Nevada mechanics lien deadlines: notice, lien and suit (2026)
By Oussama Chicha, EditorUpdated Checked against primary sources · not yet reviewed by a licensed professionalFact-checked
Quick answer
Nevada's lien filing deadline is set by NRS 108.226(1) as a default rule and a separate rule if a valid notice of completion is recorded and served in the manner required pursuant to NRS 108.228. The deadline to sue is 6 months after the notice of lien is recorded (NRS 108.233). Notice of right to lien (NRS 108.245): required of subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and suppliers; not of direct contractors and laborers.
Nevada · Lien deadlinesVerified 2026-10-02
Lien filing
90 days after the completion of the work of improvement or after the lien claimant's last delivery of material, furnishing of equipment or performance of work for the work of improvement, whichever is later
Preliminary notice
Subcontractor, Sub-subcontractor, Supplier: At any time after the first delivery of material or performance of work or services under a contract; Direct contractor, Laborer: None required
What the statute says about it. No lien for materials or equipment furnished or for work or services performed, except labor, may be perfected or enforced unless the notice has been given. A lien claimant who gives the notice has a right to lien for what was furnished or performed in the 31 days before the date the notice is given and anytime thereafter until the completion of the work of improvement. Recipients: The owner of the property; The prime contractor, a copy for information only, from a subcontractor or equipment or material supplier. Delivery: Delivered in person or by certified mail.
1. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 5, every lien claimant, other than one who performs only labor or is a potential claimant under NRS 608.150, who claims the benefit of NRS 108.221 to 108.246, inclusive, shall, at any time after the first delivery of material or performance of work or services under a contract, deliver in person or by certified mail to the owner of the property a notice of right to lien in substantially the following form:
NOTICE OF RIGHT TO LIEN To: ................................................... (Owner’s name and address) The undersigned notifies you that he or she has supplied materials or equipment or performed work or services as follows: ............................................................................................................................ (General description of materials, equipment, work or services) for improvement of property identified as (property description or street address) under contract with (general contractor or subcontractor). This is not a notice that the undersigned has not been or does not expect to be paid, but a notice required by law that the undersigned may, at a future date, record a notice of lien as provided by law against the property if the undersigned is not paid. (Claimant)
A subcontractor or equipment or material supplier who gives such a notice must also deliver in person or send by certified mail a copy of the notice to the prime contractor for information only.
3. No lien for materials or equipment furnished or for work or services performed, except labor, may be perfected or enforced pursuant to NRS 108.221 to 108.246, inclusive, unless the notice has been given.
6. A lien claimant who is required by this section to give a notice of right to lien to an owner and who gives such a notice has a right to lien for materials or equipment furnished or for work or services performed in the 31 days before the date the notice of right to lien is given and for the materials or equipment furnished or for work or services performed anytime thereafter until the completion of the work of improvement.
5. A prime contractor or other person who contracts directly with an owner or sells materials directly to an owner is not required to give notice pursuant to this section.
What the statute says about it. A notice of lien for materials or equipment, except labor, for such a work of improvement may not be perfected or enforced unless the 15-day notice of intent to lien has been given to the owner. Service of the notice extends the time for recording the notice of lien by 15 days. Recipients: The owner; The reputed prime contractor. Delivery: By personal delivery or certified mail.
6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, if a work of improvement involves the construction, alteration or repair of multifamily or single-family residences, including, without limitation, apartment houses, a lien claimant, except laborers, must serve a 15-day notice of intent to lien incorporating substantially the same information required in a notice of lien upon both the owner and the reputed prime contractor before recording a notice of lien.
Service of the notice of intent to lien must be by personal delivery or certified mail and will extend the time for recording the notice of lien described in subsection 1 by 15 days.
A notice of lien for materials or equipment furnished or to be furnished for work or services performed or to be performed, except labor, for a work of improvement involving the construction, alteration or repair of multifamily or single-family residences may not be perfected or enforced pursuant to NRS 108.221 to 108.246, inclusive, unless the 15-day notice of intent to lien has been given to the owner.
Direct contractor, Subcontractor, Sub-subcontractor, Supplier, Laborer
Any
Default
90 days after the completion of the work of improvement or after the lien claimant's last delivery of material, furnishing of equipment or performance of work for the work of improvement, whichever is later
What the statute says about it.Delivery: Recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county where the property or some part of it is located.
