Under Pennsylvania’s Mechanics’ Lien Law, only a “contractor” or “subcontractor” is permitted to file a lien claim against an owner of property, 49 P.S. \u00a7 1303(a), for the payment of debts due by the owner to the contractor or by the contractor to any of his subcontractors for labor or materials furnished during a project. 49 P.S. \u00a7 1301; see 49 P.S. \u00a7 1201(4), (5) (defining “contractor” and “subcontractor”).<\/p>\n
On January 6, 2012, the Pennsylvania Superior Court held in Bricklayers of W. Pa. Combined Funds v. Scott’s Dev. Co.<\/em>, 2012 PA Super 4; 2012 Pa. Super. LEXIS 5 (2012) that a labor union is a \u201csubcontractor\u201d under the Mechanic\u2019s Lien Law, and, therefore, trustees of a union benefit fund have standing to file a mechanic\u2019s lien claim on behalf of its members.<\/p>\n As a result of the Superior Court\u2019s ruling, labor unions will likely file more mechanics\u2019 lien claims for unpaid and\/or delinquent contributions. Thus, in order to ensure that no mechanic\u2019s liens are filed on a project, owners should attempt to verify on a monthly basis that money is properly disbursed down the construction chain. Towards that end, an owner needs to obtain partial payment releases from its contractors and subcontractors on a monthly basis. In addition, an owner should consider making certain payments by joint check, if the owner suspects any problems.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Under Pennsylvania’s Mechanics’ Lien Law, only a “contractor” or “subcontractor” is permitted to file a lien claim against an owner of property, 49 P.S. \u00a7 1303(a), for the payment of debts due by the owner to the contractor or by the contractor to any of his subcontractors for labor or materials furnished during a project. … <\/p>\n