Construction Disputes
Construction projects generate disputes over defects, delays, change orders, and who pays for them. We represent owners, developers, contractors, subcontractors, and design professionals when a project goes sideways, from a recorded lien or a defect claim to a fight over delay damages, and we work to resolve it before it sinks the project's economics.
Talk to an attorneyFounded
1965
Attorneys
11
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Founded
1965
Attorneys
5
AV-rated
Martindale-Hubbell
Office
Bellevue, WA
Construction dispute lawyers for Bellevue and Seattle owners and contractors
Oseran Hahn represents the parties to a construction project when the work, the schedule, or the money becomes a dispute. Construction litigation is its own world: overlapping contracts, tight statutory deadlines, and claims that turn on expert testimony about what went wrong and why. We pursue and defend construction-defect and design claims, perfect and challenge mechanics' liens, litigate payment, retainage, and bond claims, and handle the delay and changed-condition disputes that drive most cost overruns. The goal is a resolution that lets the project, and the relationships, survive.
A construction dispute is a fight over whether the work was built right, finished on time, and paid for, and the deadlines move fast. We pursue and defend construction-defect and design claims, including the building-envelope and water-intrusion cases that dominate this work. We perfect mechanics' liens for those owed money and remove improper ones for owners. We litigate payment, retainage, and bond claims when the money stops flowing. We handle delay, disruption, and differing-site-condition claims that drive cost overruns. And we resolve these matters through the mediation and arbitration most construction contracts require, or at trial when they must.
Construction defects and design claims
Most construction disputes are, at bottom, about whether the work was built right. We pursue and defend claims for defective workmanship, design errors, and the building-envelope and water-intrusion failures that produce the largest cases, sorting out which problems trace to the contractor, the subcontractor, or the design professional. Washington implies a warranty that work will be done in a workmanlike manner, and a design professional is held to the adequacy of the plans they stamp. Two clocks govern: the limitations period that runs from when the defect is or should be discovered, and the six-year statute of repose that cuts off claims six years after substantial completion regardless of discovery (RCW 4.16.310). Missing either ends the claim, so we move on defect cases early.
Mechanics' and materialmen's liens
The construction lien is the most powerful, and most unforgiving, tool in this practice. Washington's lien statute (RCW 60.04) lets contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers secure a claim against the improved property, but only if every deadline is met: the pre-claim notice where required (RCW 60.04.031), recording the claim of lien within ninety days of last furnishing labor or materials (RCW 60.04.091), and foreclosing it within eight months (RCW 60.04.141). We perfect and foreclose liens for those who are owed, and on the other side we challenge defective or inflated liens, including the summary release of a frivolous lien with fees (RCW 60.04.081) and bonding a disputed lien off title so a sale or refinance can close (RCW 60.04.161).
Payment, retainage, and bond claims
When the money stops, the claims follow the contract chain. We litigate unpaid progress payments, disputed change orders, and withheld retainage, including the statutory retainage and payment-bond protections on public works (RCW 60.28 and the payment bond under RCW 39.08), and we pursue interest on late public payments under the prompt-payment statute (RCW 39.76). On private and public jobs alike, the contractor-registration act matters: an unregistered contractor generally cannot sue to collect compensation (RCW 18.27.080), and its registration bond (RCW 18.27.040) is itself a source of recovery for those it didn't pay. We use these protections offensively for claimants and test their requirements when defending.
Delay, disruption, and changed conditions
The costliest construction fights are rarely about defects; they're about time. We handle delay and acceleration claims, disruption and lost-productivity claims, and disputes over differing site conditions that no one priced into the bid. These cases live in the contract's fine print, the notice-and-claim provisions, the no-damages-for-delay clause, and the change-order procedure of the AIA or custom general conditions, and in the critical-path scheduling analysis that proves who caused which days of delay. We build or attack the schedule analysis with the right experts, because a delay claim is only as good as the proof that ties the delay to the other side's conduct.
