Colorado: Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements
The short answer
Most claimants must file a lien statement within 4 months of their own last work or delivery (pure laborers get only 2 months after completion), but only after serving the owner and the prime contractor a written notice of intent at least 10 days beforehand. Once filed, you have 6 months from that same triggering event to sue to foreclose and to record notice that you did. An owner of an existing or primary-residence home who already paid enough to cover the job has a built-in defense against any lien, even an unpaid subcontractor's.
| Governing law | C.R.S. Title 38, Art. 22 (§§ 38-22-101 to -133), the "General Mechanics' Lien" article; an 1899-vintage act amended piecemeal, not a modern recast or uniform act |
|---|---|
| Who can claim a lien | Broadly: laborers, mechanics, materialmen, contractors, subcontractors, builders, and "all persons of every class" furnishing labor or materials, plus architects, engineers, draftsmen, and other design or skilled professionals (§ 38-22-101(1)); an owner-contractor deal over $500 must be a signed writing filed with the county clerk before work starts, or subs and laborers are deemed to deal directly with the owner (§ 38-22-101(3)) |
| Preliminary notice | None during the work itself. Instead, a written "notice of intent to file a lien statement" must be served on the owner (or agent) and the prime contractor (or agent) at least 10 days before the lien statement is filed, by personal service or certified/registered mail (§ 38-22-109(3)) |
| Deadline to file the lien | 4 months after the claimant's own last labor or materials furnished, for everyone except pure laborers (no materials furnished), who get only 2 months after completion of the project (§ 38-22-109(4)-(5)); abandoning the job for 3 continuous months counts as completion for this purpose (§ 38-22-109(7)) |
| Notice of completion effect | None — Article 22 has no owner-recorded notice of completion or cessation that shortens a filing deadline. A claimant may instead file its own optional notice of intent to claim, which only extends that claimant's filing window, to the earlier of 4 months after completion or 6 months after the notice is filed (§ 38-22-109(10)) |
| Serving the lien on the owner | No separate step to serve a copy of the recorded lien statement itself. Colorado's owner-facing service happens before filing, not after: the 10-day notice of intent to file must reach both the owner and the prime contractor (§ 38-22-109(3)) |
| Deadline to sue to foreclose | 6 months after the last work, last materials furnished, or completion (whichever the filing deadline ran from) to commence a foreclosure action and record notice that the action was commenced, or the lien stops holding the property (§ 38-22-110) |
| Homestead/residential extras | Two overlays for a single- or double-family dwelling: (1) a lien filed more than 2 months after completion can't reach a bona fide purchaser of that dwelling unless it was already recorded, or the purchaser knew, before the sale (§ 38-22-125); (2) an owner of an existing home, or one built for their own primary residence, who already paid enough to cover the contract has an affirmative defense against any lien on it (§ 38-22-102(3.5)) |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
The short answer
Colorado's mechanic's lien law dates to 1899 and still reads that way: broad
lien rights for nearly anyone who improves property, a mandatory pre-filing
warning instead of an early preliminary notice, and a filing deadline that
splits pure laborers from everyone else. Most claimants get 4 months after
their own last work or delivery to file a lien statement, but they must
first serve the owner and the prime contractor a written notice of intent
at least 10 days ahead of time. Once filed, the claimant has 6 months from
the same triggering date to sue to foreclose. Homeowners get real
protection here too: an owner of an existing home, or one built as their
own primary residence, who already paid enough to cover the job has a
built-in defense even against an unpaid subcontractor's lien.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
Colorado's mechanic's lien statute is the "General Mechanics' Lien"
article, C.R.S. Title 38, Article 22 (§§ 38-22-101 to 38-22-133). It traces
back to an 1899 act and has been amended section by section since,
including several 20th- and 21st-century additions (the residential
payment defense, the bona fide purchaser rule, the disburser-notice
system) layered onto the original text. It is not built on any national
uniform act.
Who can claim
Section 38-22-101(1) casts an unusually wide net: laborers, mechanics,
materialmen, contractors, subcontractors, builders, "all persons of every
class" furnishing labor or materials, and separately "architects,
engineers, draftsmen, and artisans" who furnish designs, plans, surveys, or
other professional or skilled services. There's one gate on top of that
breadth: § 38-22-101(3) requires any owner-contractor deal over $500 to be
a written, signed contract filed with the county clerk and recorder before
work begins. Skipping that filing doesn't kill anyone's lien rights,
though — it flips a switch instead: "the labor done and materials
furnished by all persons shall be deemed to have been done and furnished
at the personal instance of the owner," giving every sub and laborer a
lien for the full value of their own work rather than being capped by the
contract price.
Preliminary notice
Colorado doesn't require any notice while the work is happening. Instead,
§ 38-22-109(3) requires a "notice of intent to file a lien statement,"
served on the owner (or agent) and the principal or prime contractor (or
agent), "at least ten days before the time of filing the lien statement."
