Contractor Won’t Pay Me? 9 Steps to Get Paid on a Construction Job (2026)
✓ Verified against state statutes · Reviewed November 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
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Who Isn’t Paying You? Your Remedy Depends on Where the Chain Broke
Your options depend on your tier and on whether the project is private or public. Find your row: Who stopped paying You are Main remedies {chainRows.map((row) => ( ))} Role-specific guides: for subcontractors , for suppliers , and for general contractors .
Step 1: Find Your Lien or Bond Claim Deadline Today
Before you call anyone, find out how long your strongest remedy will last. On a private project that is the mechanics lien recording deadline. On a public project it is the payment bond notice deadline. Both usually run from your last day of furnishing labor or materials, not from the day the invoice went past due, and neither stops running while you negotiate. Also check whether you were required to send a preliminary notice at the start of the job. In many states, lower-tier claimants who skipped it have no lien right at all, or a reduced one. If you did send it, find the proof of service now. The Mechanics Lien Management State System calculates the notice, recording, and enforcement dates for your state from your project dates; your state’s rules are also on the state lien law directory — for example Texas , Florida , and California . 90 days from last furnishing for a second-tier Miller Act notice on federal work 15 states with a statutory right to stop work for nonpayment 49 states with a public-project prompt payment statute (all but New Hampshire)
Step 2: Pull Your Paper Together
Every remedy below runs on documents. Collect them in one folder before you send anything: The signed contract, subcontract, or purchase order, and every approved change order. Pay applications and invoices, with dates submitted and amounts paid against each. Delivery tickets, daily logs, or timesheets showing your first and last furnishing dates . Every preliminary notice or notice to owner you served, with proof of delivery. Every lien waiver you signed, conditional or unconditional. An unconditional waiver for a check that never cleared can be a problem, so flag it. The owner’s legal name and the property’s legal description. The property search tool pulls owner and parcel data. On a public or bonded job: the bond number and the surety’s name and address. You are often entitled to request a copy of the bond.
Step 3: Find Out Why You Haven’t Been Paid
The reason changes the play. Ask in writing, and keep the answer. “The owner hasn’t paid us.” Your subcontract may contain a pay-if-paid or pay-when-paid clause. States treat those clauses differently, and some limit them. Even where the clause is enforced against your contract claim, it usually does not affect your lien or bond rights, so this answer is a reason to protect the lien, not to wait. “We dispute your work.” Get the dispute in writing with the specific items. Separate the disputed amount from the undisputed amount, and demand the undisputed part now. Many prompt payment statutes allow withholding only for the disputed portion. “Waiting on paperwork.” Send it the same day — a conditional waiver, a sworn statement, a certified payroll. Remove every excuse. Silence. Treat it as a sign of cash trouble upstream. Move faster, and copy the owner and surety on everything from here on.
Step 4: Send a Written Demand With a Date
Phone calls create no record. A demand letter does. State the project, the itemized balance, a calendar date to pay, and the specific remedy that follows, and send it by certified mail and email to the party you contracted with, with copies to the owner, the GC, and the surety. Set the payment date early enough that you can still record your lien if it passes. In some states a statutory notice of intent is required before a lien can be recorded or filed — at least 10 days before recording in Colorado (C.R.S. § 38-22-109(3)) and 30 days before filing in Wisconsin (Wis. Stat. § 779.06(2)) and for Pennsylvania subcontractors (49 P.S. § 1501). The full checklist, timing math, and a copy-ready template are in our construction payment demand letter guide .
Step 5: Use the Leverage the Statute Gives You
Two kinds of statutory leverage exist before you file anything: Prompt payment interest. On public projects, every state except New Hampshire sets payment deadlines and charges interest when they are missed. The rates can be significant: Illinois charges 2 percent a month on late payments to lower-tier subcontractors on public work, and Louisiana and Mississippi charge a prime contractor that withholds a subcontractor’s money 0.5 percent a day, capped at 15 percent of the payment. Some states have private-project prompt payment rules too. Citing the statute and the running interest in your demand changes the math for the debtor. See Prompt Payment Laws by State . The right to stop work. Arizona, California, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas grant a statutory right to stop work for nonpayment on private projects, and Massachusetts grants a limited one. Notice periods range from none in Minnesota to about 70 days in Pennsylvania. In the other 35 states, your contract decides. See The Right to Stop Work for Nonpayment by State .
Step 6: Ask for a Joint Check or Direct Payment
If the problem is a sub or GC that is not passing money down, ask the party above it to pay you directly or by a two-party check. Owners and GCs agree when your lien or bond claim is a real threat to them. In Florida and Illinois the statute goes further: an owner that has received a claimant’s statutory notice must pay that claimant out of the contractor’s money (Fla. Stat. § 713.06(3); 770 ILCS 60/27). Several other states let the owner pay a claimant and credit it against the prime contract. A joint check is only safe if you get your share before you endorse it, and a joint check agreement does not stop your lien deadline from running. See Joint Check Agreements by State .
