Georgia general contractors face lien deadlines (90 days), an 8-year statute of repose on defect claims, and licensing rules that apply to any project over $2,500. Parisi Law Firm handles contracts, liens, change-order disputes, defect claims, delay claims, and OSHA issues for GCs across Jefferson and Northeast Georgia. Call (404) 594-5130 for a consultation.
Running a general contracting business in Northeast Georgia means managing a dozen moving parts on every job — a prime contract with the owner, subcontracts with your trades, a schedule that never quite holds, and a payment chain where the money is always supposed to be one step behind you. When any one of those pieces breaks down — a change order the owner won't sign, a sub who walks off the job, a lien filed by a supplier you already paid, a customer who claims your work is defective two years after the punch list closed out — it doesn't stay a paperwork problem. It threatens your margin, your bonding capacity, and your ability to take the next job.
Jerry Parisi represents general contractors throughout Jefferson, Jackson County, and Northeast Georgia — Athens, Gainesville, Commerce, Winder, Gwinnett, Barrow, and Hall counties, plus metro Atlanta. He understands the construction business from the GC's chair: the contracts you're asked to sign without enough time to review them, the change orders that get handled with a handshake because stopping the job costs more than the dispute, and the liens and bond claims that stand between finishing the work and actually getting paid for it. Whether you need a contract reviewed before you sign, a lien filed before your deadline runs, or a defense against a defect claim on a project you closed out years ago, Parisi Law Firm is a direct line to an attorney who already understands how your business works.
We understand how a general contracting business actually runs
Legal advice that ignores how construction businesses actually operate isn't useful advice. A GC's margins are thin and get thinner with every change order that isn't properly documented. Your schedule is a promise made to an owner, a promise you depend on subs to keep, and a promise that a single supply delay or weather week can blow apart. You're managing owner relationships that determine whether you get the next bid invitation, alongside subcontractor relationships that determine whether the current job gets built on time and on budget.
Every legal issue on a construction project — a disputed change order, a lien from an unpaid sub-sub, a defect claim filed years after closeout — plays out against that backdrop of margin pressure and schedule risk. We approach GC representation with that reality in mind: practical advice aimed at protecting your business and your cash flow, not generic litigation for its own sake.
Contract essentials: prime contracts, subcontracts, and change orders
The single highest-leverage moment on any project is before you sign anything. A prime contract with the owner and a set of subcontracts with your trades set the terms for everything that follows — payment schedule, scope, retainage, indemnification, dispute resolution, and who bears the risk when something goes wrong that nobody anticipated. Contracts written by an owner's lawyer, or borrowed from a template that doesn't match how you actually run jobs, routinely shift risk onto the GC in ways that only become obvious once a dispute is already underway.
We review and negotiate prime contracts before you sign, draft subcontract templates you can reuse across every job, and build change-order procedures directly into your paperwork so a verbal instruction from an owner's rep doesn't turn into an unpaid extra six months later.
- Prime contract review and negotiation before you commit to a project
- Subcontract agreements that clearly define scope, schedule, payment, and indemnification
- Change-order clauses that require written authorization before extra work begins
- Retainage, payment-schedule, and termination provisions reviewed for GC-favorable terms
- Insurance and indemnification language that protects you when a claim originates with a sub
Lien and payment rights: get paid, and protect your right to get paid
A GC's leverage to get paid comes from the same tool available to subs and suppliers: the mechanic's lien. In Georgia, a claim of lien must be filed within 90 days of the last day labor or materials were furnished, in the superior court clerk's office of the county where the property is located, with a copy sent to the owner within 2 business days of filing. Miss that window, and the leverage the lien gives you is generally gone, even if the debt is undisputed.
There's an important exception that trips up GCs working government or public work: you cannot file a mechanic's lien against public or government-owned property. Public projects use a payment bond instead of the property itself as security, which means an unpaid GC on a public job has to pursue a payment bond claim rather than a lien. Knowing which tool applies — and moving before the applicable deadline runs — is the difference between getting paid and writing off the job.
Change-order disputes: the #1 source of construction conflict
More construction disputes trace back to change orders than to almost anything else. An owner's rep verbally approves extra work in the field to keep the schedule moving, the GC performs it in good faith, and when the invoice arrives the owner disputes that the change was ever authorized — or disputes the price. Multiply that by a handful of changes across a single project, and a job that should have been profitable turns into a fight over tens of thousands of dollars in unpaid work.
We help GCs both prevent and resolve change-order disputes: building enforceable written change-order procedures into your contracts on the front end, and pursuing payment — through demand, negotiation, lien rights, or litigation — when an owner refuses to pay for authorized work after the fact.
- Contract language requiring written sign-off before change-order work begins
- Documentation practices that protect you when verbal field authorizations happen anyway
- Demand letters and negotiation to resolve disputed change orders without litigation
- Litigation support when an owner refuses to pay for completed, authorized extra work
Construction defect claims: offense and defense
Defect claims can come at a GC from either direction. A homeowner or commercial owner alleges the work you performed — or that a sub performed under your supervision — was defective, and comes after you years after the project closed out. Or you're the one who discovered defective work from a sub or supplier and need to pursue a claim to cover the cost of correcting it.
