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Insurance & Liens

198 questions
51. A subcontractor served a proper preliminary notice but the owner never paid. Before recording a mechanics' lien, the subcontractor should make sure the lien claim states an amount that is:
a.Twice the contract price, to cover the interest and the legal costs
b.The full original contract price, even though most of it was paid
c.No more than the reasonable value of the unpaid work provided✓
d.Equal to the market value of the property being liened

§8430(a) makes the lien a direct lien for the lesser of two amounts: the reasonable value of the work the claimant provided, and the price agreed with whoever contracted for that work. §8430(c) adds that where the contract was rescinded, abandoned or breached the lien may not exceed reasonable value. So the ceiling is the unpaid value of what was actually furnished, which is what (b) ignores — money already received has to come off the claim. (a) treats interest and fees as if they were principal, and they are not part of the lien amount. (d) confuses the security with the debt: the lien attaches to the property, but its size is measured by the work. The sanction behind all of this is §8422(c) — a claimant who willfully includes labour, services, equipment or materials never furnished for that property forfeits the lien entirely — while §8422(a) forgives an honest error in the demand. The preliminary notice this subcontractor served matters separately: §8410 lets a claimant enforce a lien only if that notice was given and proof of it made.

Civil Code §8430(a), (c); §8422(a), (c); §8410
52. On a private project, an owner who wants to shorten the time claimants have to record liens should:
a.Refuse to pay the contractor until all liens expire
b.Demand that subcontractors waive their lien rights verbally
c.Wait one full year before paying anyone
d.Record a Notice of Completion after the work is finished✓

Recording a Notice of Completion shortens the lien-recording period: the direct contractor then has 60 days and subcontractors/suppliers have 30 days, instead of the 90-day period that applies when no such notice is recorded.

Civil Code §8170
53. A contractor recorded a valid mechanics' lien but, 100 days later, has neither been paid nor filed a foreclosure lawsuit. What is the status of the lien?
a.It remains fully enforceable for one year from recording
b.It has expired and is no longer enforceable✓
c.It automatically converts into a stop payment notice
d.It can still be enforced if the contractor records it a second time

Under Civil Code §8460, a recorded mechanics' lien must be enforced by filing a foreclosure lawsuit within 90 days of recording. Because more than 90 days passed with no lawsuit, the lien has expired and become unenforceable.

Civil Code §8460
54. A subcontractor signs a lien waiver in exchange for a progress payment that has not yet actually cleared. Which type of waiver is appropriate so the waiver only takes effect once payment is received?
a.An unconditional waiver and release
b.A Notice of Completion
c.A conditional waiver and release✓
d.A lien release bond

A conditional waiver and release becomes effective only when the claimant actually receives the payment. An unconditional waiver releases lien rights immediately and should not be signed until payment has truly cleared.

Civil Code §8136
55. A subcontractor records a $40,000 mechanics' lien on a home that the owner is trying to sell. To clear title so the sale can close, the owner records a lien release bond. The bond amount must be:
a.$40,000, equal to the lien
b.$20,000, half the lien
c.$50,000, which is 125% of the lien✓
d.$80,000, which is double the lien

Under Civil Code §8424, a lien release bond must be 125% of the claimed lien amount. For a $40,000 lien, that is $50,000. The bond substitutes as security so the claimant's recovery shifts from the property to the bond.

Civil Code §8424
56. An owner of a private residential project withholds final payment because of disputed change-order work. Absent a genuine good-faith dispute, the owner must generally pay the direct contractor the final retention within how long after completion?
a.10 days
b.20 days
c.30 days
d.45 days✓

Under Civil Code §8800, on a private work the owner must pay the direct contractor any retention within 45 days after completion of the work of improvement, unless there is a good-faith dispute. Wrongful withholding can expose the owner to a penalty plus the amount withheld.

Civil Code §8800
57. On a private work of improvement, a supplier serves a stop payment notice on the construction lender. To make the notice "bonded" so the lender is obligated to withhold funds, the supplier should provide a bond equal to:
a.100% of the claim
b.125% of the amount of the claim✓
c.150% of the claim
d.10% of the project's total value

Under Civil Code §8506, a stop payment notice served on a construction lender must be accompanied by a bond of 125% of the claim amount to obligate the lender to withhold funds. The bond protects the lender if the claim is later found invalid.

Civil Code §8532
58. A contractor abandons a private project before it is finished and the owner records a Notice of Cessation after work stops for a continuous period. The Notice of Cessation primarily serves to:
a.Cancel every subcontractor's lien rights the moment it is recorded
b.Start the shortened deadlines for recording a claim of lien✓
c.Move the contractor's licence across to the owner of the site
d.Stretch the deadline for recording a lien to a full year

§8188(a) lets the owner record a notice of cessation once labour on the work of improvement has stopped for a continuous period of at least 30 days that is still continuing on the day of recording, and §8188(c) requires the notice to state the date labour ceased and that the stoppage has continued. What it buys the owner is time: §8412 cuts the direct contractor's window to 60 days after the notice is recorded instead of 90 days after completion, and §8414 cuts every other claimant's window to 30 days. (d) inverts precisely that. (a) goes much too far — the notice starts a clock, it extinguishes nothing, and a claimant who records inside the shortened window has a perfectly good lien. (c) has nothing to do with the lien statutes and is impossible anyway, since B&P §7075.1(a) forbids transferring a licence. The notice matters most on exactly the facts given: on an abandoned job completion may never occur, so without it the 90-day clock never starts to run.

