With the current push for new builds, and the ever present desire to renovate and improve older properties, builders liens are becoming increasingly more common.

A builders lien is a charge registered against title to a real property for unpaid work or materials supplied as part of a construction project.

The parameters of who can file, and for what, are quite broad. The Builders Lien Act provides that “a worker, material man, contractor or subcontractor who does or causes to be done any work on, or supplies material, or does both work and supplies material, to or for an improvement, for an owner, contractor or subcontractor, has a lien for wages or for the price of the work or material, or both or any of them, or for so much of it as remains owing to him, on the interest of the owner in the improvement, on the improvement itself, on the material delivered to or placed on the land on which the improvement is situate, and on the land.”

The person or entity filing the lien intends to secure payment of the debt owed to them by the owner, as the lien must be addressed before the property can be sold, refinanced, or otherwise dealt with.

The Builders Lien Act also sets out strict deadlines for filing and removal, so it is important to act quickly whether you are attempting to file or discharge a builders lien.

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This article is intended for information purposes only and should not be taken as the provision of legal advice. Grace C. Cleveland is a lawyer with the law firm of Cleveland Doan LLP and can be reached at (604)536-5002 or grace@clevelanddoan.com.

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