Questão jurídica principal
Whether removal of scaffolding, left on site under a contractual obligation for later subcontractor work, starts the three-month period for a construction lien under Art. 839(2) CC.
Decisão extraída
No. If the contractor kept the scaffolding in place because of a separate contractual duty to make it available for later work, its later removal does not trigger the lien deadline.
Fundamentação extraída
The court held that the relevant question is whether the disputed service forms part of the contractor's typical lien-qualifying overall work. Here, once the contractor had completed its own building works, the continued presence of the scaffolding served a rental arrangement in favor of a subcontractor, not the contractor's own construction performance. Therefore, the contractor's work was already complete when the substantive building work ended, and the deadline began earlier.