In 2011, just as in every year since 2005, the legislature passed bills that made changes to Utah's mechanic's lien statute. The amendments to Utah's mechanic's lien statute were contained in two bills: H.B. 115 and H.B. 260. For those interested, we've linked to the final full text versions of the bills in the Navigator's Change Order Section:
Although H.B. 115 and H.B. 260 addressed different concerns, the changes can be briefly summarized as follows:
- Creates an new express category of liens for "preconstruction services";
- Creates a new SCR filing, a "Notice of Retention," which is the equivalent of a "Preliminary Notice" for preconstruction services;
- Imposes criminal penalties for falsifying information for purpose of gaining priority for a "Preconstruction Service Lien";
- Prohibits waiver of lien rights by contract in absence of payment;
- Eliminates "Notices of Commencement," making the filing of a "Preliminary Notice" an absolute requirement to maintain a mechanic's lien in all cases;
- Creates criteria for determining priority between a mechanic's lien and a construction loan;
Sets the priority date for mechanic's liens on a project to the date the first preliminary notice was filed; and - Alters the content requirements for various notices and the indexing requirements for the SCR
As anyone who's had any experience in the construction industry can quickly recognize, these are major, substantive changes that every supplier or contractor needs to be aware of. The majority of the changes take place on August 1, 2011. The key additional in May 2011 is the addition of a Preconstruction Service Liens. H.B. 115 creates a new category of lien, known as a preconstruction service liens, that is defined as a lien for the following services:
(13) "Preconstruction service:
(a) means to plan or design, or to assist in the planning or design of, an improvement or
a proposed improvement:
(i) before construction of the improvement commences; and
(ii) for compensation separate from any compensation paid or to be paid for
construction service for the improvement; and
(b) includes consulting, conducting a site investigation or assessment, programming,
preconstruction cost or quantity estimating, preconstruction scheduling, performing a
preconstruction construction feasibility review, procuring construction services, and preparing
a study, report, rendering, model, boundary or topographic survey, plat, map, design, plan,
drawing, specification, or contract document.