What a lien waiver does
Anyone who improves a property and goes unpaid can usually file a mechanics lien against it. A lien waiver is the paper that gives that right up, in exchange for a payment. Owners ask for one so they never pay twice for the same work. General contractors ask their subs and suppliers for one with each draw, and lenders often will not release the next draw without them.
For you, the waiver is a receipt with teeth. Sign the wrong kind, or sign before the money clears, and you may have given up the strongest tool you had for getting paid.
The four kinds, and when to use each
| Waiver | Use it when | Takes effect |
|---|---|---|
| Conditional, progress payment | You are asking for a progress payment | When that payment clears |
| Unconditional, progress payment | A progress payment is already in your account | When you sign |
| Conditional, final payment | You are asking for the last payment on the job | When that payment clears |
| Unconditional, final payment | The last payment is already in your account | When you sign |
The safe habit: hand over conditional waivers to get paid, and swap them for unconditional ones only after the funds land. A progress waiver covers work through a date; a final waiver covers the whole job.
Filling one in
- Claimant: your business, the one giving up lien rights.
- Customer: whoever is paying you. For a sub, that is usually the general contractor.
- Owner and job location: the property the lien would attach to.
- Through date: the last day of work this payment covers, on a progress waiver.
- Amount: the payment this waiver is for, not the contract total.
- Exceptions: anything still owed that the waiver does not give up, such as retainage, unpaid change orders or a disputed claim.
Mistakes that cost contractors money
- Signing an unconditional waiver against a check that later bounces.
- Signing a final waiver while a change order is still unpaid, without listing it as an exception.
- Waiving through the end of the month when the payment only covers work to the middle of it.
- Letting a customer's own waiver form add extra promises, such as indemnity or a release of contract claims.
- Missing your state's lien deadline while waiting on a payment that never comes. See mechanics lien deadlines by state.
States that set their own waiver forms
In these states the lien statute spells out the waiver wording, and a waiver that strays from it may not be enforceable. Each state page has the forms word for word from the state's own code, ready to fill in.
| State | Forms set by statute | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| California | 4 (conditional waiver and release on progress payment; unconditional waiver and release on progress payment; conditional waiver and release on final payment; unconditional waiver and release on final payment) | California Civil Code sections 8132 to 8138 |
| Texas | 4 (conditional waiver and release on progress payment; unconditional waiver and release on progress payment; conditional waiver and release on final payment; unconditional waiver and release on final payment) | Texas Property Code section 53.284 |
| Arizona | 4 (conditional waiver and release on progress payment; unconditional waiver and release on progress payment; conditional waiver and release on final payment; unconditional waiver and release on final payment) | Arizona Revised Statutes section 33-1008 |
| Nevada | 4 (conditional waiver and release upon progress payment; unconditional waiver and release upon progress payment; conditional waiver and release upon final payment; unconditional waiver and release upon final payment) | Nevada Revised Statutes 108.2457 |
| Utah | 2 (conditional waiver and release upon progress payment; waiver and release upon final payment) | Utah Code section 38-1a-802 |
| Michigan | 4 (partial unconditional waiver; partial conditional waiver; full unconditional waiver; full conditional waiver) | Michigan Compiled Laws 570.1115 |
| Florida | 2 (waiver and release of lien upon progress payment; waiver and release of lien upon final payment) | Florida Statutes section 713.20 |
| Wyoming | 1 (lien waiver) | Wyoming Statutes section 29-10-101 |
Lien waiver notes for all 50 states
The waiver column shows where we have read a statutory form in the state's code. Elsewhere, a general waiver like the one above is common, but check your state's lien law, since rules change. The deadline column is the main deadline to file or record a lien, read from each state's code on 2026-10-09.
