Carolinas AGC and other construction industry stakeholders offered suggestions on how to tweak and improve a new online application that is expected to be in place on April 1, 2013, when legislation requiring new lien agents on most private commercial construction work is expected to take effect. The NC law concerning new lien agents is spelled out in Senate Bill 42, legislation modeled after a law in Virginia which only applies to one- and two-family residential construction projects there.
The new law concerning lien agents takes effect on April 1 and applies to improvements to real property for which the first furnishing of labor or materials at the construction site is on or after that date. Beginning then, to protect lien rights on private commercial jobs where the total amount is $30,000 or more, a contractor or subcontractor within three business days of contracting with a lower-tier sub or supplier would have to furnish the lower tiers with a written notice identifying the lien agent (who must be a title insurer). Then, within 15 days of the first furnishing of labor or materials, anyone who provides labor or materials would have to notify the lien agent. The notice could be in the form of a certified letter, a signature confirmation, a physical delivery, a fax, Fed Ex or an email with a receipt to the lien agent.
In an effort to expedite the new law, the title insurance industry is developing a new online app that could be used in lieu of the aforementioned notices. Carolinas AGC was among a number of organizations asked to provide input on how to make the new app as simple and hassle-free as possible for the construction industry. Click Here to see the design of the app being considered. Read More.