Welcome to your daily briefing on construction developments in California. Today we're covering 5 key stories including updates on california construction headlines, background & context. Let's dive in.
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Federal Davis-Bacon applies to projects with federal funding above a threshold; state "little Davis-Bacon" laws apply to state-funded projects with their own thresholds. The trap: rules apply to the work, not the contract — a privately funded portion of a project with any covered funding is subject to coverage on the whole.
Wage-rate violations carry back-pay liability, debarment from future public bidding, and personal liability for officers in many states. The audits look back years.
Most construction contracts require change orders to be in writing, but many states enforce an "oral modification" exception when the parties' conduct shows agreement — especially when the changed work is performed and accepted without protest. Continued performance without written change orders can waive the writing requirement entirely.
Contractors who do extra work hoping to "true it up later" routinely lose those claims because the conduct shows acceptance of the original scope. A signed change order before the work is the cleanest evidence of agreement.
In most CA jurisdictions, the lien filing deadline runs from last day on the project OR last delivery of materials, whichever is later — but several states use a project-wide cutoff (substantial completion) regardless of when your specific work ended. Counting the wrong start date is the leading cause of waived liens.
A blown lien deadline drops your collateral down to a personal-guaranty claim, which often means recovery cents on the dollar. The window is short — 60 to 120 days in most states.
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