---
type: "Bill"
title: "Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment."
description: "Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment.Specifies that the use of funds paid to a general contractor or subcontractorand used by such contractor or subcontractor before paying all amountsdue for labor performed or material furnished gives rise to a civilcause of action for a party who is owed such funds. The bill furtherspecifies that such cause of action does not affect a contractor'sor subcontractor's right to withhold payment for failure to properlyperform labor or furnish materials and that any contractual provision that allows a party to withhold funds due on one contract for allegedclaims or damages due on another contract is void as against publicpolicy."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2020"
identifier: "SB 208"
citation: "Virginia SB 208 (2020)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Chapman Petersen"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 24
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2019-12-30"
last_action: "2020-04-08"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/65ba3e66-4326-4125-b037-433f11398224"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+sum+SB208"
source_hash: "48b2a15f62118529dddf0304d40e4c7553f711c65dbe4987cd59a43c514bde47"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia SB 208 (2020) — Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment.

Mechanics' liens; right to withhold payment.Specifies that the use of funds paid to a general contractor or subcontractorand used by such contractor or subcontractor before paying all amountsdue for labor performed or material furnished gives rise to a civilcause of action for a party who is owed such funds. The bill furtherspecifies that such cause of action does not affect a contractor'sor subcontractor's right to withhold payment for failure to properlyperform labor or furnish materials and that any contractual provision that allows a party to withhold funds due on one contract for allegedclaims or damages due on another contract is void as against publicpolicy.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0873)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+CHAP0873)
2. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB208ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB208ER)
3. **Bill text as passed Senate and House (SB208ER)** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?201+ful+SB208)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N) — **37–0** (pass) · upper
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 1-N) — **5–1** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Judiciary (13-Y 0-N 1-A) — **13–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) — **20–0** (pass) · lower
- VOTE: Passage (66-Y 30-N 1-A) — **65–30** (pass) · lower
- Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) — **40–0** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- J. Chapman Petersen — primary (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2019-12-30** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/08/20 20102138D `introduction`
- **2019-12-30** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-08** Moved from Courts of Justice to Judiciary due to a change of the committee name
- **2020-01-16** Assigned Judiciary sub: Civil Law `referral-committee`
- **2020-01-29** Reported from Judiciary (13-Y 0-N 1-A) `committee-passage`
- **2020-01-31** Constitutional reading dispensed (37-Y 0-N)
- **2020-02-03** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2020-02-04** Read third time and passed Senate (40-Y 0-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2020-02-18** Placed on Calendar
- **2020-02-18** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2020-02-18** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-21** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2020-02-24** Subcommittee recommends reporting (5-Y 1-N)
- **2020-02-28** Reported from Courts of Justice (20-Y 0-N) `committee-passage`
- **2020-03-03** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2020-03-04** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2020-03-04** Passed House (66-Y 30-N 1-A) `passage`
- **2020-03-04** VOTE: Passage (66-Y 30-N 1-A)
- **2020-03-07** Enrolled
- **2020-03-07** Signed by President
- **2020-03-08** Signed by Speaker
- **2020-03-12** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 12, 2020
- **2020-03-12** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., April 11, 2020
- **2020-04-08** Approved by Governor-Chapter 873 (effective 7/1/20) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/65ba3e66-4326-4125-b037-433f11398224`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).