On a public works project, a subcontractor who has stopped work serves a stop payment notice on the public entity. The notice must generally be served:

Explanation

Civil Code §9356 sets two windows and only two: 30 days after a notice of completion, acceptance or cessation is recorded, or, if none is recorded, 90 days after completion or cessation. Recording such a notice shortens the period; it never leaves the 90-day branch in place, which is why the second option is the trap. Waiting for formal acceptance can push the claimant past the deadline, and acceptance is itself one of the events that starts the 30-day clock. There is no open-ended right: once the window closes the public entity has no duty to withhold, and §9558 separately cuts off suit on the payment bond six months after the stop-notice period ends.