Civil Code §8188(a), (c); §8412; §8414
59. An employee is injured on the job while working for an employer who has unlawfully failed to obtain workers' compensation insurance. Under California Labor Code §3706, the injured employee may:
a.Recover the scheduled compensation benefits and nothing else
b.Recover unpaid wages only, with no action for the injury
c.Sue the employer for damages as well as claiming benefits✓
d.Recover only from the contractor's licence bond of $25,000

§3706 removes the bargain that makes workers' compensation an exclusive remedy: if the employer fails to secure the payment of compensation, the injured employee or the dependents may bring an action at law against that employer for damages as if the division did not apply. §3708 then stacks the deck, and deliberately — in such an action the injury is presumed to be a direct result of the employer's negligence with the burden on the employer to rebut it, and contributory negligence, assumption of risk and the negligence of a fellow servant are all unavailable as defences, with no contract able to restore them. §3716(a) supplies the parallel route: where the employer does not pay an award, the director pays it from the Uninsured Employers Benefits Trust Fund. That is why (a) and (b) both understate the remedy, and why (d) points at the wrong security — the licence bond has its own beneficiaries under B&P §7071.5 and is not a substitute for workers' compensation.

Labor Code §3706; §3708; §3716(a)
60. An employee injured while working for an uninsured employer cannot collect from the employer because the employer is insolvent. The worker may apply for benefits from:
a.The CSLB license bond fund
b.The Uninsured Employers Benefit Trust Fund (UEBTF)✓
c.The state general fund through the Department of Insurance
d.The federal Social Security disability program

Labor Code §3715 allows an injured worker of an uninsured employer to file a claim against the Uninsured Employers Benefit Trust Fund administered by the Department of Industrial Relations. The fund pays benefits and then pursues the uninsured employer for reimbursement.

Labor Code §3715

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61. Under California workers' compensation, medically necessary treatment by chiropractors, physical therapists, and occupational therapists for a single industrial injury is generally capped at:
a.Ten visits for each one of the three provider types
b.An unlimited number of visits, as treatment needs
c.Twelve visits shared across all three provider types
d.Twenty-four visits for each of the three provider types✓

§4604.5(c)(1) is the cap, and it runs per discipline rather than pooled: for injuries occurring on or after January 1, 2004, an employee is entitled to no more than 24 chiropractic, 24 occupational therapy and 24 physical therapy visits per industrial injury. That is what makes (c) the tempting wrong answer — it merges the three into a single allowance the statute never creates — and (a) simply cuts the figure by more than half. (b) ignores the cap altogether. There are two genuine exits, and both matter in practice: under §4604.5(c)(2)(A) the employer may authorise additional physical medicine visits in writing, and paying for or authorising treatment beyond the limit is not a waiver of the limit for future requests; and under §4604.5(c)(3) the cap does not apply to post-surgical physical medicine and rehabilitation provided under the post-surgical treatment utilization schedule the administrative director adopts pursuant to §5307.27. The underlying duty to provide medical treatment is §4600.

Labor Code §4604.5(c)(1)-(3); §4600; §5307.27
62. The amount a doctor or hospital may bill the workers' compensation insurer for treating an injured worker is governed primarily by:
a.The official medical fee schedule the administrative director adopts✓
b.The doctor's own customary cash rates for the patients without insurance
c.Whatever the worker's own group health plan would have paid for it
d.A case-by-case negotiation between the injured worker and the provider

§5307.1(a) directs the administrative director, after public hearings, to adopt and periodically revise an official medical fee schedule setting reasonable maximum fees for the treatment, care, services and goods described in §4600, with most of its structure tied to the relevant Medicare and Medi-Cal payment systems. That schedule, not the provider's own price list, caps what the workers' compensation insurer pays, which disposes of (b). (c) borrows the wrong payer: group health rates are a private contract between a plan and a provider and have no bearing on the schedule. (d) mistakes who the parties even are — the injured worker does not negotiate the medical bill, which runs between provider and claims administrator, and a disputed bill goes to independent bill review rather than to the worker. §139.6, cited here by mistake often enough to be worth naming, is the information and assistance program that publishes the guides and pamphlets injured workers receive.

Labor Code §5307.1(a); §4600; §139.6
63. When temporary disability indemnity is owed, the first payment is generally due:
a.Within 30 days of the date on which the injury occurred
b.Within 14 days of knowing of the injury and disability✓
c.Only after the claim has been formally accepted in writing
d.Within 60 days of the date on which the injury occurred

§4650(a) requires the first payment of temporary disability indemnity no later than 14 days after knowledge of the injury and the disability, and on that date all indemnity then due must be paid, unless liability has already been denied. The penalty for missing it is automatic: §4650(d) increases a late payment by 10 percent, payable to the employee without any application, unless wages are being continued under a salary continuation plan. (c) is the practical error worth killing off: the 14 days run from knowledge, not from acceptance, so an employer still investigating must either pay or deny rather than wait. (a) and (d) both start the clock at the date of injury and then stretch it — the statute uses knowledge of the injury and of the resulting disability, which can arrive well after the injury itself. §4650(b)(1) carries the same pattern into permanent disability: the first payment falls due within 14 days after the last payment of temporary disability indemnity.

