What makes a waiver conditional
The condition is payment. Until the money you are owed reaches you and clears the bank it is drawn on, a conditional waiver has no effect, and your lien rights stay where they were. That is why it is the right paper to send with an invoice or a pay application: the customer gets the waiver it needs to release the money, and you keep your rights if the money never comes.
Progress or final
A conditional progress waiver covers the work through a stated date, for the amount of this one payment. Retainage, unpaid change orders and later work are not touched. A conditional final waiver covers the whole job and is given for the last payment. List anything still in dispute under Exceptions, or it may be given up with the rest.
After the payment clears
Many customers will ask for an unconditional waiver once they have paid. That is normal; give it only after the money is in your account. Our unconditional lien waiver has both kinds. If your state sets its own wording, use the state form from the lien waiver page instead.
States with their own waiver forms
8 states we have checked set the waiver wording in their lien statute: California, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Michigan, Florida, Wyoming. In those states, use the state form instead of this one. The lien waiver page has notes for all 50 states.
More free templates
- Lien Waiver: Conditional and unconditional, progress and final, with each state's rules.
- Unconditional Lien Waiver: For after you are paid: takes effect when signed.
- Punch List: What is left, where, who fixes it, by when, and the sign-off.
- Daily Log: Weather, crew hours, work done, deliveries, delays and safety.
- Credit Card Authorization Form: Lets you charge a card on file, with the customer's signature.
- Certificate of Completion: The customer signs that the job is done; the warranty starts.
- Home Improvement Contract: Scope, price, schedule, permits, changes, warranty and cancellation.
- Time and Materials Contract: Labor rate, materials markup, a cap and how you bill.
- Every template, including estimates, invoices and proposals for 35 trades.
Sources: California Civil Code sections 8132 to 8138, checked 2026-10-09; Texas Property Code section 53.284, checked 2026-10-09; Arizona Revised Statutes section 33-1008, checked 2026-10-09; Nevada Revised Statutes 108.2457, checked 2026-10-09; Utah Code section 38-1a-802, checked 2026-10-09; Michigan Compiled Laws 570.1115, checked 2026-10-09; Florida Statutes section 713.20, checked 2026-10-09; Wyoming Statutes section 29-10-101, checked 2026-10-09.