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22 Lien Extinguished If Not Filed As Required By Act

In This Volume

  • 22 A lien in respect of which a claim of lien is not filed in the manner and within the time provided in this Act is extinguished.

1997-45-22, effective February 1, 1998 (B.C. Reg. 1/98).

CASE LAW

In a lien claim filed by a supplier, the supplier named the construction manager, rather than the owner of a property being developed as a hotel, as the party who had engaged the supplier and who would be responsible for payment. None of the contract documents referred to the construction manager as a party to the contract or permitted any inference that the construction manager was a party to the supplier’s contract with the owner. As the construction manager had no authority to bind the owner and the supplier failed to properly identify the party with whom it had the contract, the court granted the owner’s application to extinguish the lien because the lien claim was not filed in strict compliance with the Act (Nita Lake Lodge Corp. v. Conpact Systems (2004) Ltd., 2006 BCSC 885).

In Cannex Contracting 2000 Inc. v. Eagle Ridge Land Sales Corp., 2019 BCSC 626, the head contractor of a residential construction project filed a builders lien against the property in March 2018. In June, the developer terminated the head contract on the basis of abandonment and now sought an order to extinguish the lien. The court dismissed the application, finding that, despite ongoing disputes about invoice amounts and their non-payment, the head contractor continued to provide work and services until the developer chose to terminate the contract, and the builders lien was filed within the requisite time limit.