---
type: "Bill"
title: "Subcontractor's employees; liability of general contractor for wages."
description: "Liability of general contractor for wages of subcontractor's employees. Provides that there is a valid defenseto a claim of nonpayment of wages by a general contractor to a subcontractor's employees if the general contractor obtains a written certificationthat (i) the subcontractor and each of his sub-subcontractors haspaid all employees all wages due for the period during which thewages are claimed for the work performed on the project and (ii) to the subcontractor's knowledge all sub-subcontractors have also paidtheir employees. The bill also provides that the terms \"general contractor\" and \"subcontractor\" shall not include persons solely furnishing materials for the purposes of the liability of a contractor for wagesdue to a subcontractor's employees."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "SB 1209"
citation: "Virginia SB 1209 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["J. Chapman Petersen"]
version_count: 4
action_count: 35
vote_count: 8
first_action: "2021-01-11"
last_action: "2021-03-31"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/e94e3694-2f96-43b5-821a-011a87114e3d"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+SB1209"
source_hash: "345a795b44adcbaf80f1dcfb0749de0addc5e0ec7e3807fde3b3de9138994186"
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 1209 (2021) — Subcontractor's employees; liability of general contractor for wages.

Liability of general contractor for wages of subcontractor's employees. Provides that there is a valid defenseto a claim of nonpayment of wages by a general contractor to a subcontractor's employees if the general contractor obtains a written certificationthat (i) the subcontractor and each of his sub-subcontractors haspaid all employees all wages due for the period during which thewages are claimed for the work performed on the project and (ii) to the subcontractor's knowledge all sub-subcontractors have also paidtheir employees. The bill also provides that the terms "general contractor" and "subcontractor" shall not include persons solely furnishing materials for the purposes of the liability of a contractor for wagesdue to a subcontractor's employees.

## Version chain

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

1. **CHAP0511** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0511)
2. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100936D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1209)
3. **Printed as engrossed 21100936D-E** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1209E)
4. **SB1209ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+SB1209ER)

## Votes

- Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N) — **38–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Judiciary with amendment (11-Y 4-N) — **11–4** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: DEFEATED (16-Y 73-N 2-A) — **16–72** (fail) · lower
- Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 6-N) — **15–6** (pass) · lower
- Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 1-N) — **6–1** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (24-Y 13-N) — **24–13** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage #2 (46-Y 43-N 2-A) — **46–42** (pass) · lower
- Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice — **0–0** (fail) · lower

## Sponsors

- J. Chapman Petersen — primary (person)

## Timeline

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

- **2021-01-11** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21100936D `introduction`
- **2021-01-11** Referred to Committee on the Judiciary `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-27** Assigned Judiciary sub: Civil Law `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-03** Senate committee, floor amendments and substitutes offered
- **2021-02-03** Reported from Judiciary with amendment (11-Y 4-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-04** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-05** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-05** Reading of amendment waived
- **2021-02-05** Committee amendment agreed to
- **2021-02-05** Engrossed by Senate as amended SB1209E
- **2021-02-05** Printed as engrossed 21100936D-E
- **2021-02-05** Constitutional reading dispensed (38-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-05** Passed Senate (24-Y 13-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-07** Placed on Calendar
- **2021-02-07** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-02-07** Referred to Committee for Courts of Justice `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-08** Continued to Special Session 1 in Courts of Justice
- **2021-02-10** Impact statement from DPB (SB1209E)
- **2021-02-18** Assigned Courts sub: Civil `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-19** Subcommittee recommends reporting (6-Y 1-N)
- **2021-02-20** Reported from Courts of Justice (15-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-23** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2021-02-24** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-24** Defeated by House (16-Y 73-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: DEFEATED (16-Y 73-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-24** Reconsideration of defeated action agreed to by House
- **2021-02-24** Passed House (46-Y 43-N 2-A) `passage`
- **2021-02-24** VOTE: Passage #2 (46-Y 43-N 2-A)
- **2021-02-26** Enrolled
- **2021-02-26** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-27** Signed by President
- **2021-03-01** Impact statement from DPB (SB1209ER)
- **2021-03-01** Enrolled Bill Communicated to Governor on March 1, 2021
- **2021-03-01** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-31** Approved by Governor-Chapter 511 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/e94e3694-2f96-43b5-821a-011a87114e3d`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).