Who the deadlines apply to
Alabama's mechanics lien timetable is set out in Ala. Code §§ 35-11-210 to 35-11-234, and each rule on this page is written for any project type. The roles split differently from one stage to the next.
At the preliminary notice stage, the table reads None required for all five roles: direct contractors, subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, suppliers and laborers [1]. The statute block printed under that row is § 35-11-210, the same section the notice before filing points back to in its exception.
Except for material of which the owner was notified in advance as provided in Section 35-11-210, § 35-11-218 sets a notice before filing for subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, suppliers and laborers. The section's opening sentence sets the "original contractor" apart [2], and the table's row at that stage does not name the direct contractor.
Lien filing splits by role. Section 35-11-215 sets three separate periods: one for the direct contractor, one for journeymen and day laborers, and one shared by subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and suppliers [3]. The deadline to sue under § 35-11-221 is one rule for all five roles [4].
How the periods run
Notice before filing. Except for material of which the owner was notified in advance as provided in Section 35-11-210, the § 35-11-218 notice carries the label Before the statement is filed in the office of the judge of probate [2]. Its timing is counted back from the filing itself rather than forward from a date, so the table shows no counted date for it, and the calculator does not count one.
Lien filing. The three filing periods all run from the same event; only the length changes with the role. For direct contractors, the label reads 6 months after the last item of work or labor has been performed or the last item of any material, fixture, engine, boiler, or machinery has been furnished [3]. For subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and suppliers, it reads 4 months after the last item of work or labor has been performed or the last item of any material, fixture, engine, boiler, or machinery has been furnished [3].
The third rule is led by its own condition. For every journeyman and day laborer, the label reads 30 days after the last item of work or labor has been performed or the last item of any material, fixture, engine, boiler, or machinery has been furnished [3].
For each of the three, § 35-11-215 states the same result: the lien is lost unless the statement is filed within this time [3].
Deadline to sue. The suit period under § 35-11-221 reads Six months after the maturity of the entire indebtedness secured by the lien, except as otherwise provided in the division [4]. It runs from the maturity of the entire indebtedness the lien secures. That date is not one of the calculator's inputs, so the table lists the rule without a counted date.
Counting the days
Ala. Code § 1-1-4 counts a period set by law by leaving out the first day and including the last [5]. When the last day is a Sunday, a legal holiday as defined in § 1-3-8, or a day on which the office in which the act must be done closes as permitted by any law of this state, that day is left out too, and the next secular or working day counts as the last day [5]. This moving rule reaches every stage on this page [5].
Section 1-3-8(a) lists the official state holidays, and its Thanksgiving Day is the day the Governor designates [6]. Under § 1-3-8(b), a holiday that falls on a Sunday moves to the following day, and one that falls on a Saturday moves to the preceding day [6].
What changed recently
Section 35-11-210 was last amended by Acts 1996, 1st Ex. Sess., No. 96-26 [1]. Sections 35-11-215, 35-11-218 and 35-11-221, which hold the lien filing periods, the notice before filing and the deadline to sue, carry no amendment after the Code of 1940 [3] [2] [4].