Can You File a Mechanics Lien on a Public Project in Washington?

No Lien on Public Property

A mechanics lien does not attach to public property in Washington. In its place the statutes give unpaid claimants two separate remedies: a claim on the payment bond under RCW 39.08, and a lien on the money the public body has reserved from the contract under RCW 60.28.

They are cumulative, not alternative. Pursue both. The most common failure on Washington public work is calendaring one deadline and assuming it covers both.

The Payment Bond: 30 Days From Completion Plus Acceptance

There is no right of action on the bond unless the claimant presents and files written notice with the public body within 30 days from completion of the contract with acceptance of the work by the affirmative action of the public body. RCW 39.08.030(1)(a).

Read that anchor carefully. It is not last furnishing, and it is not completion standing alone. It requires completion plus formal acceptance by affirmative action, which means the date comes out of the public body's minutes or records rather than your own job file. Call the public body and get the acceptance date in writing.

A supplier furnishing materials, supplies, or provisions to a subcontractor must also have notified the prime contractor within 10 days after first delivery to that subcontractor. RCW 39.08.065. That one is a genuine forward deadline, and missing it bars the bond action for those materials.

A general contractor is the bond principal, not a claimant against its own payment bond.

Suit on the Bond: No Fixed Statutory Deadline

Chapter 39.08 sets the 30-day claim notice deadline and provides that attorney fees are unavailable in a suit filed before 30 days have passed after the notice. It does not state a fixed outer period for filing the action.

That is not the same as unlimited. The bond itself commonly carries a suit limitation clause, and the limitation period applicable to the underlying obligation still runs. Pull the bond and calendar from its terms. We do not publish a figure here because the chapter does not supply one.

Retained Funds: 45 Days, Then 4 Months

Every person performing labor or furnishing supplies toward completion of a public improvement contract has a lien on the money reserved by the public body. Give the notice of lien within 45 days of completion of the contract work, in the manner RCW 39.08.030 provides, meaning filed with the public body. RCW 60.28.011.

Suppliers of materials, supplies, or equipment must also have given the contractor the RCW 60.28.015 notice, which may be given at any time and reaches back 60 days plus everything furnished after.

Then foreclose against the reserve fund within 4 months of filing the claim against the fund. RCW 60.28.030. Miss it and the fund is discharged from your lien and paid to the contractor. That 4-month limit does not restrict a separate suit against the contractor or surety where you are not seeking to foreclose against the fund.

The Two Anchors Side by Side

The clocks differ, which is why both belong on the calendar:

• Payment bond claim notice: 30 days from completion of the contract with acceptance by affirmative action of the public body
• Retained-funds lien notice: 45 days from completion of the contract work
• Retained-funds foreclosure: 4 months from filing the claim against the fund
• Supplier-to-subcontractor bond notice: 10 days from first delivery to that subcontractor

One Carveout

On public improvement contracts funded in whole or in part by federal transportation funds, RCW 60.28.011(1)(b) directs claim protection to the ch. 39.08 bond rather than to retainage. Check the funding source before relying on a retained-funds claim.