Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you buy through them, Contractor Lane may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only link to tools we would point you to anyway. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and the templates linked here are not a substitute for a Washington construction attorney.
Most customers pay. But if you run a contracting business long enough, one eventually will not, and the contractors who come out of that whole are almost never the ones who figured out their options after it happened. They are the ones who already knew the escalation ladder and, more importantly, already knew the deadlines that decide whether you keep any leverage at all. In Washington, one of those deadlines is short and completely unforgiving, and missing it quietly erases your strongest tool.
The best time to understand this is before you need it. Build your free Contractor Lane roadmap and get the paperwork habits in place from job one.
Start with the steps that usually work
Most non-payment is not fraud. It is a customer who is disorganized, short on cash this month, or unhappy about something they never told you. The boring early steps resolve the large majority of it:
A clear invoice with real terms. Due date, amount, what it covers, and what happens if it is late. An invoice that just shows a number invites a customer to treat payment as optional.
A firm, friendly reminder. A short written follow-up when it goes past due. Keep it professional; you may still want this customer, and you definitely want a clean paper trail.
A written demand. When reminders stop working, a formal demand letter that states the amount owed, a firm deadline, and that you will pursue collection or a lien if it is not paid. A written demand is often the moment a stalling customer finally pays, because it signals you are organized and serious rather than hoping.
Your lien rights are real, but the clock is brutal
This is the Washington-specific part that matters most, and the part contractors most often learn too late. Washington gives a contractor who furnishes labor or materials to improve real property the right to a lien against that property under RCW 60.04. A recorded lien clouds the title, which is powerful leverage because it can block a sale or refinance until you are paid. But that power comes with hard deadlines, and Washington does not forgive a missed one.
1. You must record your claim of lien within 90 days after the last day you furnished labor or materials (RCW 60.04.091).
2. After recording, you must file a lawsuit to foreclose the lien within 8 calendar months of the recording date (RCW 60.04.141).
Miss either one and the lien is gone. There is no grace period.
On top of the deadlines, there are notice requirements, and they depend on your role. A contractor dealing directly with the property owner is in a different position than a subcontractor or supplier who never contracted with the owner, and residential work carries its own required customer disclosure under RCW 18.27.114. Getting the notices right, at the right time, is part of whether your lien even holds up.
This is the one place we will tell you plainly: do not free-hand a lien filing off a template. The deadlines are strict, the notice rules depend on facts specific to your job, and a defective lien can cost you the very leverage you were trying to protect, sometimes with penalties attached. If real money is on the line, a Washington construction attorney is worth the fee here in a way they are not for most of your paperwork.
The routine flip side: releasing a lien once you are paid
The opposite document is low-stakes and common. Once a customer pays the balance that a lien secured, you record a release to clear it from the title, and a straightforward lien release template is fine for that routine step. Clearing a satisfied lien promptly is also just good practice, and customers and title companies remember the contractor who made that part painless.
Small claims: the other path for smaller balances
Not every unpaid balance justifies a lien and a foreclosure lawsuit. Washington's small claims courts handle disputes up to a set dollar limit without a lawyer, which is often the more practical route for a smaller unpaid invoice where a lien would be overkill. Confirm the current dollar limit and the filing process with your county district court before you rely on it; the cap changes over time.
The best defense is built upstream
Everything above is easier, and often unnecessary, when the job started right. A clear written scope and payment terms, a progress-payment schedule on larger jobs so you are never carrying the whole balance, and the required notices given at the start rather than scrambled together after a dispute. Our guides on writing an estimate that wins the job and getting your first job cover the front end of this. The paperwork you set up before a customer goes quiet is what decides how much leverage you have after.
Where Contractor Lane comes in
Contractor Lane is the front door for starting a contracting business in Washington, and getting paid is part of the operation, not an afterthought. The roadmap gets your registration, bond, insurance, invoicing, and the customer-facing paperwork set up in the right order, so the first time a payment stalls you already have terms, a paper trail, and an understanding of your options instead of a scramble.
General educational information for people running a business in Washington. This is not legal advice.