Reworking Louisiana's Private Works Act

• Author: L. David Cromwell - Mallory Waller
• Position: Member, Louisiana Bar, and Vice President and Member of the Council of the Louisiana State Law Institute, as well as Reporter of its Security Devices Committee, which prepared the projet of the 2019 revision of the Private Works Act. Tulane University of Louisiana, J.D. (1983) - Member, Louisiana Bar, and Coordinator of Research and Revisor of ...
• Pages: 993-1119

Louisiana Law Review Louisiana Law Review

Volume 80

Number 4

Summer 2020

Article 6

11-11-2020

Reworking Louisiana’s Private Works Act Reworking Louisiana’s Private Works Act

L. David Cromwell

Mallory Waller

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Part of the Construction Law Commons

Repository Citation Repository Citation

L. David Cromwell and Mallory Waller,

Reworking Louisiana’s Private Works Act

, 80 La. L. Rev. (2020)

Available at: https://digitalcommons.law.lsu.edu/lalrev/vol80/iss4/6

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Reviews and Journals at LSU Law Digital

Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Louisiana Law Review by an authorized editor of LSU Law Digital

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Reworking Louisiana’s Private Works Act

L. David Cromwell

Mallory C. Waller

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .................................................................................. 995

I. Historical Development................................................................ 997

A. The Code Napoleon ............................................................... 997

B. The Digest of 1808 and the Civil Code of 1825 .................. 1000

C. Subsequent Amendments and the

Civil Code of 1870............................................................... 1003

D. Genesis of the Private Works Act........................................ 1004

E. The 1981 Revision ...............................................................1007

F. The 2019 Revision............................................................... 1010

II. Basic Protections Afforded by the Act....................................... 1015

A. General Observations........................................................... 1015

B. Privileges Granted by Louisiana Revised

Statutes Section 9:4801........................................................ 1016

C. Claims Against the Owner and Privileges Granted

by Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 9:4802 .................... 1017

D. Claims Against the Contractor Granted by

Louisiana Revised Statutes Section 9:4802......................... 1021

Copyright 2020, by L. DAVID CROMWELL AND MALLORY C. WALLER.

The authors express appreciation to the members and special advisors of the

Security Devices Committee of the Louisiana State Law Institute, whose names are

given in notes 75 and 76, infra. The authors also acknowledge an immense debt of

gratitude to the late Professor Thomas A. Harrell, who, as the Reporter of the

Security Devices Committee, was the guiding force behind the revision of the

Private Works Act in 1981.

 Member, Louisiana Bar, and Vice President and Member of the Council of

the Louisiana State Law Institute, as well as Reporter of its Security Devices

Committee, which prepared the projet of the 2019 revision of the Private Works

Act. Tulane University of Louisiana, J.D. (1983).

 Member, Louisiana Bar, and Coordinator of Research and Revisor of

Statutes of the Louisiana State Law Institute, as well as staff attorney of its Security

Devices Committee. Louisiana State University Paul M. Hebert Law Center, J.D.

(2015).

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994 LOUISIANA LAW REVIEW [Vol. 80

III. Definitions.................................................................................. 1022

A. Owner ................................................................................ 1022

B. Contractors and Subcontractors........................................... 1024

C. Work ................................................................................ 1026

D. Commencement of Work..................................................... 1029

E. Substantial Completion and Abandonment of Work ...........1031

F. Residential Work ................................................................. 1034

G Immovables.......................................................................... 1036

H. Complete Property Description ........................................... 1039

I. Professional Consultants and Professional

Subconsultants ..................................................................... 1042

IV. Filing Requirements ................................................................... 1044

A. Notice of Contract................................................................ 1045

B. No-Work Affidavits............................................................. 1050

C. Notice of Termination.......................................................... 1054

D. Statement of Claim or Privilege........................................... 1058

1. Purposes ........................................................................ 1058

2. Formal and Substantive Requirements.......................... 1058

3. Filing Periods Under the 1981 Act................................ 1062

4. Filing Periods Under the 2019 Revision ....................... 1066

5. Necessity of Filing ........................................................ 1068

6. Request for Notice of Commencement of

Filing Periods ................................................................ 1069

E. Notice of Pendency of Action.............................................. 1070

F. Cancellation of Filings......................................................... 1072

V. Notice Requirements.................................................................. 1075

A. Lessors................................................................................. 1075

B. Professional Consultants and Professional

Subconsultants ..................................................................... 1078

C. Sub-Subcontractors.............................................................. 1079

D. Residential Claimants .......................................................... 1080

E. Section 4802 Claimants on Works for Which

Notice of Contract Was Filed .............................................. 1081

F. Mechanisms of Notice ......................................................... 1082

VI. Enforcement ............................................................................... 1087

A. Suit ................................................................................ 1087

B. Concursus ............................................................................ 1089

C. Liability of the Surety ..........................................................1091

D. Attorney Fees....................................................................... 1094