Mediation, arbitration, and getting to resolution
Most construction contracts route disputes through mediation and then binding arbitration before anyone sees a courtroom, and the standard AIA forms do exactly that. We represent clients through that tiered process, in arbitration before construction-experienced panels, and in superior court when a lien foreclosure or a non-arbitrable claim has to be tried. Construction cases are document- and expert-intensive, and they reward early, organized work: the party that has marshaled its schedule, its photos, and its cost records first usually controls the settlement. We aim to resolve the dispute at the lowest level that protects the client, and we are ready to try the ones that can't be settled.
Sixty years advising Pacific Northwest businesses, including the owners, developers, and contractors who build here, with a trial group that knows construction claims turn on deadlines, documents, and experts. We move fast to protect lien rights and claims, and we push toward a resolution that lets the work get finished.
We know the deadlines that kill claims.
Construction rights expire on short, unforgiving clocks: the ninety-day lien window, the eight-month foreclosure deadline, the six-year repose period. We calendar them the day we're retained, because a missed deadline is the most common way a strong claim is lost.
We litigate with the documents.
These cases are won in the daily reports, the schedules, the change-order logs, and the photos. We organize the record early and build the expert analysis around it, whether we're on offense or defense.
We aim to finish the project, not just the lawsuit.
Owners need the building done and contractors need to get paid. We push toward resolutions that keep the job moving where we can, and we keep the courtroom ready for the cases that have to be tried.
The attorneys behindthe work.
Our business and corporate attorneys handle this work alongside our litigation team, so you have coverage whether your matter stays transactional or becomes something more.
What clientsask us first.
A contractor recorded a lien on my property. What do I do?
Act quickly, but don't panic. A construction lien clouds your title and can block a sale or refinance, but it has strict requirements, and many liens are defective, untimely, or inflated. We review whether the claimant gave required notice, recorded within ninety days, and claimed only what's actually owed. If the lien is frivolous or overstated, Washington provides a fast court process to release it with fees (RCW 60.04.081), and a valid but disputed lien can be bonded off title so your closing can proceed.
How long do I have to file a construction lien in Washington?
The key deadline is ninety days from the last day you furnished labor, materials, or equipment to record your claim of lien (RCW 60.04.091), and then eight months from recording to file suit to foreclose it (RCW 60.04.141). Some situations also require a pre-claim notice earlier in the job (RCW 60.04.031). These deadlines are strict and are not extended by ongoing payment talks, so the safest move is to involve a lawyer well before the ninety days runs.
How long after a project can I sue for construction defects?
Two clocks apply. The limitations period generally gives you six years on a written contract, running from when the defect was or should have been discovered. But Washington's statute of repose cuts off most construction claims six years after substantial completion of the project, regardless of when you discover the problem (RCW 4.16.310). Latent defects can surface years later, so if you suspect a problem, have it evaluated promptly, because the repose deadline can bar a claim before you even knew you had one.
The owner is withholding our final payment and retainage. Can we collect?
Usually, yes, through several routes. We pursue the unpaid amount on the contract, perfect a lien against the property if the deadlines are still open, and on public works claim against the statutory retainage and the payment bond (RCW 60.28 and RCW 39.08). Late public payments also accrue interest under the prompt-payment statute (RCW 39.76). The right combination depends on whether the job is public or private and where you sit in the contract chain, which we map at the outset.
Do we have to arbitrate, or can we go to court?
It depends on your contract. Most construction agreements, including the standard AIA forms, require mediation and then binding arbitration, and Washington courts enforce those clauses. If your contract has one, you'll likely arbitrate rather than litigate, though a lien foreclosure still proceeds in superior court. If there's no arbitration clause, the dispute goes to court. We read the dispute-resolution provisions early, because they shape strategy, cost, and timeline from the first day.
When should we bring in a construction lawyer?
As early as the dispute appears, and ideally before a deadline is close. Construction rights are governed by short statutory clocks and by contract notice provisions that can forfeit a claim if missed, so early counsel protects lien rights, preserves the daily records and photos that decide these cases, and keeps you from waiving a claim by failing to give notice. The cost of early advice is small next to the value of a lien right or a delay claim that's been preserved.
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Construction defect, lien, payment, and delay dispute representation for Pacific Northwest owners, developers, contractors, and design professionals.
Oseran Hahn P.S. · 11225 SE 6th St, Suite 100 · Bellevue, WA 98004
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