Who the deadlines apply to
Delaware's first stage is short. The preliminary notice row reads None required for direct contractors, subcontractors, sub-subcontractors, suppliers and laborers alike, on any project type [1].
The lien filing stage holds three rules, and each one opens with a condition. The first is for a contractor that made its contract directly with the owner or reputed owner and furnished both labor and material for the structure, or provided construction management services in connection with them. Its only role is the direct contractor. The second is for all other persons, apart from the contractor described in 25 Del. C. § 2711(a), and it lists all five roles. The third is for labor of less than $100 [2], where the claim is filed with a justice of the peace under subchapter III. It names direct contractors, subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and laborers, and suppliers do not appear on it.
The deadline to sue stage splits along the same line. Its default rule names all five roles. A second rule, for a claim for labor of less than $100 [2] filed with a justice of the peace under subchapter III, names the same four roles as the third filing rule.
How the periods run
The two filing periods in subchapter II start from different events. For the contractor described in § 2711(a), the period is 180 days after the structure is completed [1], measured from the completion of the structure itself. For all other persons, it is 120 days after the claimant's labor was completed or its last materials were delivered [1], measured from each claimant's own work or deliveries.
Neither start is the only one. Each statement of claim is also timely within the same period after certain other dates the statute lists [1]: § 2711(a)(2) holds the list for the contractor described in § 2711(a), and § 2711(b) holds the dates for all other persons. The page prints both lists in full under the table. Under § 2712(a), a statement of claim under these two rules is filed in the Superior Court [1].
The third filing rule is a window, not a single day: Only after 20 days from the claimant's last labor have expired, and within 10 days after that [2]. The calculator counts no date for it, and the table shows the label in place of one.
The deadline to sue carries no counted period either. Its default rule reads The statement of claim, filed within the time set for it, may also serve as the complaint. The proceedings to recover the amount of the claim are by writ of scire facias [1].
For a claim for labor of less than $100 [2] filed with a justice of the peace, the rule is The transcript and judgment become a lien on the structure when entered in the Superior Court within 2 days from the date of the judgment [2]. The date of the judgment is not one of the calculator's inputs, so it draws no date for this rule.
How residential work is treated
Section 2707 concerns the land or structure of an owner that is used solely as that owner's residence [3]. Where such an owner has made full or final payment in good faith to the contractor the owner contracted with, no lien may be obtained on it. Where the owner has not paid that contractor in full in good faith, a lien reaches only the balance of the payment due, and that balance is shared pro rata among the claimants who perfect liens [3]. Every period in the table is listed for any project type, and none is set apart for residential work.
What changed recently
Sections 2707, 2711, 2712, 2732 and 2735 of Title 25 were last amended by 84 Del. Laws, c. 42 [1] [2] [3]. Between them, those sections hold the residential limit, both subchapter II filing periods, the statement of claim filed in the Superior Court, the justice of the peace window and the rule on entering the transcript and judgment.