A lien is leverage you file later. Payroll, fuel and materials are due now. This guide shows how the two timelines fit together and where working capital sits between them.
Apply Now →On a Texas construction job one clock runs forward: crews are paid every week, suppliers bill every month, trucks burn fuel every day. The other clock is the slow one: the owner or general contractor approves a pay application, processes it and cuts a check. When that second clock stalls, the contractor is financing the project without having agreed to.
The mechanic’s lien is the legal tool that exists for that situation. It does not move the second clock faster. It gives you a claim to point at if the money never comes.
Under Texas Property Code Section 53.052, a lien affidavit is filed with the county clerk. For an original contractor on a non-residential project, the deadline to file is the 15th day of the fourth month after the month in which the work was completed. So a job finished in March has a filing deadline of July 15.
That is the rule for one situation. Subcontractors, suppliers and residential projects each have their own timing and notice rules in the same chapter, and they are different. Read the full chapter or ask a construction attorney before relying on a date, because missing it can cost you the claim. This page is general information, not legal advice.
| What happens | Cash effect on you |
|---|---|
| Work is performed | Payroll, materials and fuel already paid |
| Pay application sent | No cash yet; invoice sits in someone’s queue |
| Payment late | You carry the next payroll from your own account |
| Month after completion passes | The lien clock is now running |
| Lien affidavit filed | Costs time and fees, pressure on the owner, still no deposit |
The bottom three rows describe months, not days. A contractor who waits for the lien to produce cash can run through several payrolls first.
Working capital is for the stretch in the middle of that table: the weeks between finishing work and being paid for it. It is not a replacement for collecting what you are owed. The sensible approach is to do both. Send the pay application on time, keep a calendar of lien and notice dates with your attorney’s help, and size a funding request to the payroll and material weeks you cannot cover from the account.
For illustration only, and not our terms: if a crew costs $14,000 a week and an approved draw is running five weeks behind, the unfunded stretch is about $70,000 before materials. That is the number to plan around, not the contract value.
Residential remodeling is its own category with its own rules and different cash dynamics, and funding for it is not something this page can promise. If your work is mostly residential, treat the commercial deadlines above as not applying to you and get the residential rules from the statute or counsel.
For commercial and other non-residential contractors, requests from $25,000 to $5,000,000 can be considered, with funding in as little as 24 hours after approval and a five-minute application using a soft credit pull. Sole proprietors can apply.
Under Property Code 53.052 it is the 15th day of the fourth month after the month the work was completed.
Not necessarily. The same chapter sets separate timing and notice rules for subcontractors and suppliers, so read it or ask an attorney.
It adds pressure and creates a claim, but it rarely produces cash within the week you need it. Payroll still has to be covered.
Funding looks at your bank activity and the business’s cash needs. A late payment is a common reason contractors ask for it.
No. It summarizes one section of the Property Code for planning purposes. Confirm any date with an attorney.
Three months of business bank statements and a 5-minute application. FICO 500+ considered. $25,000 to $5,000,000, funded in as little as 24 hours.
Apply Now →It takes about two minutes and it will not affect your credit score.
No obligation • No impact to your credit score