Labor Code §4650(a), (b)(1), (d)
64. On a builder's risk policy covering a new commercial building during construction, which of the following losses is MOST LIKELY excluded from coverage?
a.Fire that destroys framing lumber stacked on the open jobsite
b.Theft of copper plumbing that had already been installed in walls
c.The contractor's own faulty work, where that work itself fails✓
d.Wind that damages the partly completed structure overnight

A builder's risk policy is property insurance on the work in progress, so (a), (b) and (d) are its bread and butter: fire, theft and windstorm are all covered physical losses to the project while it is being built. The standard form excludes the cost of making good faulty workmanship, material or design, which means that when the defective component is the very thing that fails, repairing it is the contractor's cost and not the insurer's. The distinction worth carrying into the exam is that resulting damage to other, sound parts of the project is usually still covered — it is the defective work itself that is carved out — and that this exclusion is a property-insurance rule, not a substitute for the completed-operations cover a general liability policy provides after the job is finished.

65. A general contractor is the named insured on a builder's risk policy for a custom home. The property owner asks why their own homeowner's policy is not enough. Which statement is the BEST explanation?
a.Homeowner's policies cover construction projects automatically
b.Builder's risk is needed only once the project passes $1 million
c.The homeowner's policy covers injuries, builder's risk the suits
d.Standard homeowner's policies exclude work under construction✓

A standard homeowner's form insures a finished dwelling and its contents. A house being built or substantially renovated is either excluded outright or capped at a fraction of the dwelling limit, and materials not yet installed are usually covered only under a small building-materials or off-premises sublimit. Closing that gap is exactly what a builder's risk policy is written for: it covers the structure, the fixtures and the materials against physical loss for the construction period and then ends. (a) states the opposite of the exclusion, and it is the belief that leaves an owner uninsured in the middle of a build. (b) invents a dollar trigger; nothing makes builder's risk turn on contract size, though a construction lender will usually require it whatever the size. (c) mixes up the two families of insurance: injuries to third parties and the lawsuits they bring are liability cover, whereas both homeowner's property cover and builder's risk answer physical damage to the property itself.

66. A subcontractor is added as a "named insured" rather than only as an "additional insured" on the prime contractor's builder's risk policy. Practically, the named insured status differs because the named insured:
a.Holds direct rights and duties under the policy, premium included✓
b.Is barred from recovering anything once a covered loss happens
c.Is treated as a third-party claimant with no rights in the policy
d.Loses all protection once the project is more than half finished

A named insured is a party to the policy in its own right: it can present a claim, it receives notices and cancellation, it owes the duty to cooperate, and it is on the hook for premium — which is why a subcontractor usually pays for the privilege through the contract price. An additional insured has derivative cover instead, limited to liability arising out of the named insured's work and subject to that policy's terms. None of the other three describes either status. (b) inverts the whole point of being insured. (c) is what an ordinary third-party claimant is, and precisely what a named insured is not. (d) invents a percentage-of-completion cut-off that builder's risk forms do not use; those policies end on occupancy, acceptance, or a stated expiry date, whichever the form specifies.

67. An architect prepared plans for a project that the owner ultimately decided not to build, and the architect's fees went unpaid. Under California law, the architect may record a special lien against the property known as a:
a.Mechanics' lien for completed labor
b.Design professional's lien✓
c.Stop payment notice on the construction lender
d.Public works payment bond claim

Civil Code §8484 creates a design professional's lien for licensed architects, registered engineers, and licensed land surveyors who have prepared plans for a work of improvement that is never commenced. It is distinct from a mechanics' lien, which generally requires that improvements actually be made to the property.

Civil Code §8302; §8014
68. On a California public works project, a second-tier supplier was not paid by the subcontractor. Because no mechanics' lien can attach to public property, the supplier's primary recovery vehicle is generally:
a.A claim against the payment bond the prime contractor gave✓
b.A mechanics lien recorded directly against the public building
c.A claim against the CSLB contractor's licence bond instead
d.A claim on the project architect's errors and omissions policy

§9550(a) requires a direct contractor awarded a public works contract involving an expenditure in excess of $25,000 to give a payment bond before work commences, and §9100(a) names who may claim on it: anyone who provided work authorised by the direct contractor, a subcontractor, the architect, the project manager or another person having charge of part of the contract, plus laborers — which reaches a second-tier supplier. §9100(b) carves out the single party that may not claim, the direct contractor itself. (b) is the reason the bond exists: public property is not subject to a mechanics lien, so there is nothing to record against. (c) borrows the wrong bond — the §7071.6 licence bond answers to the beneficiaries §7071.5 lists, and an unpaid supplier reaches it only through the willful-violation or fraud door. (d) picks a professional liability policy, which covers the architect's own negligence rather than unpaid invoices. The other route §9100(a) opens is a stop payment notice to the public entity.

Civil Code §9550(a); §9100(a)-(b); Bus. & Prof. Code §7071.5
69. Which statement BEST captures the practical difference between a mechanics' lien and a stop payment notice on a private project?
a.A lien is recorded against the licence; a notice against the property
b.Both attach to the property, with identical steps and deadlines
c.A lien attaches to the property; a notice intercepts the funds✓
d.The notice replaces the lien once payment has been received

The two remedies chase different assets. A mechanics lien under §8400 attaches to the real property itself, in the amount §8430(a) fixes — the lesser of the reasonable value of the work and the price agreed — and it is enforced by an action brought within 90 days of recording under §8460(a). A stop payment notice goes after money instead: §8520(a) lets a claimant with lien rights other than the direct contractor give the notice to the owner, §8530 lets it go to the construction lender, and §8500 makes this chapter the exclusive route to the construction fund, so nobody may assert any other legal or equitable right against that fund except under a written contract with whoever holds it. (a) has it exactly backwards, and invents a lien against a licence, which does not exist in any form. (b) ignores that the deadlines differ as well as the targets — §8412 and §8414 govern recording a lien and say nothing about giving a notice. (d) invents a substitution: payment ends both remedies, and neither one converts into the other.

