Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: California Abandonment time frame

Abandonment of what? An easement? Tenant property left at the former leasehold? Mineral rights?

Since you are asking under the construction heading, I'm going to have to guess that you mean when can an owner assume that a general contractor has abandoned incomplete work.

In answering, let me first caution you that there is a so-called "abandonment doctrine" in the law of contracting and construction that has little or nothing to do with a contractor abandoning the work. Instead, "abandonment doctrine" refers to the concept that when an owner issues too many change orders, covering large and frequent changes, etc., at some point the scope and nature of the work becomes radically different than what the parties had in mind when the written contract was negotiated and signed. The owner is then held to have "abandoned the contract" and the rights of the contractor are then no longer limited to the no longer applicable, abandoned contract, but instead the contractor has a right to be paid what the job is worth, in light of all the changes.

I doubt this is what you mean. You are probably asking when an owner can assume his contractor has taken a permanent powder, so he, the owner, can take over the job and do it himself or find another contractor to finish up, without liability to the first.

The applicable laws that I found are Civil Code section 3092, which allows an owner to record a Notice of Cessation after 30 continuous days of no labor being performed, and section 3259.5, requiring the owner to send copies to the contractor and anyone who has served a preliminary 20-day notice.

If you are an owner who has been jilted by a contractor, I'd suggest reading up on these two statutes, which are probably available on line, and recording the notice described in 3092 and serving it per 3259.5. The effect will be to restrict the prior contractor's right to run up a bigger bill or lien, and is a large part of the process of clearing the decks so you can get someone else in to finish up.

If you feel uncomfortable handling this yourself, or if this is a high dollar amount contract, you should get a local construction attorney to assist.

Don't overlook contacting the Contractors State License Board to make an abandonment complaint, or the possibility of bringing suit in either Small Claims or Superior Court for breach of the contract.