receipt showing actual delivery. Note that the ordinary service rule in § 43-14.1 expressly does NOT cover the § 43-11 notice.

    Proof to keep

    The recorded copy, or the registered/certified mail receipt plus proof of actual delivery.

    What the document must contain

    • The nature and character of your contract
    • The probable amount of your claim

    If you miss it: You lose the personal-liability route. Your lien rights are untouched.

    Va. Code § 43-11(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: Get the owner's name exactly as it reads in the land records

    Before you prepare the memorandum, and early enough that a bad name does not eat your filing window.

    The memorandum must show the name and address of the owner of the property sought to be charged. Naming the person who signed your contract instead of the entity on the deed is a real way liens die here. § 43-15 forgives an inaccuracy only where the property can still be reasonably identified from the description, the memorandum substantially conforms to §§ 43-5, 43-8 or 43-10, and it is not willfully false — that is a narrow rescue, not a safety net.

    Where it goes

    The Clerk of the Circuit Court for the county or independent city where the property is located.

    How

    Search the land records for the parcel. Pull the owner exactly as titled and a description good enough to identify the property.

    Proof to keep

    A printout of the deed or land-record index entry you relied on, with the date you pulled it.

    What the document must contain

    • Owner's name exactly as it appears in the land records
    • Owner's address
    • A brief description of the property on which you claim the lien

    If you miss it: The memorandum can be held invalid even though you filed it on time.

    Va. Code § 43-4; Va. Code § 43-15(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: Count back 150 days and cut everything older out of the amount

    Before you file. Count back 150 days from the last day you performed labor or furnished material to the job before this filing.

    No memorandum may include sums due for labor or materials furnished more than 150 days before that last day. This is the single most dangerous number in Virginia. In Smith Mountain Building Supply, LLC v. Windstar Properties, LLC, 277 Va. 387 (2009), the Supreme Court of Virginia held that including charges from outside the 150-day window rendered the liens invalid and unenforceable — the whole lien, not just the excess. Two things survive the cut: retainage withheld on work performed at any time, capped at 10% of the total contract price; and sums not yet due because the party you contracted with has not yet been paid by the owner or a third party. On a long job the fix is successive memoranda so every dollar sits inside its own 150-day window, not one big filing at the end.

    How

    Rebuild the claim from your invoices by date of furnishing, not by invoice date or statement date.

    Proof to keep

    A dated schedule tying every dollar in the memorandum to the day the labor or material was furnished.

    What the document must contain

    • Only sums for labor or materials furnished within 150 days of your last day
    • Plus retainage, up to 10% of the total contract price
    • Plus sums not yet due because your contracting party has not been paid

    If you miss it: Virginia courts have discharged the entire lien. They do not subtract the bad amount and enforce the rest.

    Va. Code § 43-4(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: File the memorandum of lien by the EARLIER of the two 90-day dates

    Work out both dates and use whichever comes first: (1) 90 days from the last day of the month in which you last performed labor or furnished material; and (2) 90 days from the day the building or structure was completed, or the work on it otherwise terminated. The statute says "in no event later than" on that second one, so it is a hard ceiling. If you finish on the 3rd and the job closes out on the 10th, the real deadline is about four weeks earlier than the month-end math shows.

    This is the filing that creates the lien. The same 90-day window applies to a general contractor and to every claimant under §§ 43-7 and 43-9 — Virginia does not give the general contractor longer. In Virginia "general contractor" means anyone who contracts directly with the owner, whatever their trade; "subcontractor" means anyone who contracts with the general contractor.

    Where it goes

    The Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county OR the independent city in which the building or structure, or any part of it, is located. Virginia has independent cities that sit inside no county, so this is decided by where the parcel actually is, not by the mailing address. Filing with the wrong clerk is the same as not filing.

