Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements in Rhode Island

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Rhode Island's mechanics' lien law is R.I. Gen. Laws Title 34, Chapter 28, §§ 34-28-1 to -37 (short title at § 34-28-36). It's an older, consent-based scheme: the lien arises directly from a contract with, or at the request of, the owner (or a tenant or a limited owner) rather than from a modern lien code that separates a preliminary-notice article from a lien-recording article. The chapter was substantially revised by P.L. 1991, ch. 328 and again by P.L. 2006, ch. 630, which added today's § 34-28-4.1 notice and tightened the enforcement deadline in § 34-28-10.

Who can claim

Section 34-28-1 subjects the improvement and the land to a lien for "all the work done by any person" and "the materials used" whenever the improvement was built under a contract with, or at the request of, the owner. Section 34-28-2 extends the same rule to work done under contract with a tenant or lessee — though that only reaches the tenant's own interest, not the landlord's, unless the landlord consented in writing. Section 34-28-3 covers owners of less than the full fee, such as a life tenant or tenant in common. "Materials" expressly includes the rental or lease of equipment (§ 34-28-3.1). The chapter names no limit on how many contractual tiers deep a claimant can be, and its own construction clause directs it "to afford a liberal remedy to all who have contributed labor, material, or equipment towards adding to the value of property" (§ 34-28-32.2). Architects, engineers, and their own subcontractors can claim for work whose result is used in construction, with the timing rule in § 34-28-7.

Preliminary notice

Section 34-28-4.1 creates a pre-work notice for a person contracting DIRECTLY with an owner, lessee, tenant, or limited owner, other than a material supplier. The notice must be conspicuous in a written contract or sent by certified mail before work or materials begin. The text says “No person contracting directly ... shall be entitled to claim a lien” without it. Other workers' and suppliers' liens are expressly preserved when the direct contractor omits the notice; that contractor may also owe the owner indemnity for lien claims by people outside their privity. The Notice of Intention under § 34-28-4 is a separate filing step.

Deadline to file the lien

Section 34-28-4(a) requires both mailing the Notice of Intention by prepaid registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and filing a copy in the local land evidence records “before or within two hundred (200) days” after the claimant's work or materials. Missing the window loses the lien for the older work. For an architect, engineer, or their subcontractor whose work is used in construction, § 34-28-7 uses the later of 200 days after their performance or ten days after actual and visible commencement. Thus visible construction beginning before the 200-day anniversary does not cut that 200-day period short; if it begins later, the ten-day alternative can extend the deadline.

Notice of completion effect

The current Chapter 28 index lists no recorded notice of completion that changes the filing deadline. Section 34-28-4 measures from work or materials, and § 34-28-7's separate design-professional trigger is actual, visible commencement of construction.

Serving the lien on the owner

Section 34-28-4(a) combines mailing the Notice of Intention to the owner with recording a copy; it does not create a separate post-recording copy duty. If the mailed notice returns undelivered, the claimant must file the notice with the returned envelope within 30 days after the return and no later than 200 days after mailing. The statute makes that filing a substitute for the ordinary copy filing, so the limit is measured from mailing, not from the underlying work.

Deadline to sue to foreclose

Section 34-28-10(a) sets an unusually short window: the claimant must file both a complaint to enforce the lien in Superior Court and a notice of lis pendens in the land evidence records, with the complaint and lis pendens no more than 7 days apart, and both landing within 40 days of the date the Notice of Intention was recorded. Missing that 40-day period makes the lien "void and wholly lost" for the work it covered, even if the claimant continues working on the same project afterward.

Homestead/residential extras

Chapter 28 itself contains no residential-specific lien formality. A separate statute reaches residential work instead: Title 5, Chapter 65 (Contractors' Registration and Licensing Board), § 5-65-18 requires every written contract between a registered contractor and a property owner to state that the contractor, subcontractors, or material suppliers may file a mechanics' lien. Section 5-65-24(a)(6) limits that specific disclosure duty to a contractor who "regularly... engage[s] in construction activities... on residential structures." Skipping the disclosure doesn't void the lien under Chapter 28 — the consequence runs through the contractor's registration instead, since the board may suspend it until any resulting lien is satisfied.

What trips people up

The Notice of Intention starts a second clock: § 34-28-10 gives only 40 days from its recording for both the Superior Court complaint and lis pendens. The complaint must be filed on the same day as the lis pendens or within seven days afterward. A direct contractor also needs the separate § 34-28-4.1 notice before work; omitting it defeats that contractor's own lien even though other claimants remain eligible.

Common questions

Can an architect lose time because construction starts quickly? No. Section 34-28-7 uses the later of 200 days after the architect's work or ten days after actual, visible construction begins. The lien covers architectural or engineering work whose result is used in the construction.

What if the mailed Notice of Intention comes back undelivered? File the notice with the returned envelope within 30 days of the return and no later than 200 days after mailing (§ 34-28-4(a)). That filing takes the place of the usual copy filing.

Statutes and sources

• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-36 (chapter short title) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-36.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-1 (improvements by consent of owner) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-1.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-2 (improvements by consent of tenant or lessee) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-2.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-3 (improvements by consent of limited owner) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-3.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-3.1 (materials include rental or lease of equipment) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-3.1.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-32.2 (liberal-construction clause) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-32.2.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-4.1 (notice owed by contractors dealing directly with the owner) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-4.1.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-4 (notice of intention to claim lien; 200-day deadline) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-4.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-7 (lien of architect or engineer) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-7.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 34-28-10 (complaint to enforce lien; 40-day deadline) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE34/34-28/34-28-10.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-65-18 (mechanics' lien notice in contractor's written contract) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-65/5-65-18.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)
• R.I. Gen. Laws § 5-65-24 (limited applicability to nonresidential contractors) — https://webserver.rilegislature.gov/Statutes/TITLE5/5-65/5-65-24.htm (accessed 2026-10-06)