Construction,
Civil Procedure
Dec. 10, 2025
There's the 5-second rule: Then there's the 5-year rule
Oswald v. Landmark Builders proves the 5-year rule waits for no one -- not even a pandemic.
Garret D. Murai
Partner
Nomos LLP
Email: gmurai@nomosllp.com
Garret is the editor of the California Construction Law Blog at www.calconstructionlawblog.com.
Deadlines are called "dead" lines for a reason: bad things tend to happen when you miss them.
For those in the construction industry, you likely already know some of the big ones. You have 10 years from substantial completion to bring a latent defect claim, 90 days from recordation of a mechanics lien to file suit to foreclose on the lien, and you generally have 20 days from first furnishing work to serve a preliminary notice.
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