The Louisiana Private Works Act contains the legal requirements for general contractors to reserve and file “liens.” If you’re a small general contractor doing work in Louisiana, its critical for you to familiarize yourself with the contents of this Act and the special requirements applicable to general contractors to file liens.

While a subcontractor can typically lien any job by filing the proper documents within 30 or 60 days after stopping work, a general contractor lacks this kind of luxury. In most circumstances, a general contractor must begin preserving its rights to file a lien before any work begins on the jobsite.

Contracts More Than $25,000.00

If a construction contract exceeds $25,000.00, the general contractor must file a “Notice of Contract” with the proper recording office before beginning any work. Failure to file this document forfeits the general contractor’s lien privileges. If the general contractor later files a lien on the project, the lien will be filed improperly and removable at the general contractor’s expense.

Construction on Residential Properties

If your general contracting company is doing work on a residential building, you may be required to comply with the Resident Truth in Construction Act to preserve your lien privileges.

The Residential Truth in Construction Act mandates that the general contractor have any homeowner sign a rather lengthy “Notice of Lien Rights” waiver before work begins on a residential project. Failure to get this document signed results in a forfeiture of a general contractor’s lien rights. For purposes of this Act, a “residence” is defined as a dwelling occupied by its owner.

General Lien Requirements

Additionally, all the typical lien requirements apply to generals, including: timelines, necessity of a legal property description, identification of the parties and their mailing addresses, statement of when payment of the price is to be made and descriptions in general terms of the work to be done.

Importance of These Precautions and Filing a Lien

Taking the necessary precautions to preserve your right to lien a project is important and imperative. Liens are a priceless tool for your company to promptly collect on its account receivables and protect you company’s ability to get paid for its work.

Failure to understand and to meet the conditions of the Private Works Act can be fatal to your lien privileges. An improperly filed lien – while perhaps on the books – is a legal liability for your organization. An interested party can easily remove an improperly filed lien and the removal of the lien will quite possibly be at your company’s expense.

Zlien is experienced in filing liens and helping your construction company smoothly complete and collect on projects. Visit Zlien.com to begin filing your lien, or call us today to discuss how we can help your organization.