    How

    File the memorandum with the clerk. It must be verified by the oath of the claimant or his agent, and the accompanying affidavit is sworn in front of a notary or other officer. Official forms: CC-1512 if you contracted with the owner (§ 43-5), CC-1513 if you contracted with the general contractor (§ 43-7), CC-1514 if you contracted with a subcontractor (§ 43-9). Form use is not mandatory — §§ 43-5, 43-8 and 43-10 require only that the memorandum be substantially in form and effect as prescribed — but the CC forms are the safe route. The clerk records it in the deed books and indexes it in the general index of deeds (§ 43-4.1).

    Proof to keep

    The clerk's recorded copy showing the deed book and instrument number and the recording date, plus the fee receipt.

    What the document must contain

    • Name and address of the owner of the property sought to be charged
    • Name and address of the claimant
    • The amount of the claim
    • The consideration for the claim
    • The time or times when the claim is or will be due and payable
    • The date from which interest is claimed
    • A statement declaring your intention to claim the benefit of the lien
    • A brief description of the property on which you claim a lien
    • Your license or certificate number, if any, and the dates it was issued and expires
    • Verification by the oath of the claimant or his agent, with the affidavit sworn before a notary or other officer
    • The type of materials or services furnished (per the § 43-5 prescribed form)

    If you miss it: There is no lien and no extension. § 43-17 expressly says the enforcement period does not extend the time for perfecting the lien.

    Va. Code § 43-4; forms at §§ 43-5, 43-8, 43-10; recording under § 43-4.1(opens the statute in a new tab)
14. 14

    Step 14: Optional: send the second personal-liability notice before 30 days from completion

    Optional

    After your work is done or your material is furnished, and before the expiration of 30 days from the time the building or structure is completed or the work on it otherwise terminated. This fuse is far shorter than the lien deadline.

    This is the second half of the § 43-11 route and the half that actually does the work. Done right, the owner — or the general contractor, if he alone was notified — becomes personally liable to you for the actual amount due, capped at what the owner owes the general contractor or what the general contractor owes the subcontractor. Contractors who only diary the 90-day and six-month lien dates lose this one without ever seeing it go.

    Where it goes

    The owner or his agent AND the general contractor — or the general contractor alone, if he was the only one you notified with the first notice.

    How

    Recorded and indexed in the clerk's office under § 43-4.1, or mailed by registered or certified mail with a receipt showing actual delivery. § 43-14.1's service rules do not apply to this notice.

    Proof to keep

    The recorded copy, or the registered/certified mail receipt plus proof the notice was actually received.

    What the document must contain

    • A correct account of the amount due
    • Verification by affidavit

    If you miss it: The personal-liability claim is gone. Your lien is unaffected.

    Va. Code § 43-11(opens the statute in a new tab)
15. 15

    Step 15: File suit to enforce the lien within six months of recording

    Within six months from the day your memorandum of lien was recorded. § 43-17 actually gives you the LATER of six months from recording or sixty days from completion or termination — so in some cases you get a little more — but six months from recording is the date to work to, and the extra only exists if you can prove the completion date.

    Recording the lien does not collect the money. Only filing the enforcement suit stops the clock, and this deadline is uniform — it covers liens perfected under §§ 43-4, 43-5 and 43-7 through 43-10 in one breath. Virginia has no shorter, separate clock for subcontractors. Filing a petition in an existing suit where such a petition may properly be filed counts as instituting the suit.

    Where it goes

    The circuit court for the county or city where the building, structure or railroad or some part of it is located, or where the owner (or any one of several owners) resides.

    How

    A suit in equity, with an itemized statement of account verified by affidavit.

    Proof to keep

    The stamped, filed complaint with its filing date, and the recorded memorandum it enforces.

    What the document must contain

    • An itemized statement of account showing the amount and character of the work done or materials furnished
    • The prices charged
    • Payments made, if any
    • The balance due
    • The time from which interest is claimed
    • Verification by affidavit

    If you miss it: The lien is dead. § 43-17 also makes clear this period does not extend your time to perfect the lien in the first place.

    Va. Code § 43-17; procedure at Va. Code § 43-22(opens the statute in a new tab)
16. 16

    Step 16: On a public job: sue on the payment bond within one year of your last day

    Within one year after the day on which you last performed labor or last furnished or supplied materials. Not one year from the bond notice, not one year from completion — one year from YOUR last day.