Georgia's statute of repose for construction defect claims is 8 years from substantial completion of the project — after that window closes, a defect claim generally cannot be brought at all, regardless of when the defect was discovered. That deadline matters on both sides: it caps your long-term exposure as a GC, and it's a hard cutoff you need to be aware of if you're the one bringing a claim against a sub or supplier for defective work.
- Defense of defect claims brought by owners against the GC
- Claims against subcontractors or suppliers whose defective work created the liability
- Evaluation of whether a claim falls inside or outside Georgia's 8-year statute of repose
- Review of warranty, indemnification, and insurance coverage tied to defect exposure
Delay claims and liquidated damages
Schedule slippage is one of the most common sources of dispute on a construction project, and the contract language governing delay often gets less attention at signing than it deserves. Liquidated-damages clauses can expose a GC to significant per-day penalties for late completion, even when the delay was caused by an owner's design changes, a supplier's late delivery, or weather outside anyone's control. Whether you're facing a liquidated-damages claim or pursuing your own delay claim against an owner who held up the job, the contract's delay and force-majeure language usually controls the outcome.
We review delay and liquidated-damages provisions before you sign, and represent GCs pursuing or defending delay claims once a dispute over lost time turns into a dispute over money.
OSHA and multi-employer worksite citations
A construction site with a GC, multiple subs, and dozens of workers from different employers is exactly the kind of jobsite where OSHA's multi-employer citation policy comes into play. Under that framework, a GC can be cited as the controlling employer for safety hazards on the site — including hazards created by a subcontractor's own crew — even when the GC's own employees weren't directly exposed. That exposure makes jobsite safety oversight and documentation a legal issue, not just a safety-manager issue.
We advise GCs on OSHA compliance obligations, represent contractors facing citations arising from a multi-employer worksite, and help build subcontractor safety requirements directly into your contracts so responsibility for jobsite hazards is clearly allocated before an incident happens.
Managing subcontractors and their insurance
A GC is only as protected as the weakest link in its subcontractor chain. A sub who lets their liability insurance lapse, who isn't properly licensed for their trade, or whose agreement doesn't require them to indemnify the GC for their own mistakes can leave the general contractor holding liability that should have belonged to someone else entirely.
We build subcontractor agreements that require proof of insurance before work begins, name the GC as an additional insured where appropriate, and include indemnification language that keeps liability with the party who created the risk. Georgia's trade licensing rules also separate master and journeyman licenses for plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and low-voltage work from the general licensing framework — confirming your subs hold the right credentials protects your ability to enforce your own contracts and liens down the line.
Mechanic's Lien vs. Payment Bond Claim
| Project type | Payment tool | Key deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Private property | Mechanic's lien | File within 90 days of last labor/materials furnished |
| Public / government property | Payment bond claim | Governed by the project's bond and notice terms — act promptly once payment is late |
Frequently Asked Questions
Do general contractors need a license in Georgia?
Yes. Georgia's State Licensing Board for Residential & General Contractors requires a license for residential and general contracting work on any project over $2,500. Trades such as plumbing, electrical, HVAC, and low-voltage work require their own separate master or journeyman licenses.
How long do I have to file a lien as a GC in Georgia?
You must file the claim of lien within 90 days of the last day you furnished labor or materials to the project, in the superior court clerk's office of the county where the property is located. A copy also has to be sent to the owner within 2 business days of filing.
Can I put a lien on a public or government project?
No. Mechanic's liens generally cannot attach to public or government-owned property. If you're unpaid on a public project, your remedy is a payment bond claim rather than a lien, and it's governed by different notice requirements and deadlines.
What is Georgia's statute of repose for construction defects?
Georgia's statute of repose for construction defect claims is 8 years from substantial completion of the project. After that window closes, a defect claim generally cannot be brought at all, regardless of when the defect was actually discovered.
How do I handle a disputed change order?
Start with your documentation: written change-order authorizations, field notes, and correspondence showing the owner directed or approved the extra work. We use that documentation to pursue payment through demand, negotiation, lien rights, or litigation when an owner refuses to pay for authorized work.
What should be in my subcontractor agreements?
A solid subcontract should clearly define scope, schedule, and payment terms; require proof of insurance before work begins; name the GC as an additional insured where appropriate; and include indemnification language that keeps liability with the sub who created the risk.
Am I responsible for a subcontractor's OSHA violation?
You can be. Under OSHA's multi-employer worksite policy, a general contractor can be cited as the controlling employer for safety hazards on a site, including hazards created by a subcontractor's crew, even if your own employees weren't directly exposed to the hazard.
How do I get paid when an owner withholds final payment?
Your options depend on the project. On private property, a mechanic's lien filed within the 90-day deadline is usually the strongest leverage. On public projects, a payment bond claim takes the place of a lien. In either case, acting before the applicable deadline runs is critical to preserving your right to be paid.