Civil Code §8400; §8430(a); §8500; §8520(a); §8530; §8412; §8414; §8460(a)
70. A subcontractor prepares a mechanics' lien claim. Which of the following items is REQUIRED on the face of the lien?
a.The account number of the owner's mortgage on the property
b.The licence number of every subcontractor working on the job
c.A copy of the original written contract attached as an exhibit
d.A description of the site sufficient to identify it, verified✓

§8416(a) lists what a claim of mechanics lien must contain, and every item is about the claim itself: a statement of the claimant's demand after deducting all just credits and offsets, the name of the owner or reputed owner if known, a general statement of the kind of work furnished, the name of the person who employed the claimant or to whom it furnished work, a description of the site sufficient for identification, the claimant's address, a completed proof of service affidavit, and the NOTICE OF MECHANICS LIEN in at least 10-point boldface type — the whole statement signed and verified by the claimant. Nothing in it calls for the owner's loan details, so (a) is invented; nothing calls for other subcontractors' licence numbers, which is (b); and the contract is evidence rather than a lien requirement, which is (c). §8410 is the separate condition that trips claimants up: a lien is enforceable only where the preliminary notice was given and proof of it made.

Civil Code §8416(a); §8410
71. A subcontractor records a mechanics' lien but fails to serve a copy of the lien (with the required proof of service affidavit) on the owner. Under California's strict-compliance rule, the most likely consequence is that the lien:
a.Remains fully enforceable, because recording is all that is needed
b.Is unenforceable as a matter of law, service being required✓
c.Converts automatically into a stop payment notice on the lender
d.Becomes a money judgment against the general contractor instead

§8416(e) says it flatly: failure to serve the copy of the claim of mechanics lien as the section prescribes, including the Notice of Mechanics Lien required by §8416(a)(8), causes the claim of lien to be unenforceable as a matter of law. Recording is only half the job, which is (a)'s error. §8416(c) sets out how service is made — registered, certified or first-class mail evidenced by a certificate of mailing, addressed to the owner or reputed owner at a residence or place of business, or at the address shown by the building permit, or as §8174 otherwise provides — and if the owner cannot be served that way, the copy may go to the construction lender or to the original contractor instead. §8416(d) makes service complete when the mail is deposited, which is why the proof of service affidavit required by §8416(a)(7) appears on the face of the lien itself. (c) and (d) invent conversions no section provides: a stop payment notice is a separate remedy the claimant must give for itself, and a money judgment only ever comes from a court.

Civil Code §8416(a)(7)-(8), (c)-(e); §8174
72. On a private project where no Notice of Completion is recorded, a subcontractor who served a proper preliminary notice must generally serve a stop payment notice on the construction lender within:
a.30 days after the subcontractor's last day of work
b.60 days after the prime contractor's last billing
c.90 days after completion or cessation of the work of improvement✓
d.180 days after the project's first day of work

Stop payment notices on private projects must be served within the same outer deadlines that apply to mechanics' liens: generally within 90 days after completion or cessation of the work of improvement if no Notice of Completion or Cessation is recorded. Recording such a notice shortens these deadlines.

Civil Code §8520
73. A subcontractor on a private residential remodel wishes to preserve mechanics' lien rights. The preliminary 20-day notice under Civil Code §8200 must be served:
a.Only on the owner, and not the contractor or lender
b.Within 20 days after first furnishing labor or materials✓
c.Only after the owner records a notice of completion
d.Within 90 days after first furnishing labor or materials

Civil Code §8200 requires every claimant other than the direct contractor and wage laborers to serve the owner, the direct contractor, and the construction lender not later than 20 days after first furnishing labor, service, equipment, or materials; §8204 lets a late notice stand but limits the claim to the 20 days before service and afterwards. (a) leaves out the two recipients whose omission costs the most — without the lender there is no bonded stop payment notice. (c) reverses the sequence, since a notice of completion starts the lien clock rather than the notice clock. (d) uses 90 days, which is the §8412 deadline for recording the lien, not for serving the preliminary notice.

Civil Code §8200 / §8204(a)
74. On a private work of improvement, a direct (prime) contractor must record a mechanics' lien within how many days after completion of the work, when no notice of completion or cessation has been recorded?
a.60 days after notice of completion in any case
b.90 days after completion of the work of improvement✓
c.30 days after the contractor's last day on the job
d.1 year after the last payment was due

Under Civil Code §8412, a direct contractor must record its mechanics' lien within 90 days after completion of the work of improvement. If the owner records a notice of completion or cessation under §8182, the direct contractor's window is shortened to 60 days after that recording (§8412), and a subcontractor/claimant's window is shortened to 30 days. The 90-day fallback applies when no NOC is recorded. A 1-year window confuses lien recording with the §8460 deadline to foreclose on a recorded lien (90 days to file suit).

Civil Code §8412
75. After recording a mechanics' lien on a private project, a claimant must file an action to enforce (foreclose) the lien within:
a.4 years, per the contract statute of limitations
b.1 year after the contract was awarded
c.90 days after the lien was recorded, or the lien becomes unenforceable✓
d.180 days after recording, with two 90-day extensions allowed

Civil Code §8460 requires a claimant to commence an action to enforce a recorded mechanics' lien within 90 days after the lien is recorded; otherwise the lien expires and is unenforceable. The claimant and owner may extend the deadline by written agreement under §8460(b), but only to up to one year from completion. The 180-day option does not exist. The 1-year-from-award and 4-year statute options confuse breach-of-written-contract limitations with the much shorter mechanics'-lien deadline. Missing this 90-day window is one of the most common ways subcontractors lose lien rights.

