## Facts

- Normandy Village, Inc., a subdivision developer, contracted with A. Hadrup to perform plumbing and heating work on a dwelling being built on lot 67.
- On July 9, 1956, Hadrup assigned sums due under the contract to W.C. Spratt and W.C. Spratt, Jr., trading as Fredericksburg Pipe and Supply Company.
- On March 19, 1957, Thomas Battaile Sale, Jr., and Margaret B. Sale purchased lot 67 and the partially constructed dwelling from Normandy Village; the deed was recorded.
- The dwelling was not completed until August 1957, and work on the structure continued after the Sales’ purchase.
- On July 29, 1957, appellants recorded a memorandum of mechanic’s lien for $1,265 for plumbing and heating work on the house and lot.
- A special commissioner found the lien otherwise properly perfected as to lot 67, but the circuit court invalidated it as untimely.

## Issues

1. Under Va. Code § 43-4 (1950), does a conveyance of a lot and partially completed dwelling during ongoing construction constitute “termination” of the work that starts the time for filing a mechanic’s lien?

## Decision

- The Supreme Court of Appeals of Virginia reversed the decree invalidating the lien and remanded.
- The Court held that conveyance of the property during ongoing construction did not terminate the work within the meaning of Va. Code § 43-4.
- Because construction of the dwelling continued and was not completed until August 1957, the July 29, 1957 lien filing was timely.

## Legal Principles

- For mechanic’s lien filing deadlines under Va. Code § 43-4 (1950), the operative event is completion or actual cessation of work on the building or improvement.
- A transfer of title during construction, without cessation of the construction project, is not “termination” of the work for purposes of starting the filing period.
- The filing period is keyed to the status of the project as a whole, not to (a) the date of conveyance or (b) completion of a particular claimant’s portion of the work.

## Conclusion

The court ruled that a purchaser’s acquisition of a property while construction is ongoing does not cut off mechanic’s lien rights by starting the filing period; the deadline runs from completion or actual termination of the work on the structure, making appellants’ lien timely.


Hadrup v. Sale, 201 Va. 421, 111 S.E.2d 405 (Va. 1959)