1. To perfect a lien, a lien claimant must record a notice of lien in the office of the county recorder of the county where the property or some part thereof is located in the form provided in subsection 5: (a) Within 90 days after the date on which the latest of the following occurs: (1) The completion of the work of improvement; (2) The last delivery of material or furnishing of equipment by the lien claimant for the work of improvement; or (3) The last performance of work by the lien claimant for the work of improvement; or (b) Within 40 days after the recording of a valid notice of completion, if the notice of completion is recorded and served in the manner required pursuant to NRS 108.228.
Service of the notice of intent to lien must be by personal delivery or certified mail and will extend the time for recording the notice of lien described in subsection 1 by 15 days.
4. Upon recording the notice pursuant to this section, the owner shall, within 10 days after the notice is recorded, deliver a copy of the notice by certified mail, to: (a) Each prime contractor with whom the owner contracted for all or part of the work of improvement. (b) Each potential lien claimant who, before the notice was recorded pursuant to this section, either submitted a request to the owner to receive the notice or delivered a preliminary notice of right to lien pursuant to NRS 108.245.
5. The failure of the owner to deliver a copy of the notice of completion in the time and manner provided in this section renders the notice of completion ineffective with respect to each prime contractor and lien claimant to whom a copy was required to be delivered pursuant to subsection 4.
What the statute says about it.Recipients: The owner of the property. Delivery: By personally delivering a copy to the owner or the owner's registered agent, by certified mail, return receipt requested, or, if no residence, business or registered agent address can be determined, by fixing a copy in a conspicuous place on the property, delivering a copy to a person residing there and mailing a copy to the owner. Each subcontractor also delivers a copy of each notice of lien to the prime contractor.
1. In addition to the requirements of NRS 108.226, a copy of the notice of lien must be served upon the owner of the property within 30 days after recording the notice of lien, in one of the following ways: (a) By personally delivering a copy of the notice of lien to the owner or registered agent of the owner; (b) By mailing a copy of the notice of lien by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the owner at the owner’s place of residence or the owner’s usual place of business or to the registered agent of the owner at the address of the registered agent;
or (c) If the place of residence or business of the owner and the address of the registered agent of the owner, if applicable, cannot be determined, by: (1) Fixing a copy of the notice of lien in a conspicuous place on the property; (2) Delivering a copy of the notice of lien to a person there residing, if such a person can be found; and (3) Mailing a copy of the notice of lien addressed to the owner at: (I) The place where the property is located; (II) The address of the owner as identified in the deed; (III) The address identified in the records of the office of the county assessor; or (IV) The address identified in the records of the county recorder of the county in which the property is located.
3. Each subcontractor who participates in the construction, improvement, alteration or repair of a work of improvement shall deliver a copy of each notice of lien required by NRS 108.226 to the prime contractor.
What the statute says about it. The lien does not bind the property for longer than that unless proceedings are commenced in a proper court within that time to enforce it. An extension may not run more than 1 year beyond the date on which the notice of lien is recorded.
1. A lien provided for in NRS 108.221 to 108.246, inclusive, must not bind the property subject to the lien for a period longer than 6 months after the date on which the notice of lien was recorded, unless: (a) Proceedings are commenced in a proper court within that time to enforce the same; or (b) The time to commence the action is extended by a written instrument signed by the lien claimant and by a person or persons in interest in the property subject to the lien, in which event, and as to only that person or those persons in interest signing the agreement, the time is extended, but no extension is valid unless in writing and recorded in the county recorder’s office in which the notice of lien is recorded and unless the extension agreement is recorded within the 6-month period.
Completion of the work of improvement means its occupation or use, or its acceptance, by the owner or the owner's agent or representative, accompanied by the cessation of all work on it, or the cessation of all work on it for 30 consecutive days, provided a notice of completion is timely recorded and served and the work is not resumed under the same contract.
“Completion of the work of improvement” means: 1. The occupation or use by the owner, an agent of the owner or a representative of the owner of the work of improvement, accompanied by the cessation of all work on the work of improvement; 2. The acceptance by the owner, an agent of the owner or a representative of the owner of the work of improvement, accompanied by the cessation of all work on the work of improvement; or 3. The cessation of all work on a work of improvement for 30 consecutive days, provided a notice of completion is timely recorded and served and the work is not resumed under the same contract.
The owner may record a notice of completion after the completion of the work of improvement. Within 10 days after recording it, the owner delivers a copy by certified mail to each prime contractor and to each potential lien claimant who requested the notice or delivered a preliminary notice of right to lien, and a failure to deliver a copy in that time and manner renders the notice ineffective with respect to each prime contractor and lien claimant to whom a copy was required to be delivered.
