Scenario: Can Mechanics Lien Be Filed For Work On Puget Sound Ferris Wheel?

By on June 7, 2012

Scenario: Can Mechanics Lien Be Filed For Work On Puget Sound Ferris Wheel?I love Seattle in the summer, and personally spend a lot of time in the city during the summer months (of course, who wouldn’t want to get out of the New Orleans heat!).  I am in Seattle today, and was surprised to see construction finishing up on a huge ferris wheel at the waterfront (photo above).

It got me wondering, of course, can the constructors of this beautiful ferris wheel file a mechanics lien if they go unpaid?

Since the ferris wheel is in Washington, we must look to Washington’s mechanics lien law.  And there are two statutes that will be most applicable, RCW 60.04.021 and RCW 60.04.011.

RCW 60.04.021 indicates who is entitled to file a mechanics lien in Washington:

[A]ny person furnishing labor, professional services, materials, or equipment for the improvement of real property shall have a lien upon the improvement for the contract price of labor, professional services, materials, or equipment furnished at the instance of the owner, or the agent or construction agent of the owner.

Key to determining who fits into this definition requires an understanding of what the statute means by “improvement,” and this term is defined in RCW 60.04.011:

“Improvement” means: (a) Constructing, altering, repairing, remodeling, demolishing, clearing, grading, or filling in, of, to, or upon any real property or street or road in front of or adjoining the same; (b) planting of trees, vines, shrubs, plants, hedges, or lawns, or providing other landscaping materials on any real property; and (c) providing professional services upon real property or in preparation for or in conjunction with the intended activities in (a) or (b) of this subsection.

Is the ferris wheel on Pier 57 real property?

The answer can be a bit confusing at first because we don’t really associate piers with “real property” in everyday thought…but it is, and there should be lien rights here.  Also, since this particular pier is privately owned in Seattle and the ferris wheel is a private project, this is not a state or county job.

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About Scott Wolfe Jr

Scott Wolfe Jr. is the CEO of Zlien, a company that provides software and services to help building material supply and construction companies reduce their credit risk and default receivables through the management of mechanics lien and bond claim compliance. He is also the founding author of the Lien Blog, a leading online publication about liens, security instruments and getting paid on every account. Scott is a licensed attorney in six states with extensive experience in corporate credit management and collections law, with a specific emphasis on utilizing mechanic liens, UCC filings and other security instruments to protect and manage receivables. You can connect with him via Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+.Read Scott's Biography Post Here
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  • http://www.summitlaw.com Scott Osborne

    Actually, the pier is located on harbor area leased from the state of Washington. The lien rights arising from the ferris wheel construction will attach to the leasehold estate owned by the pier operator.

    • http://www.zlien.com Scott Wolfe Jr

      Scott, thanks for checking in with this comment. You make a very good point and something I completely overlooked. After reading that it was a private developer, I really overlooked who owned the property, which should have been especially obvious as the property is on the waterfront! In any event, you are correct, the lien would attach to the leasehold estate owned by the pier operator. This is another example of private improvements on public land, which has been given some attention lately from legislatures and this blog.