| State | Waiver form | Lien filing deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | General form | Original contractor: within 6 months. Journeyman or day laborer: within 30 days. Everyone else: within 4 months. Each runs from the last work or material. Code of Alabama 35-11-215 |
| Alaska | General form | Within 120 days after you finish the contract or stop furnishing, when the owner has not recorded a notice of completion. A recorded notice of completion can shorten this to as little as 15 days. Alaska Statutes 34.35.068 |
| Arizona | Statutory form | Within 120 days after completion of the work, or within 60 days if a notice of completion has been recorded. Arizona Revised Statutes 33-993 |
| Arkansas | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| California | Statutory form | Direct contractor: after finishing, and before the earlier of 90 days after completion or 60 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation. Everyone else: the earlier of 90 days after completion or 30 days after that notice. California Civil Code 8412 and 8414 |
| Colorado | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Connecticut | General form | Within 90 days after you stop performing services or furnishing materials, with notice to the owner. Connecticut General Statutes 49-34 |
| Delaware | General form | A contractor who dealt directly with the owner and furnished labor and material: within 180 days after completion of the structure. Everyone else: within 120 days from finishing their labor or last delivery. Delaware Code title 25, 2711 |
| Florida | Statutory form | Not later than 90 days after your final furnishing of labor, services or materials. Florida Statutes 713.08 |
| Georgia | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Hawaii | General form | The application for a lien is filed not later than 45 days after the date of completion of the improvement. Hawaii Revised Statutes 507-43 |
| Idaho | General form | Within 90 days after completing your labor or services, or furnishing materials. Idaho Code 45-507 |
| Illinois | General form | A contractor records within 4 months after completion to keep the lien good against other creditors, lenders and buyers. 770 ILCS 60/7 |
| Indiana | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Iowa | General form | Posted to the state mechanics lien registry within two years and 90 days after the last labor or material. Iowa Code 572.9 |
| Kansas | General form | Contracting with the owner: within 4 months after the last labor or material. A subcontractor or supplier: within 3 months, or 5 months if a notice of extension is filed within the 3 months. Kansas Statutes 60-1102 and 60-1103 |
| Kentucky | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Louisiana | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Maine | General form | The lien is kept by filing a court action within 120 days after the last labor, services or materials. Maine Revised Statutes title 10, 3255 |
| Maryland | General form | A petition to establish the lien is filed within 180 days after the work is finished or the materials furnished. Maryland Real Property 9-105 |
| Massachusetts | General form; the statute sets a partial waiver and subordination form for lender-financed jobs (chapter 254, section 32) | The statement of account is recorded by the earliest of 90 days after a notice of substantial completion, 120 days after a notice of termination, or 120 days after your last day of work. Massachusetts General Laws chapter 254, section 8 |
| Michigan | Statutory form | Within 90 days after your last furnishing of labor or material. Michigan Compiled Laws 570.1111 |
| Minnesota | General form | Within 120 days after the last of the work or the last item furnished. Minnesota Statutes 514.08 |
| Mississippi | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Missouri | General form | Within 6 months after the debt accrues. Rental equipment: within 60 days after it was last removed. Missouri Revised Statutes 429.080 |
| Montana | General form | Not later than 90 days after your final furnishing, or after the owner files a notice of completion. Montana Code 71-3-535 |
| Nebraska | General form | Not later than 120 days after your final furnishing of services or materials. Nebraska Revised Statutes 52-137 |
| Nevada | Statutory form | Within 90 days after the latest of completion, your last delivery or your last work. Within 40 days after a notice of completion that is recorded and served. Nevada Revised Statutes 108.226 |
| New Hampshire | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| New Jersey | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| New Mexico | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| New York | General form | Within 8 months after completion or your last work or material. Within 4 months for a single family home. New York Lien Law 10 |
| North Carolina | General form | Not later than 120 days after your last furnishing of labor or materials at the site. North Carolina General Statutes 44A-12 |
| North Dakota | General form | Within 90 days after all of your contribution is done. North Dakota Century Code 35-27-13 |
| Ohio | General form | One or two family home or a condominium unit: within 60 days after your last labor or material. Most other work: within 75 days. Some projects under section 1311.021: within 120 days. Ohio Revised Code 1311.06 |
| Oklahoma | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Oregon | General form | Not later than 75 days after you stop providing labor, equipment or materials, or 75 days after completion of construction, whichever is earlier. Oregon Revised Statutes 87.035 |
| Pennsylvania | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Rhode Island | General form | A notice of intention is mailed and recorded before, or within 200 days after, the work or materials. Rhode Island General Laws 34-28-4 |
| South Carolina | General form | Within 90 days after you stop furnishing labor or materials, served on the owner and filed. South Carolina Code 29-5-90 |
| South Dakota | General form | Within 120 days after the last work or the last item furnished. South Dakota Codified Laws 44-9-15 |
| Tennessee | General form | Not yet confirmed from the state's code |
| Texas | Statutory form | Original contractor: by the 15th day of the fourth month after the month the work was completed, terminated or abandoned, or the third month on a residential project. Others: the 15th day of the fourth month after the month of last labor or materials, or the third month on a residential project. Texas Property Code 53.052 |
| Utah | Statutory form | Within 180 days after final completion of the original contract when no notice of completion is filed, or 90 days after a notice of completion is filed. Utah Code 38-1a-502 |
| Vermont | General form | The lien lasts no more than 180 days from when payment for the last labor or materials became due unless a notice of lien is filed with the town clerk. Vermont Statutes title 9, 1921 |
| Virginia | General form | A memorandum of lien is filed not later than 90 days from the last day of the month in which you last worked or furnished material, and never later than 90 days after the building is completed. Code of Virginia 43-4 |
| Washington | General form | Not later than 90 days after you stop furnishing labor, services, materials or equipment. Revised Code of Washington 60.04.091 |
| West Virginia | General form | The lien is discharged 100 days after completion of the contract, subcontract or last materials unless it is perfected. West Virginia Code 38-2-7 |
| Wisconsin | General form | A claim for lien is filed within 6 months from your last labor, services or materials. Wisconsin Statutes 779.06 |
| Wyoming | Statutory form | Contractor: within 150 days. Everyone else: within 120 days. Counted from the earlier of the last work or materials or substantial completion of the project. Wyoming Statutes 29-2-106 |
More on deadlines in mechanics lien deadlines by state. This table is general information, not legal advice.
More free templates
- Conditional Lien Waiver: Gives up lien rights only once your payment clears.
- 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.