1. The owner may record a notice of completion after the completion of the work of improvement.
4. Upon recording the notice pursuant to this section, the owner shall, within 10 days after the notice is recorded, deliver a copy of the notice by certified mail, to: (a) Each prime contractor with whom the owner contracted for all or part of the work of improvement. (b) Each potential lien claimant who, before the notice was recorded pursuant to this section, either submitted a request to the owner to receive the notice or delivered a preliminary notice of right to lien pursuant to NRS 108.245.
5. The failure of the owner to deliver a copy of the notice of completion in the time and manner provided in this section renders the notice of completion ineffective with respect to each prime contractor and lien claimant to whom a copy was required to be delivered pursuant to subsection 4.
In these rules, residential means a work of improvement that involves the construction, alteration or repair of multifamily or single-family residences, including apartment houses.
6. Except as otherwise provided in subsection 7, if a work of improvement involves the construction, alteration or repair of multifamily or single-family residences, including, without limitation, apartment houses, a lien claimant, except laborers, must serve a 15-day notice of intent to lien incorporating substantially the same information required in a notice of lien upon both the owner and the reputed prime contractor before recording a notice of lien.
Recording the notice of lien, serving a copy of it and the deadline to sue each name all five roles: the direct contractor, the subcontractor, the sub-subcontractor, the supplier and the laborer, on any project.
The two earlier notices split the roles. The notice of right to lien under § 108.245 names subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and suppliers, and its row for direct contractors and laborers reads None required. The 15-day notice of intent to lien under § 108.226(6) is a residential rule naming every role but the laborer [1].
How the periods run
Notice of right to lien. This notice has no last day: it runs At any time after the first delivery of material or performance of work or services under a contract[1]. Section 108.245(3) says no lien for materials or equipment furnished or for work or services performed, except labor, may be perfected or enforced unless the notice has been given [1]. A notice that is given reaches what was furnished or performed in the 31 days [1] before it and anytime after that until the completion of the work of improvement.
Recording the notice of lien. Section 108.226(1) sets out two periods. The default rule is 90 days after the completion of the work of improvement or after the lien claimant's last delivery of material, furnishing of equipment or performance of work for the work of improvement, whichever is later[1]. If a valid notice of completion is recorded and served in the manner required pursuant to NRS 108.228, a separate rule reads 40 days after a valid notice of completion is recorded[1]. This page does not say which of the two governs a given project.
Service and suit. A copy of the notice of lien is served on the owner within 30 days after the notice of lien is recorded[1]; each subcontractor also delivers a copy to the prime contractor. The suit period is 6 months after the notice of lien is recorded[1]. Section 108.233 says the lien does not bind the property longer than that unless proceedings are commenced in a proper court within that time or the time is extended by a written instrument signed by the lien claimant and a person in interest in the property and recorded within that time [1]. An extension may not run more than 1 year [1] beyond the date on which the notice of lien is recorded.
Notices of completion
Under § 108.22116, the work of improvement is complete on its occupation, use or acceptance by the owner or the owner's agent or representative, with all work stopped. It is also complete when all work stops for 30 consecutive days [1], provided a notice of completion is timely recorded and served and the work is not resumed under the same contract.
The owner may record a notice of completion after completion. Within 10 days [1] after recording it, the owner delivers a copy by certified mail to each prime contractor and to each potential lien claimant who asked for it or delivered a preliminary notice of right to lien. A copy not delivered in that time and manner leaves the notice ineffective as to each person who was owed one [1].
How residential work is treated
Only the notice of intent stage is limited to residential work, on "multifamily or single-family residences" [1]. That rule runs Before recording a notice of lien[1], so no date is counted. Under § 108.226(6), a notice of lien for such work, except labor, may not be perfected or enforced unless the notice of intent has been given to the owner, and serving it extends the time for recording the notice of lien by 15 days [1]. Subsection 6 does not reach "any nonresidential construction project" [1].
What changed recently
In the chapter as revised through the 2023 session, § 108.226 was last amended in 2005, § 108.227 in 2007, §§ 108.228 and 108.233 in 2003, and § 108.245 in 2017 [1].
: 10 more jurisdictions published: Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and South Carolina.
: 10 more jurisdictions published: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho and Indiana.
: 10 more jurisdictions published: Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi and Missouri.
: Dataset first published: 9 of 51 jurisdictions published.