Civil Code §8460
76. Under Labor Code §3700, a California contractor that has even one employee must:
a.Secure payment of compensation by insurance or self-insurance✓
b.File a Form W-2 with the Employment Development Department each year
c.Carry general liability insurance of at least one million dollars
d.Provide health insurance under the Affordable Care Act in all cases

§3700 requires every California employer to secure the payment of compensation, and it allows exactly two ways to do it: a policy from an insurer admitted to write workers' compensation in this state, or a certificate of consent to self-insure issued by the Director of Industrial Relations. Failing to do it is a misdemeanour under §3700.5, and the money is serious — §3722(a) assesses $1,500 per employee employed at the moment a stop order issues, and §3722(b) assesses the greater of twice the premium the employer should have paid or that same $1,500 per employee for the period it went uninsured. On the licensing side, B&P §7125 requires a licensee with employees to keep a current certificate on file (until January 1, 2028 a licensee with no employees may file an exemption unless it holds a C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 or D-49 classification; from that date only a §7029 joint venture with no employees is exempt), and §7125.2 suspends the licence by operation of law from the date coverage was required. (b) is a payroll tax form, (c) is the separate insurance §7071.19 requires of an LLC, and (d) is federal law with a 50-employee threshold.

Labor Code §3700; §3700.5; §3722(a)-(b); Bus. & Prof. Code §7125; §7125.2; §7071.19
77. A licensed contractor organized as a joint venture under §7029, with no employees, has filed an Exemption from Workers' Compensation with the CSLB. The joint venture then hires an employee. Under Bus. & Prof. Code §7125 and §7125.4, what must it do?
a.Obtain workers' compensation coverage and file a Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance with CSLB; the prior exemption is automatically void as soon as an employee is hired✓
b.Cancel the contractor license and re-apply once coverage is in place
c.Wait until the next license renewal to update the workers' comp status
d.Continue working under the exemption for up to 90 days while shopping for coverage

A §7029 joint venture with no employees may hold an exemption today, and from January 1, 2028 — when the SB 216 version of §7125, postponed from 2026 by SB 1455, takes effect — it will be the ONLY licensee that can; until then other no-employee licensees outside the C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 and D-49 classifications may file one too. §7125.4 then makes that exemption void by operation of law the moment an employee is hired, and the license is suspended unless a Certificate of Workers' Compensation Insurance is on file. There is no grace period to shop for a policy (d), no waiting for renewal (c), and nothing about this requires surrendering the license (b).

Bus. & Prof. Code §7125 (as amended by SB 1455, Stats. 2024, ch. 485); §7125.4; §7029
78. A material supplier delivers $40,000 of lumber to a private construction project on July 1. To fully preserve mechanics' lien, stop payment notice, AND payment bond claim rights, the supplier must serve a preliminary notice under Civil Code §8200 on the owner, direct contractor, and construction lender no later than:
a.Twenty days after the supplier first furnishes materials to the project✓
b.Twenty days after the supplier issues its first invoice for lumber
c.Twenty days after the construction deed of trust is recorded
d.Twenty days after the owner records a notice of commencement

The 20-day clock in Civil Code §8200 runs from the date the claimant FIRST FURNISHES labor, service, equipment, or materials — here July 1, so service by about July 21 protects the full claim; §8204 lets a later notice stand but limits recovery to the 20 days before service and afterwards. (b) keys the deadline to the paperwork rather than the delivery, which is the most common and most expensive supplier error, because invoices often go out weeks later. (c) uses a recording date that concerns lien priority, not notice. (d) borrows a notice of commencement from other states; California's scheme uses completion and cessation, not commencement.

Civil Code §8200 / §8204
79. On a PUBLIC works project, a subcontractor with unpaid invoices serves a 'stop payment notice' on the public entity under Civil Code §9358 (formerly known as a 'stop notice'). The effect is to:
a.Garnish the prime contractor's bank account without any judgment
b.Require the awarding body to terminate the prime contract immediately
c.Place a mechanics lien on the public entity's real property
d.Require the public entity to withhold enough unpaid contract funds✓

Civil Code §9358 obliges the public entity served with a stop payment notice to withhold, from money still owed on the contract, an amount sufficient to answer the claim plus a reasonable allowance for litigation costs, and it is protected when it withholds in good faith. (a) skips the judgment a creditor needs before levying on an account. (b) asks for a remedy the notice does not carry — the contract continues, only the money stops. (c) is the trap the public-works scheme exists to answer: public property cannot be liened, which is why the legislature substituted this notice and the §9550 payment bond.

Civil Code §9358 / §9350 et seq.
80. An owner wants to remove a $60,000 mechanics' lien recorded against the property so the property can be sold or refinanced. Under Civil Code §8424, the owner may obtain a release of the lien by recording a lien release bond in the amount of:
a.The full lien amount in cash, deposited with the county recorder
b.Half the lien, because a recorded lien is only presumptively valid
c.125 percent of the claim of lien, written by an admitted surety insurer✓
d.100 percent of the lien, plus a $500 recording fee to the county

§8424(b) fixes the bond at 125 percent of the claim of lien — or 125 percent of the amount the claim allocates to the property being released — and requires it to be executed by an admitted surety insurer. On recordation the real property is released from the lien and from any action to enforce it, and the 25 percent margin is there to cover the interest and costs the claimant may recover. The party who records the bond must give the claimant notice with a copy of it, and the claimant then has six months from that notice to sue on the bond, which is a different clock from the 90 days §8460 allows for suing on the lien itself. So (d) is 25 points short, (b) invents a discount for a disputed lien, and (a) is wrong twice over: cash is not required and a surety bond is exactly what the section calls for.

