Section 2.3.3 Contractors

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

Any contractor, whether a general contractor or specialty sub-contractor, must have a valid license issued by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors in order to have lien rights against an owner's property.

Any contractor, whether a general contractor or specialty subcontractor, must have a current valid license issued by the Arizona Registrar of Contractors enabling them to legally perform the work that is the subject of the lien.⁴⁷ This means that if a licensed general contractor seeks to recover payment for work performed for which it was not licensed to perform, recovery will be denied.⁴⁸ In fact, the necessity of a valid, relevant license has consistently been treated by the Arizona courts as an absolute bar to ANY recovery on ANY theory of law or equity.⁴⁹

However, merely because a lien is recorded after a contractor's license has expired does not prevent the contractor from asserting its lien rights in order to recover payment on a project for services performed or material furnished, so...