An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 17 – Construction

school’s real property as the object to which the lien attaches. 2404 The claimant has six months from the date the school provided it notice of the release bond to file an action on that bond. 2405

5. D ESIGN P ROFESSIONAL L IENS Design professionals, such as architects and engineers, may file liens against real property due to the school’s nonpayment for services before construction work begins. There are specific requirements for liens filed by design professionals that contract with the school for the design, engineering, or planning of a project. 2406 The lien is limited to the remaining amount of the design professional’s fee for services provided under the contract, or the reasonable value of those services, whichever is less. 2407 A design professional may not record a lien unless the school has obtained a building permit or other governmental approval needed for the project in connection with the design professional’s services. 2408 A design professional’s lien rights are not activated until it provides the school a demand for payment notice at least 10 days before filing the lien. 2409 Additionally, to be entitled to a lien, a design professional must satisfy each of the following conditions:  The work of improvement for which it provided services has not commenced;  The school defaults in payment required or refuses to pay; and If the project will not be constructed, the lien must be recorded within 90 days from the date the design professional knows or should know that the work will not commence. 2411 The design professional’s lien will automatically expire and becomes null and void if work begins on the project or after 90 days from the recording of the lien, unless an action to enforce the lien was filed. 2412 Enforcement proceedings for design professional liens are virtually identical to those for mechanics liens. The school may defend against an action by arguing that the design professional’s work was defective. A design professional may still file a regular mechanics lien for work performed on the construction project. 2413 Moreover, a design professional may convert a recorded design professional lien to a mechanics lien if:  The design professional lien expires because of the commencement of work on the project;  The lien remains fully or partially unpaid;  Design professional records a claim of lien which identifies the school and the design professional, the amount of the claim, a legal description of the site, and the building permit or other governmental approval for the project. 2410

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 585