Step 7: Record a Mechanics Lien or Make a Bond Claim
If the demand date passes, file. On a private project, a recorded mechanics lien puts the debt on the owner’s title, which blocks refinancing and sales and gets the attention of the owner’s lender. The lien must be in the right form, recorded in the right county office, and served on the right parties within the state’s deadlines. The lien generator builds the document from your project facts and your state’s rules. Does it matter that the owner already paid the GC? It depends on the state. Some states cap sub and supplier liens at the contract price or at what the owner still owed; in our joint check review, 22 states set no general cap, so an owner who paid the GC can still face your lien. See Residential Mechanics Lien Rules by State for owner-occupied homes, which get extra protection in many states. On a public project, make your payment bond claim instead. Federal jobs follow the Miller Act: second-tier claimants notify the prime contractor within 90 days of their last labor or materials, and suit is due within one year (40 U.S.C. § 3133(b)). State and local jobs follow the state’s Little Miller Act. See Little Miller Act Deadlines by State and bond claims explained .
Step 8: Enforce It Before It Expires
A recorded lien is not money. It is a right to foreclose, and that right has its own deadline. If you do not file suit to enforce the lien in time, it expires, and an owner can sometimes shorten that window by serving a demand to commence suit. A bond claim has a suit deadline too. Most liens settle before a foreclosure judgment. But the threat is only real if the deadline is on your calendar. Alongside the lien or bond suit, you can sue the party you contracted with for breach of contract; smaller balances may fit the local small claims court, whose limits vary by state. See The Mechanics Lien Foreclosure Process and Demand to Commence Suit .
Step 9: Bring In a Construction Attorney When the Stakes Justify It
You can handle many unpaid claims yourself through the lien or bond claim. Bring in a lawyer when the balance is large, the work is disputed, someone upstream files bankruptcy, or the lien has to be foreclosed. Bankruptcy in particular changes the rules: the automatic stay limits collection against the debtor, but lien and bond rights against the property or a surety may still be preserved. See Mechanics Liens and the Bankruptcy Automatic Stay . Construction attorneys bill hourly, by flat fee for lien work, and sometimes on contingency for collection. Some lien statutes let the winning party recover attorney fees. See Mechanics Lien Attorney Fees by State , then connect with a licensed construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management attorney network.
5 Mistakes Unpaid Contractors Make
1. Waiting on a promise past the deadline “The check is in the mail” does not extend anything. Miss the deadline and you lose your lien rights entirely. 2. Signing an unconditional waiver for money not received Give conditional waivers until funds clear. See lien waivers explained . 3. Walking off the job in a state without a stop-work right In 35 states the contract controls. Abandoning the work can turn you from the creditor into the defendant. 4. Liening public property It does not work, and the time spent on it can burn your bond claim deadline. 5. Overstating the claim Claim only what is owed for work performed, less payments and credits. An inflated lien can be invalid in some states and invites a counterclaim.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can I do if a contractor won't pay me?
Start by finding your mechanics lien or bond claim deadline, because that is the remedy with the most leverage and it expires. Then gather your contract, change orders, invoices, and delivery records, send a written demand with a firm payment date, and use any statutory leverage you have, such as prompt payment interest or a statutory right to stop work. If you are still unpaid, record a mechanics lien on a private project or make a payment bond claim on a public one, then enforce it or sue for breach of contract before the enforcement deadline runs.
Can I put a lien on a property if the general contractor didn't pay me?
Yes, in every state a subcontractor or supplier on a private project can have mechanics lien rights against the property even though it never contracted with the owner, as long as it meets the state's notice and recording requirements. Many states require a preliminary notice early in the job for lower-tier claimants to keep that right. How much the owner can be made to pay depends on the state: some states cap sub and supplier liens at the unpaid contract balance, while in others an owner who already paid the GC can still face the lien.
The owner paid the general contractor, but the GC didn't pay me. Can I still file a lien?
Often, yes. Whether the owner's payment to the GC protects the owner depends on the state. Our joint check review found 22 states with no general statutory cap tying sub and supplier liens to the unpaid prime contract balance, so an owner who paid the GC in full can still face your lien there. Other states cap the lien at the contract price or at what the owner still owed when it received your notice, which is why serving your preliminary notice early matters. Check your state's rule before deciding.
How long do I have to file a mechanics lien after not being paid?
It depends on the state and your role on the project, and the clock usually runs from your last day of furnishing labor or materials, not from the date payment was due. Many states give 60 to 120 days, some give more, and some set different deadlines for prime contractors and subcontractors. Missing the deadline ends the lien right entirely. Use the Mechanics Lien Management State System to calculate your exact deadline from your project dates.
Can I stop work if I'm not being paid?
Only 15 states grant a statutory right to stop work for nonpayment. Fourteen grant a full right on private projects: Arizona, California, Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, and Texas, and Massachusetts grants a limited one. Each sets its own notice rules. In the other 35 states, your contract and the common law decide, and walking off the job without a contract right can put you in breach.
What if the project is public, like a school or highway?
You cannot put a mechanics lien on public property. Instead, the prime contractor on most public projects must post a payment bond, and unpaid subs and suppliers make a claim against that bond. Federal projects are governed by the Miller Act, which gives second-tier claimants 90 days from their last labor or materials to notify the prime contractor and requires suit within one year (40 U.S.C. 3133(b)). State and local projects follow each state's Little Miller Act, with its own notice and suit deadlines.
Do I need a lawyer to get paid on a construction job?
Not always. Many unpaid claims are resolved by a well-timed demand letter, a recorded lien, or a bond claim prepared correctly. A lawyer becomes important when the amount is large, the debtor disputes the work, someone files bankruptcy, the lien must be foreclosed, or a bond suit is required. You can connect with a licensed construction attorney through the Mechanics Lien Management attorney network to review your claim and your options.