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

[ ] Licensing
      - Section 30-42-3 defines covered contracting by the $5,000 residential and $25,000 commercial thresholds. Its exclusions include materials-only suppliers, a person personally working on property they own or lease, and persons performing landscaping or painting services.
      - Section 30-42-6(a) requires a license before covered contracting or bidding. For a firm, partnership, corporation, association, or other entity, an officer must hold the required license.
      - Section 30-42-6(b) requires posting the license or a copy at each construction site and including the license number in contracting advertisements and fully executed binding contracts. Subsection (c) lists additional exemptions, including specified government, utility, employee, and personally performed owner work.

[ ] Mechanic's liens
      - Section 38-2-8 requires a contractor to record the prescribed notice of lien in the county commission clerk’s office for the property within 100 days after completing the contract.
      - Section 38-2-9 requires a subcontractor both to serve the owner or authorized agent with the prescribed notice and to record the lien within 100 days after completing its subcontract. Owner service must use a method authorized for a legal notice or summons.
      - Section 38-2-34(a) ordinarily requires an enforcement action in circuit court within six months after recording. A timely action by another lienholder on the same property preserves other lienholders’ ability to intervene.
      - Section 38-2-34(b) gives the owner a complete or partial payment defense on the specified single-family residential properties if the owner owes the contractor nothing, or less than the claimed lien; the section limits its application to developers or builders of multiple residences.

[ ] Retainage
      - Section 103.6 requires the contract bond in the amount associated with the bidder’s published performance rating in effect 15 calendar days before letting. The specification states that furnishing that bond does not necessitate withholding retainage from future progress estimates.
      - Section 109.6 calls for written progress estimates monthly, with semi-monthly estimates at the engineer’s discretion when the qualifying amount exceeds $10,000; work whose integrity is in doubt can be excluded until the concern is resolved.
      - Section 109.8 ties final payment to project acceptance and the final estimate, less previous payments and amounts retained or deducted under the contract. A contractor disputing the final estimate must ordinarily submit written reasons and supporting information within 30 calendar days after receipt.

[ ] Prompt payment
      - Section 12-10-3(b) requires a state agency to pay a legitimate claim within 45 days after receipt. Invoice receipt is determined under the statutory earliest-date rule; if the invoice precedes delivery or performance, the claim is received when the goods are delivered and accepted or services are fully performed and accepted.
      - Section 12-10-3(c) requires reporting claims unpaid after 45 days to the State Auditor; vendors and grantees may also report them. Subsection (d) directs agencies to process invoices or disburse covered grants within ten business days after receipt.
      - Sections 12-10-2 and 12-10-3 preserve the statutory scope and exclusions, including defined grant exclusions, legally ineligible vendors/grantees, and the agency’s ability to reject an illegitimate, erroneous, fraudulent, or disputed claim.

[ ] Prevailing wage
      - The current official code marks the former prevailing-wage provisions in Article 5A repealed, principally by 2016 Regular Session Chapter 39. Section 21-5A-4 was repealed earlier.
      - Repeal of the state article does not remove federal wage requirements on qualifying federal public-building or public-work contracts exceeding $2,000 or on federally assisted projects covered by an applicable Related Act.

[ ] 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.