    This is the public-project counterpart to the lien enforcement suit. If you have a direct contract with the prime, you may bring the action once 90 days have passed after your last labor or materials and you have not been paid in full. If you contracted with a subcontractor instead, you can only bring it if you gave the 90-day written notice to the prime.

    How

    An action on the contractor's payment bond.

    Proof to keep

    The filed complaint, the payment bond, and (if you are a lower tier) the registered or certified mail receipt for your 90-day notice.

    If you miss it: The bond claim is time-barred, and there was never a lien to fall back on.

    Va. Code § 2.2-4341(A), (C)(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Virginia

Where you file

Office

Clerk of the Circuit Court of the county OR INDEPENDENT CITY in which the building, structure or railroad, or any part of it, is located

Recording fee

$25–$50

Notarization

Required

Sworn or verified

Affidavit sworn before notary public or magistrate

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 Virginia

• Using only the month-end date. § 43-4 sets two ceilings and the earlier one controls: 90 days from the last day of the month you last worked, AND "in no event later than" 90 days from completion or termination of the work. For a general contractor, and for any trade that finishes early in a month on a job that closes out soon after, the completion date is the real deadline. Some widely used commercial summaries state this as "whichever is later." That reading is wrong and it is wrong in the direction that loses liens.
• Putting one dollar of old work in the memorandum. Anything furnished more than 150 days before your last day on the job is barred, and in Smith Mountain Building Supply v. Windstar Properties, 277 Va. 387 (2009), the Supreme Court of Virginia invalidated the entire lien rather than trimming the excess. Only retainage (capped at 10% of the total contract price) and sums not yet due from upstream escape the cut.
• A general contractor assuming no preliminary notice applies. On a one- or two-family dwelling where the permit names a mechanics' lien agent, § 43-4.01(C) binds every claimant except § 43-3(B) site-development claimants — the general contractor included. Anyone who tells a Virginia GC "no preliminary notice required" without asking whether the job is 1-2 family residential and whether the permit names an agent is handing out a forfeiture.
• Writing the job off after missing the 30-day agent notice. It does not bar the lien; it limits it to labor performed or materials furnished on or after the date you finally give notice. Sending it late still saves everything from that day forward.
• A subcontractor recording the memorandum and stopping there. § 43-7 makes written notice to the owner a separate condition of perfection, and § 43-9 requires third-tier claimants to notice the owner AND the general contractor. The recording alone does not perfect a subcontractor's lien.
• Waiting until the deadline to send the § 43-7 notice. Your lien cannot exceed what the owner owed the general contractor when the notice was given (plus what the owner owes afterwards). If the owner has already paid the GC out, the owner pleads that as an affirmative defense and your perfected lien is worth nothing. This is a lever the other side controls, and the only defence against it is noticing early.
• Filing with the county clerk when the property is in an independent city. § 43-4 says "county or city." Virginia's independent cities — Richmond, Alexandria, Norfolk, Virginia Beach and others — sit inside no county. Filing with the wrong clerk is the same as not filing.
• Naming the owner from the contract or the invoice instead of the land records. § 43-4 requires the owner of the property sought to be charged, and § 43-15 forgives an inaccuracy only where the property is still reasonably identifiable, the memorandum substantially conforms, and it is not willfully false.
• Letting the license lapse mid-job, or holding the wrong class of license. § 43-3(D) is a complete bar, and the memorandum itself has to state your license number and its issue and expiration dates.
• Filing a memorandum against a school, a municipal building or a state project. Virginia's remedy on public work is the payment bond under §§ 2.2-4337 and 2.2-4341, and if you are a lower-tier claimant you have 90 days from your own last day to notice the prime — a different trigger from the private month-end rule.
• Signing monthly progress-payment waivers without reading them. § 43-3(C) voids only waivers signed in ADVANCE of furnishing labor, services or materials. A waiver you sign afterwards to get paid is enforceable, and the void-advance-waiver rule will not rescue you.
• A general contractor filing the memorandum without the certification of mailing. § 43-4 requires a GC — and expressly not § 43-7 or § 43-9 claimants — to file that certification along with the memorandum.
• Padding the memorandum. § 43-23.1 forfeits the lien of anyone who, with intent to mislead, includes work not performed upon, or materials not furnished for, the property described.
• Assuming you get a quiet six months after recording. Any party with an interest in the property can petition, on a showing of good cause, for a hearing on the lien's validity, and if the court finds it invalid the lien is ordered released from record forthwith (§ 43-17.1). There is no safe-harbour period.
• Assuming the lien has to be paid to come off the property. The owner, the general contractor or another interested party can pay money into court or file a bond — before suit under § 43-71, after suit under § 43-70 — and the property is released. You still have a claim, but it is now against the fund or the bond, not the real estate.
• Forgetting that if the general contractor walks and the owner has to finish the job, what the owner spends on completion takes priority over every mechanics lien placed by that GC, its subs, and anyone furnishing to either of them (§ 43-16).
• Treating "six months" as approximate. Only filing the enforcement suit stops the clock, and § 43-17 says the enforcement period does not extend your time to perfect the lien.
• Losing the § 43-11 personal-liability route by only tracking lien dates. The second notice has to be given before 30 days from completion or termination — months before the lien deadline — and it is the only Virginia mechanism that reaches the owner or the GC personally.

