Prime vs. Sub: Why Your Role Changes Your Texas Lien Deadline

The first question a Texas lien deadline depends on isn't the date — it's who hired you. Prime contractors and subcontractors run on different clocks, and using the wrong one is how good claims expire.

If you contracted directly with the owner (original contractor)

You're the “original” or “prime” contractor. Your path is simpler: you generally don't owe the monthly fund-trapping notices that subs do. Your main job is to file the lien affidavit on time if you go unpaid.

If a GC or another sub hired you (derivative claimant)

Now you have two obligations, not one. First, the monthly notices to preserve your rights and trap funds — due the 15th of the third month after each unpaid month. Then, the lien affidavit itself, on the same calendar deadline as the prime.

• Monthly notice: keeps the lien alive month by month.
• Lien affidavit: the formal recording that creates the lien.

Residential vs. commercial shifts everything a month

Texas gives residential projects a tighter, compressed schedule than commercial ones — deadlines land a month sooner. “Residential” has a specific statutory meaning (owner-occupied, single-family, etc.), so don't assume a house automatically qualifies. When the project type is wrong in your calendar, every downstream date is wrong too.

The takeaway

Before you calculate a single date, pin down two facts: your role (direct-with-owner or below someone) and the project type (residential or commercial). Those two answers select which deadline chain applies — and RevnuPros's free lien calculator will build the exact dates once you set them.