GC Laws — Nevada contractor-law checklist preview (free)
Sources reviewed 2026-09-30. Public summaries remain free on gclaws.com.

[ ] Licensing
      - Unlicensed contracting or bidding violates section 624.700; bids and contracts made in violation are void from inception.
      - The limited repair/maintenance exemption covers work under $1,000 including labor/materials, but excludes permit-required work, specified trades and safety classifications, licensed-contractor work, and work within a larger project valued at $500 or more or split into sub-$500 contracts to evade licensing.
      - An owner building or improving a residence for personal occupancy, not sale or lease, must apply to the Board for the owner exemption; offering a newly built structure for sale or lease within one year creates a rebuttable presumption of sale/lease intent.

[ ] Mechanic's liens
      - The lien secures the unpaid agreed price, or fair market value where no price was agreed, in the property/improvement and any statutory construction-disbursement account.
      - Required notice of right to lien preserves work supplied in the preceding 31 days and thereafter. Direct owner contractors/sellers, labor-only claimants and the stated wage-claim exception do not need that notice; subcontractors/suppliers also copy the prime.
      - Record within 90 days after the latest of project completion, claimant last materials/equipment, or claimant last work, shortened to 40 days after a valid recorded-and-served notice of completion. Residential work additionally requires the nonlabor claimant’s 15-day notice of intent to owner and reputed prime, extending recording time 15 days.
      - Serve the owner a copy within 30 days after recording using the statutory methods; subcontractors also deliver a copy to the prime.
      - Commence enforcement within six months after recording unless a qualifying signed, acknowledged extension is recorded within that period. An extension affects only signatories’ interests, cannot run beyond one year after lien recording, and cannot be renewed.

[ ] Retainage
      - Private contracted retention cannot exceed 5% of payment.
      - The private owner–prime provisions exclude a natural-person owner’s single-family residence agreement and public works.
      - Public bodies withhold 5% until 50% completion. Then satisfactory progress permits stopping/releasing retention. Continued retention without section 338.525 withholding is capped at 2.5% after release of half already retained; with that withholding, 5% and existing retention may continue.
      - Chapter 408 Department of Transportation contracts are excluded.

[ ] Prompt payment
      - Private owners pay on the written schedule, or within 21 days after a request where the agreement is oral or lacks a schedule.
      - These private owner–prime rules exclude a natural-person owner’s single-family residence agreement and public works.
      - Public progress payments are due within 30 days of receiving the progress bill, or the shorter contract period, subject to section 338.525.
      - Outstanding public payment, retention and interest are due within 30 days after the earliest occupancy/use, recorded completion notice, or partial building occupancy; proportional payment and section 338.525 withholding apply.
      - These public-payment provisions exclude Chapter 408 NDOT contracts.

[ ] Prevailing wage
      - Covered public-work contracts must state the hourly and daily rates for each worker classification at no less than the prevailing regional rates determined under NRS 338.030. The rates must be posted where workers can see them.
      - NRS 338.020(3) ordinarily requires at least one and one-half times the prevailing rate for covered public-work hours beyond 40 in a week or eight in a day, counting other work for the same employer. It permits a mutually agreed four-day, ten-hour schedule. Subsection (4) provides a separate rule for qualifying collective bargaining agreements.
      - The exemption for work estimated below $100,000 cannot be obtained by separating a unit from the whole project, even if that unit will be completed later.

[ ] Davis-Bacon (federal)
      - Under 40 U.S.C. section 3142, covered contracts require payment to laborers and mechanics employed directly on the site of the work at least weekly, at rates no lower than the applicable prevailing wage determination. The required compensation includes the basic hourly rate and required fringe benefits, which may be provided through qualifying benefits or cash as the statute permits.
      - Qualifying apprentices may receive a lower registered-program rate only when the applicable registration and program conditions are met. The Department of Labor’s apprenticeship rules govern those exceptions.
      - The Department of Labor determines the prevailing rates for the work classifications and locality. Contractors and subcontractors must use the wage determination applicable to their covered contract.
      - Federal assistance alone does not establish coverage: many, but not all, construction-assistance statutes include Davis-Bacon requirements. Identify the funding program and its governing Related Act.
      - SAM.gov publishes Davis-Bacon wage determinations. Search by the wage-determination number or the Davis-Bacon public-buildings-or-works category, and match the decision to the contract, locality, and work classification.

This preview lists the topics and rules covered in the full state pack. The paid pack adds the complete source URLs, citations, review dates, and the three editable tools.
GC Laws is owned and operated by GCExperts LLC, a Texas corporation.