Civil Code §8424(b)-(d); §8460(a)
81. Claims against a contractor's $25,000 license bond total far more than $25,000: a residential homeowner claims $40,000, an unpaid framer claims $8,000 in wages, and a commercial property owner claims $30,000. Under Bus. & Prof. Code §7071.11, how is the bond distributed?
a.Residential homeowners are paid in full before any other claimant
b.All claimants share it in proportion to their respective claims✓
c.The first claim to reach the surety is paid in full first
d.Employees are paid in full, then the remainder is prorated

B&P §7071.11(a) is explicit: if the bond is insufficient to pay all claims in full, its sum is distributed to all claimants in proportion to the amount of their respective claims. The same subdivision caps the surety's aggregate liability on wage and fringe-benefit claims at $4,000, so the framer cannot draw more than that from the bond however large the wage claim. (a) is the widespread belief that the bond is a consumer-priority fund — §7071.5 does list homeowners among the beneficiaries, but being a beneficiary is not the same as having priority. (c) applies a first-in-time rule the section does not use. (d) is the most tempting wrong answer, because the section does single out wage claims — but it caps them, it does not prioritise them.

Bus. & Prof. Code §7071.11(a)
82. A subcontractor's commercial general liability (CGL) policy provides 'additional insured' status to the prime contractor for the sub's negligent work. If a third party is injured and sues both the sub and prime, under California law:
a.Additional insured endorsements are void in California construction contracts
b.The sub's insurer must defend the prime's own active negligence
c.Coverage for the prime tracks the sub's proportionate fault✓
d.The prime is covered for all claims, whatever the fault

Civil Code §2782.05 voids or limits provisions that require a subcontractor, or its insurer, to insure or indemnify a general contractor or owner for that party's own active negligence, so the endorsement responds to the prime for liability arising out of the sub's work and its share of fault, and the sub's insurer must still defend as to those claims. (a) overstates the statute: the endorsement is limited, not abolished, and additional insured coverage is standard on California jobs. (b) is the very obligation §2782.05 removes. (d) is the belief that the endorsement is a blanket — it is not, and the prime's own policy answers the prime's own negligence.

Civil Code §2782.05
83. An unpaid framing subcontractor furnished labor and materials to a private remodel. Who is entitled to record a mechanics lien?
a.Only a supplier that delivered material to the owner
b.Any creditor of the contractor, whoever they are
c.Only the direct contractor who signed with the owner
d.Anyone who provided authorized work to the improvement✓

Civil Code §8400 gives a lien right to a person that provides work authorized for a work of improvement, and lists the direct contractor, subcontractor, material supplier, equipment lessor, laborer, and design professional; §8404 defines authorized work as work requested or agreed to by the owner, or authorized by a direct contractor, subcontractor, architect, project manager, or other person having charge of part of the work. The framing subcontractor is squarely inside that. (b) is the limit that matters: a creditor who contributed nothing to the improvement, such as the contractor's landlord or lender, has no lien. (a) and (c) shrink the class to a single tier, which would leave every subcontractor and supplier without the remedy the chapter was written for.

Civ. Code §8400 / §8404
84. On a private project with NO notice of completion or cessation recorded, within what period after completion of the work of improvement must a direct (prime) contractor record its mechanics lien?
a.Within 120 days after completion
b.Within 90 days after completion✓
c.Within 30 days after completion
d.Within 60 days after completion

Civil Code §8412 gives a direct contractor 90 days after completion of the work of improvement to record a mechanics lien when no notice of completion or cessation has been recorded. The shorter deadlines apply only after such a notice is recorded.

Civ. Code §8412
85. After the owner records a valid Notice of Completion, within how many days must a SUBCONTRACTOR or material supplier record its mechanics lien?
a.90 days after recording of the notice of completion
b.60 days after recording of the notice of completion
c.30 days after recording of the notice of completion✓
d.10 days after recording of the notice of completion

Under Civil Code §8414, once a notice of completion (or cessation) is recorded, a claimant other than the direct contractor must record its lien within 30 days. The direct contractor gets 60 days after that notice. Absent any such notice, everyone has 90 days after completion.

Civ. Code §8414
86. After a Notice of Completion is recorded on a private work of improvement, the DIRECT (prime) contractor must record its mechanics lien within:
a.60 days✓
b.90 days
c.6 months
d.30 days

Civil Code §8414 gives the direct contractor 60 days after recording of a notice of completion or cessation, while all other claimants get 30 days. If no such notice is recorded, all claimants have 90 days from completion under §8412.

Civ. Code §8414
87. A preliminary notice must be served within 20 days after the claimant first furnishes labor or materials. What is the primary consequence of serving it late?
a.All lien rights are lost for the whole project at once
b.The notice period doubles, to 40 days from first work
c.The claimant may still lien for the full contract amount
d.Rights are limited to the 20 days before service, and after✓

Civil Code §8204(a) says a claimant who did not give preliminary notice is not precluded from giving one later, but is then entitled to record a lien, give a stop payment notice, or claim against a payment bond only for work performed within the 20 days before service, and at any time afterwards. (a) is the harshest misreading — late notice costs the early work, not the remedy. (c) is the mildest, and it ignores the look-back altogether. (b) invents a doubling of the period; nothing in the section extends the 20 days, which is why the practical rule is to serve at the start of every job.