After you file

• Diary two dates the day you record: six months from the recording date (the enforcement suit, § 43-17) and, if you are using it, 30 days from completion for the second § 43-11 notice.
• Recording does not collect anything. You have to file a suit in equity in the circuit court where the property or the owner is, with an itemized statement of account verified by affidavit showing the amount and character of the work, the prices, payments made, the balance due, and the date interest runs from (§ 43-22).
• Other claimants can file petitions in your suit to enforce their own liens, with the same effect as if each had brought an independent suit (§ 43-22). Expect company.
• The owner can bond the lien off. Before suit, the owner, the general contractor or another interested party may — on five days' notice to you — ask the court for permission to pay money into court or file a bond, and on doing so the property stands released from the lien (§ 43-71). The same is available after suit is brought (§ 43-70). The money or bond is then held under the court's control and stands in place of the real estate, and any sureties are made parties.
• The owner can attack the lien immediately. Any party with an interest in the property may petition on a showing of good cause for a hearing on the validity of a perfected lien; if the court finds it invalid it orders the memorandum released from record forthwith (§ 43-17.1). Your paperwork has to survive that, not just the filing window.
• Priority in Virginia runs backwards from what people expect: there is no priority among liens under this chapter except that a subcontractor's lien is preferred to its general contractor's, a lien by someone furnishing labor or materials to a subcontractor is preferred to that subcontractor's, and manual laborers take priority over materialmen for labor performed in the 30 days immediately before their last labor (§ 43-23).
• If you did not perfect your own lien but the general contractor did, § 43-18 may still reach you: the GC's perfected lien inures to the benefit of a subcontractor, or of someone furnishing labor or materials to a subcontractor, if you give written notice of your claim to the owner or his agent before the GC's lien is actually paid off or discharged.
• The lien is not your only remedy. § 43-23.2 makes the remedies under this chapter cumulative, not a substitute for other legal or equitable remedies. Separately, § 43-13 requires funds paid to a general contractor or subcontractor for the job to be used to pay the people who performed labor or furnished material — misuse with intent to defraud is larceny, and the section also gives a civil cause of action to parties to the contract.
• When you get paid, the official release is form CC-1515, Certificate of Release of Mechanic's Lien, on the Virginia circuit court forms listing.
• On a 1- or 2-family home, the owner cannot quietly sell or refinance around you: before settlement the owner must give the purchaser or lender an affidavit or witnessed signed statement either confirming that everyone who furnished labor or materials in the 120 days before settlement has been paid in full, or naming them and the amounts owed. A willful material misrepresentation that causes a loss is a Class 3 misdemeanour (§ 43-13.3).