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Decisions at the ballot box influence policies that support engineering standards and public safety.May/June 2019
PE Report
Michigan Law Allows PEs to File Liens
Professional engineers in Michigan now have increased financial protection through an amendment to the state’s construction lien act that allows them to record liens for professional services related to property improvements. The change, supported by the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers, was signed into law by then governor Rick Snyder in December.
The law (P.A. 367 of 2018) outlines conditions and procedures for recording, claiming, enforcing, vacating, and discharging liens. It allows a design professional who enters into a written contract to provide professional services related to proposed or actual construction, alteration, repair, or removal of a structure or other improvement to real property to record a notice of the contract with the county register of deeds. The notice can be recorded regardless of whether the professional services or related project have been started or finished, but the notice must be recorded no more than 90 days after the professional services were last performed. The notice is valid for one year after the recorded date.
The Michigan Society of Professional Engineers supported the addition of design professionals to the construction lien act because the act ensures that design firms and consultants will be paid in full for services rendered in the planning stages of a project in addition to services provided for actual physical improvements.
The lien law defines “actual physical improvement” as the actual physical change in real property as a result of labor provided under contract by a contractor, subcontractor, or worker. The change must be readily visible, so that an individual would see, upon reasonable inspection, that there has been an improvement. The previous law, adopted in 1982, specifically excluded architects, engineers, and surveyors from the definition.
The change was also supported by the American Council of Engineering Companies, the American Institute of Architects, and the Michigan Society of Professional Surveyors.