Civ. Code §8204(a)
88. On a private project, a subcontractor who has no direct contract with the owner must serve a Preliminary Notice on which parties to preserve mechanics lien rights?
a.The owner, direct contractor, and construction lender✓
b.The direct contractor and lender, but not the owner
c.The owner and direct contractor, but not the lender
d.The party it contracted with, plus the county recorder

Civil Code §8200 requires a claimant without a direct contract with the owner to serve the preliminary notice on the owner or reputed owner, the direct contractor, and the construction lender if there is one; §8204 makes the notice reach back only 20 days, so late service shortens what can be claimed. (b) omits the owner, whose property the lien attaches to. (c) omits the lender, and that omission specifically costs the claimant the bonded stop payment notice against undisbursed loan funds. (d) confuses the preliminary notice with recording — the preliminary notice is served, not recorded, and serving only the party upstream of you is the most common fatal error.

Civil Code §8200 / §8204
89. Which claimant is generally NOT required to serve a preliminary notice to preserve a mechanics lien?
a.A material supplier selling to a subcontractor
b.A sub-subcontractor under a subcontractor
c.An equipment lessor renting to a subcontractor
d.A laborer performing the work of the job for wages✓

Civil Code §8200(e)(1) excuses a laborer from giving preliminary notice, and §8200(e)(2) excuses a claimant with a direct contractual relationship with the owner from notifying anyone but the construction lender. §8024 defines laborer as a person who, acting as an employee, performs labor on or bestows skill on a work of improvement, and extends the term to a fund owed part of that compensation. (a), (b) and (c) all lack an owner contract, so each must serve the owner, the direct contractor, and the lender within the §8204(a) 20 days — and an equipment lessor is the one people most often assume is exempt, when §8400(d) gives it a lien right on exactly the same conditions as anyone else.

Civ. Code §8200(e) / §8024
90. A direct contractor who contracted directly with the owner on a private residential project generally must serve a preliminary notice on which party, if any?
a.On every subcontractor and supplier working under the prime contract
b.On the owner, within 20 days, to preserve any lien right
c.On no one, because a direct contract dispenses with all notice
d.On the construction lender only, if the project has one✓

Civil Code §8200(e) excuses a direct contractor from serving the owner — the contract itself gives the owner notice — but the direct contractor must still give the preliminary notice to a construction lender to preserve rights against the construction funds. (a) inverts the flow: notice runs up the chain toward the people who control the money, not down it. (b) applies the general rule without reading the exception, and is the trap for anyone who memorised '20 days' alone. (c) over-reads the exception, which covers only the owner and not the lender.

Civil Code §8200(e)
91. A payment dispute is resolved and the claimant has been paid. What does it record to clear the mechanics lien from the property?
a.A release of the mechanics lien✓
b.A notice of cessation of the labor
c.A posted notice of nonresponsibility
d.A preliminary notice to the owner

Once paid, the claimant records a release of the mechanics lien, and that recorded release is what clears the lien from title. An owner who cannot obtain one has two statutory routes: record a lien release bond of 125 percent of the claim under §8424, which shifts the claimant's remedy from the land to the bond, or, once the claimant's 90 days under §8460 have run without an action, petition for a release order under §8480. (b) is a completion event under §8180(a)(4), which starts deadlines rather than ending a lien. (c) is the §8444 notice an owner who did not contract for the work posts and records within 10 days of learning of it. (d) is the §8200 notice served at the outset to preserve lien rights.

Civ. Code §8424 / §8480 / §8444
92. After recording a mechanics lien, within what period must the claimant file a lawsuit (action) to foreclose the lien, or the lien becomes unenforceable?
a.Within 30 days of recording
b.Within 90 days after recording of the lien✓
c.Within 60 days of recording
d.Within 6 months, but only if the owner objects

Civil Code §8460 requires the claimant to commence an action to foreclose the mechanics lien within 90 days after recording. If no suit is filed in time (absent a recorded extension), the lien expires and is unenforceable.

Civ. Code §8460
93. A 'stop payment notice' (formerly 'stop notice') is a remedy that allows an unpaid claimant to reach:
a.Money the CSLB holds from the contractor's $25,000 license bond
b.The owner's equity in the property, through a forced sale
c.Any bank account the contractor holds, by direct levy
d.Undisbursed construction funds held by the owner or the lender✓

A stop payment notice under Civil Code §8500 et seq. directs the owner, or a bonded notice directs the construction lender, to withhold money not yet paid out and hold it against the claim; §8534 sets the owner's duty to withhold. (a) confuses two securities — a claim on the §7071.6 license bond is made against the surety, not through a stop payment notice. (b) describes the mechanics lien, which attaches to the property itself; the point of the stop payment notice is that it reaches the money instead. (c) assumes a levy right that only a judgment creditor has.

Civil Code §8500 et seq. / §8534
94. On a private work with a construction lender, for a stop payment notice to bind the LENDER to withhold funds, the claimant generally must:
a.Send the lender a written demand, itemised and signed under oath
b.Obtain a court order directing the lender to withhold the funds
c.Record the stop payment notice with the county recorder's office
d.Serve a bonded notice, bonded at 125 percent of the claim✓

Civil Code §8532 obligates a construction lender to withhold only on a bonded stop payment notice, accompanied by a surety bond of 125 percent of the claim; the bond protects the lender if the claim turns out to be bad. (a) is the closest trap: form and verification matter, but no amount of formality substitutes for the bond. (b) reverses the order — the notice works without going to court, which is why it is useful. (c) borrows mechanics lien practice, where recording is the operative act; a stop payment notice is served, not recorded. A notice to the owner under §8534 needs no bond.

