What the calculator counts
The lien deadline calculator counts the last day of each period in a published state's rules for a role, where the rule has a counted date, from the project dates entered: preliminary notice, lien filing, service of the lien and the deadline to sue.
Each date prints with its arithmetic, a line on how the days were counted, and the statute sentence it comes from, quoted word for word with its citation, a link to the official text and the date of the copy it comes from.
Some rules print with no date: a statute may run from an event the calculator does not take as an input, set no fixed period, or repeat for each month of work. Those rules show the rule in words and the statute sentence. A rule that requires no notice of a role reads None required.
What it does not do
The calculator does not say whether anyone has the right to file a lien, which role a reader holds, whether work counts as complete under a statute, or which rule governs a project. Where a statute sets more than one rule for a stage, such as one that applies once a notice of completion is recorded, each rule shows with its condition. The calculator does not pick between them.
It does not know whether a notice was required or sent, or how a court would read the dates. It is not legal advice.
What to enter
- State. A state not yet covered shows Not yet verified and a link to the state table.
- Role. Direct contractor (a contract with the owner), subcontractor, sub-subcontractor, supplier or laborer.
- Project type. Residential, or other than residential. Where the statute defines residential, the definition prints under the choice.
- Dates. First furnishing, last furnishing and completion; then, only if each has happened, the dates of a notice of completion, a notice of commencement and the lien, each field labeled in the statute's own words where the statute words the event otherwise. A rule that runs from an empty required date asks for that date. An empty optional date means the event has not happened.
The page opens with no state and no dates. Dates that look out of order bring a note that says only what the dates show.
How the dates are counted
The event day is not counted. A period within 90 days after an event ends on the 90th day after it; the day after the event is day 1. Where a statute says the event day counts, the period ends one day earlier, and the arithmetic line shows one day fewer so the sum stays true. A line beside each date cites the state's counting statute, or says the statutes shown do not say how days are counted.
Months and years stay months and years. A month period ends on the same day of the month, N months later. When that month is shorter, the period ends on its last day, so one month after January 31 ends on the last day of February. A year period ends on the same month and day N years later; February 29 becomes February 28 in a year without one.
A day of a later month. Some statutes set a deadline as the 15th day of the 3rd month after the month of an event. The count runs from the event's month and ignores its day, so an event on any day of a month lands on the 15th of the month three months later.
Business days. The count starts the day after the event and counts Monday to Friday only, skipping the holidays the tool knows from the state's statute. It applies only where the statute itself counts business days. Where the tool does not know every excluded day, the result says the period may end later.
Earlier of and later of. Each limb is counted on its own, the earliest or latest result is taken, and only then does any weekend or holiday rule apply, once. A limb that runs from an optional event not yet entered drops out, and the result says so: after an earlier of, that a shorter period runs if the event happens; after a later of, that the date may move later; where the event could move it either way, that it may change.
Weekends and holidays. A last day on a weekend or holiday moves forward only where a statute of that state, cited in the result, says so, and only for the stages it names. Saturdays and Sundays are treated separately: some statutes move a Sunday but not a Saturday, and then a Saturday date that is not a holiday stays put unless the statute also moves a day on which an office is closed, which the result then notes. Where a statute moves the day to the next business day, the moved date also passes over a weekend. A moved date shows both the day the count ended and the day it moved to, with the citation. Where no statute moves it, the date stays where the count ended, with a note naming the weekday.
The holiday list. Holidays come only from the list written in the state's statute. Days proclaimed by a governor or president, court closures and local holidays are not modeled. Where the list is open, or the tool knows none of a state's holidays, the result notes that the date may move later than shown. In California, North Carolina and Ohio, a statute also moves some last days on which the office or the courthouse is closed, and the result notes that the date may move later. No other state's result notes a closed office or courthouse.
States covered
Dates are counted for Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Texas. Every other state shows Not yet verified. The rules and statute text by state are in mechanics lien deadlines by state.
Related pages
- Lien waivers by state: the companion table for waivers.
- Retainage calculator: the pay application math for the amount held back.