This can be done by personal service or by registered or certified mail,
and proof of that service — an affidavit — must itself be recorded along
with the lien statement. It functions less like an early warning and more
like a mandatory last-chance notice immediately before filing.
Deadline to file the lien
Section 38-22-109 splits the filing deadline by claimant type. A pure
laborer — someone paid "by the day or piece" who furnishes no materials —
has only "two months next after the completion of the building, structure,
or other improvement" (§ 38-22-109(4)). Everyone else gets "four months
after the day on which the last labor is performed or the last laborers or
materials are furnished" (§ 38-22-109(5)). Section 38-22-109(7) defines
"completion" generously for claimants: a "trivial imperfection" doesn't
prevent it from counting as complete, and simply walking off the job for
three continuous months is "deemed equivalent to a completion" in its own
right, which can start the laborer's clock running even without a formal
finish.
Notice of completion effect
Colorado has no owner-recorded notice of completion or cessation that
shortens anyone's filing deadline. What it has instead runs the opposite
direction: § 38-22-109(10) lets a claimant record its own notice of intent
to claim a lien, which "shall extend the time for filing" to "four months
after completion ... or six months after the date of filing of said
notice, whichever occurs first." It's an optional tool a claimant can use
to buy itself more time, not something an owner can use to cut a
claimant's time short.
Serving the lien on the owner
There's no separate step to serve a copy of the recorded lien statement on
the owner after it's filed. Colorado front-loads its owner-facing service
requirement instead: the 10-day notice of intent under § 38-22-109(3) must
reach both the owner and the prime contractor before the lien statement is
ever filed, and the claimant's proof of that service becomes part of the
public record alongside the filed lien itself.
Deadline to sue to foreclose
Section 38-22-110 gives a claimant six months, measured from the same
event that started the filing clock (last work, last materials furnished,
or completion), to bring a foreclosure action: the lien "shall [not] hold
the property longer than six months" after that date "unless an action has
been commenced within that time to enforce the same, and unless also a
notice stating that such action has been commenced is filed for record
within that time" with the county clerk and recorder. Both the lawsuit and
the recorded notice of it are required, not just one or the other.
Homestead/residential extras
Colorado layers two separate residential protections on top of the base
sequence, both aimed at a single- or double-family dwelling. First,
§ 38-22-125 protects a bona fide purchaser of that dwelling: a lien filed
more than two months after completion can't reach the purchaser's interest
unless it was already recorded before the sale, or the purchaser actually
knew about it. Second, and more sweeping, § 38-22-102(3.5) gives the owner
of an existing single-family home — or one built by or for the owner as
their primary residence — "an affirmative defense in any action to enforce
a lien" whenever the owner "has paid an amount sufficient to satisfy the
contractual and legal obligations of the owner ... to the principal
contractor or any subcontractor for the purpose of payment to the
subcontractors or suppliers." That defense works even against a
subcontractor the general contractor never paid, so long as the owner paid
enough into the job overall.
What trips people up
Because the notice of intent under § 38-22-109(3) has to be served at
least 10 days before filing, and the filing deadline itself doesn't move,
a claimant who waits until the last weeks of the 4-month window to act can
run out of runway to give proper notice and still file on time. Separately,
the residential payment defense in § 38-22-102(3.5) is easy to
underestimate: it isn't limited to the general contractor a homeowner
actually paid — it can defeat a subcontractor's lien entirely if the
homeowner paid enough overall, even if that subcontractor was never paid a
cent by the contractor who received the money.
Common questions
Do I need to send an early warning notice when I start the job, like in
some other states?
No. Colorado's only mandatory notice is the "notice of intent to file a
lien statement," due at least 10 days before you file, not at the start of
the work.
I'm a subcontractor and the homeowner already paid the general
contractor in full — do I still have a lien?
On an existing single-family home or one built as the owner's primary
residence, § 38-22-102(3.5) gives the owner an affirmative defense if they
paid enough to cover the job, even though you weren't paid. That defense
doesn't apply the same way to other kinds of property.
Does the lien deadline change if I'm a laborer with no materials to
supply?
Yes — a pure laborer's filing deadline is 2 months after the project is
completed, not the standard 4 months after last furnishing that applies to
everyone else.
Statutes and sources
- C.R.S. § 38-22-101(1) (who has lien rights) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-101(3) (written-contract-over-$500 filing rule) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-109(3) (10-day notice of intent to file) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-109(4)-(5) (filing deadlines: 2 months laborers, 4 months
everyone else) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-109(7) (trivial imperfection; abandonment as completion) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-109(10) (optional claimant notice extending filing
deadline) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-110 (6-month deadline to sue to foreclose) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-102(3.5) (residential owner-payment affirmative defense) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04) - C.R.S. § 38-22-125 (bona fide purchaser of a 1-2 family dwelling) —
https://olls.info/crs/crs2025-title-38.htm
(accessed 2026-07-04)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.