Civil Code §8506 / §8532
95. On a private commercial project the direct contractor furnishes a payment bond. Its primary purpose is to:
a.Protect the owner against defective workmanship
b.Guarantee the project is completed on schedule
c.Reimburse the owner's construction financing costs
d.Guarantee payment to subs, laborers and suppliers✓

A payment bond guarantees payment down the chain: §8608 gives the right of recovery to claimants who provided work to the direct contractor, directly or through one or more subcontractors, and §8612 conditions the claim on the preliminary notice the lien law requires. (a) and (b) both describe a performance bond, which answers to the owner for completion and quality — the two bonds are usually bought together and confusing them is the classic error. (c) is not a bonded obligation at all; financing costs are the owner's own.

Civ. Code §8608 / §8612
96. California law makes which insurance mandatory for a contractor that has employees?
a.General liability coverage on the work
b.Commercial auto coverage on the trucks
c.Workers' compensation for employees✓
d.Builder's risk coverage on the structure

Labor Code §3700 requires every employer to secure the payment of compensation, by insurance or by a certificate of consent to self-insure, and one employee triggers it; B&P §7125 then makes a current certificate of workers' compensation insurance or of self-insurance on file with the board a condition of the license itself. A licensee with NO employees may file an exemption statement instead until January 1, 2028, unless it holds a C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 or D-49 classification; from that date SB 216, as postponed by SB 1455 (Stats. 2024, ch. 485), requires coverage of every licensee except a §7029 joint venture that employs nobody. General liability, commercial auto, and builder's risk are routinely required by contract, by a lender, or by the Vehicle Code for the vehicles themselves, but none of them is made mandatory for contractors by the license law, and none of them pays an injured worker's benefits.

Lab. Code §3700 / B&P Code §7125 (as amended by SB 1455, Stats. 2024, ch. 485)
97. A licensed contractor holds a C-39 roofing classification and has no employees. Under B&P §7125 as it reads until January 1, 2028, the contractor must:
a.Carry general liability insurance in place of workers' compensation
b.File the no-employee exemption statement like other licensees
c.Carry builder's risk coverage naming the Board as an obligee
d.Carry workers' comp; C-39 holders cannot file the exemption✓

B&P §7125(b), as amended by SB 1455 (Stats. 2024, ch. 485), lets a licensee with no employees file an exemption statement instead of carrying coverage — but only if it does not hold a C-8, C-20, C-22, C-39 or D-49 classification. A roofer is on that list, so the C-39 holder must carry workers' compensation or a certification of self-insurance even with nobody on the payroll (d). (b) is the rule for a painter or a Class B contractor with no employees, and it is the trap here: the classification is what decides it. The list stops mattering on January 1, 2028, when the SB 216 version of §7125 becomes operative and every licensee must carry coverage except a §7029 joint venture with no employees — the roofer's answer is the same either way. (a) and (c) name real policies that cover other risks: general liability answers to third parties, builder's risk to property damage during construction, and neither substitutes for workers' compensation.

Bus. & Prof. Code §7125(b) (as amended by SB 1455, Stats. 2024, ch. 485)
98. The main purpose of a contractor's Commercial General Liability policy is to cover:
a.The contractor's lost profit on a delayed project
b.Injuries to the contractor's own employees at work
c.Damage to the contractor's own tools and equipment
d.Third-party injury and property damage from the work✓

Commercial general liability answers for bodily injury and property damage suffered by third parties and arising out of the contractor's operations or completed work, together with the duty to defend those claims. (a) is business income coverage, and a liability policy insures what the contractor owes others rather than what the contractor failed to earn. (b) is workers' compensation, which the CGL expressly excludes. (c) is first-party property coverage — inland marine or a tools floater. Note too the 'your work' exclusion: the CGL does not pay to redo the contractor's own defective workmanship.

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99. Builder's risk insurance, also called course-of-construction insurance, primarily protects:
a.The work and the materials during construction✓
b.The owner's liability once the home is occupied
c.The contractor's liability to injured passers-by
d.The contractor's own employees hurt on the job

Builder's risk is property insurance on the structure and the materials while the project is under way, against perils such as fire, theft, vandalism, and wind; it insures the work itself, and it ends when the project is finished. (b) is the owner's permanent property and liability program, which takes over at occupancy. (c) is commercial general liability, which answers for third-party bodily injury and property damage. (d) is workers' compensation. The line to hold is property coverage on the work versus liability coverage for harm to others.

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100. A 'certificate of insurance' (COI) provided by a subcontractor to a prime contractor:
a.Names the prime as an additional insured under the sub's policy
b.Binds the insurer not to cancel without the prime's written consent
c.Is the policy in short form, and creates coverage for the prime
d.Is evidence a policy existed on its date, and nothing more✓

A certificate of insurance is an informational snapshot: it says that a described policy was in force when the certificate was issued, and it neither amends the policy nor creates rights. (a) is the single most expensive misconception in construction risk transfer — additional insured status comes from an endorsement to the policy, and the certificate merely reports it. (b) reads the 'cancellation notice' box as a promise; most modern certificates disclaim any duty to notify. (c) mistakes the summary for the contract; only the policy and its endorsements grant coverage.

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