Connecticut lien waiver: the periodic waiver itself is named in the statute, and subordination is not a waiver
Most states void the waiver clause in the contract and leave the monthly form you sign at each draw to argument. Connecticut names that form in the statute. It also does something none of the others do: it says in terms that subordinating a lien to a mortgage is not the same thing as waiving it.
Any provision in a Connecticut construction contract, or any periodic lien waiver issued under one, that waives or releases the right to claim a mechanics lien or to make a payment bond claim for services, labor or materials not yet performed and paid for is void and of no effect.
Read the law: Conn. Gen. Stat. section 42-158lcodes.findlaw.com
Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-158l(a), word for wordFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.Any provision in a construction contract or any periodic lien waiver issued pursuant to a construction contract that purports to waive or release the right of a contractor, subcontractor or supplier engaged to perform services, perform labor or furnish materials under the construction contract to (1) claim a mechanic's lien, or (2) make a claim against a payment bond, for services, labor or materials which have not yet been performed and paid for shall be void and of no effect.
Not yet performed and paid for. Both halves have to be satisfied before a waiver can bite, so a waiver covering work you have done but have not been paid for is caught by the same sentence.
Download a blank Connecticut lien waiver
Connecticut prescribes no statutory wording, so this is the general conditional waiver on progress payment, the form that fits most draws. Print it and fill it in by hand, or use the builder below and get it back already filled in.
Free, no signup, no email, no watermark.
Waiving a lien and subordinating one are different documents
This is the most commonly misunderstood point in the whole subject, and Connecticut is the only state in this set that answers it inside the statute.
Subsection (b) says the section does not prohibit the subordination of a mechanics lien to the lien of a mortgage or security interest, nor the enforcement of an agreement to subordinate one.
So when the construction lender asks you to sign a subordination, it is not asking you to give up your lien. It is asking you to agree that if the property is sold or foreclosed, the bank gets paid first out of the proceeds. Your lien survives, in second place. That is a real concession and it is legal, and it is a different decision from signing a waiver.
The practical rule: read the heading and then read the operative sentence. A document that says your lien is released is a waiver. A document that says your lien is junior to a named mortgage is a subordination. Connecticut voids one of them in advance and permits the other.
Performed and paid for, both
The test in subsection (a) is work that has not yet been performed and paid for. A waiver reaching future work is void, which is the ordinary rule. A waiver reaching work you have finished but have not been paid for is void too, which is stronger than the ordinary rule.
That is what makes the conditional form the natural fit here. Its whole structure is that the release attaches when the payment arrives, which is exactly the line the statute draws.
Where the rule sits
Section 42-158l is headed Clauses waiving right to claim mechanic's lien or claim against a payment bond void. Title 42 is Business, Selling, Trading and Collection Practices, not the mechanics lien chapter.
Connecticut is another of the six states verified here whose anti waiver rule is filed outside the lien chapter, which is worth knowing before you conclude a state has no rule.
Ninety days, thirty days, and the town clerk
The lien itself is in chapter 847 of title 49, and it prescribes contents rather than a form, which is why there is no Connecticut certificate to download here. Section 49-34 says a mechanics lien is not valid unless the person who performed the services or furnished the materials, within ninety days after he has ceased to do so, lodges a certificate in writing with the town clerk of the town where the property is. Connecticut records with the town, not with a county.
The certificate has to describe the premises, give the amount claimed, name the person the lien is being filed against and give the date the services or materials commenced; state that the amount claimed is justly due, as nearly as the same can be ascertained; and be subscribed and sworn to by the claimant. That is the whole of the prescribed content, and the statute prints no layout for it.
Then the part that is missed. Not later than thirty days after lodging the certificate, you serve a true and attested copy on the owner, in the same manner the notice in section 49-35 is served. Recording it is half the job.
Section 49-35 is the separate notice of intent, and it belongs to everybody except the original contractor and a subcontractor whose written contract was assented to in writing. After commencing and not later than ninety days after ceasing, that person gives written notice to the owner and to the original contractor that materials have been furnished or services rendered and that a lien is intended. Service is by an indifferent person, a state marshal or other proper officer, by leaving a true and attested copy with the owner or at the usual place of abode; if the owner is out of town, on a known agent there, otherwise by registered or certified mail; and if the copy comes back unclaimed, by publication. Two owners means two services.
One quiet trap sits inside that section, and it runs the other way. The original contractor is not entitled to the notice at all unless, not later than fifteen days after commencing, that contractor lodged an affidavit with the same town clerk giving the name the business trades under, its business address and a description of the property. A claimant's right to a lien is not affected by that affidavit failing to conform.
The cap, the clock, and the one form Connecticut prints
Section 49-36 caps the whole of the liens on a job at the price the owner agreed to pay. Where the claims together exceed it, everybody other than the original contractor is paid first, and if there is still not enough it is apportioned in proportion to the debts. The owner is also allowed whatever payments were made in good faith to the original contractor before receiving notice of the lien, which is the real reason the 49-35 notice exists. Payments made in advance of the time the contract stipulated do not count as good faith unless the owner gave written notice of the intention to pay early, at least five days before, to every person known to have furnished materials or rendered services.
Section 49-39 gives the lien one year after it is perfected. It ends there unless the claimant commences an action to foreclose, by complaint, cross complaint or counterclaim, and records a notice of lis pendens on the land records of the same town, within one year of recording or within sixty days of the final disposition of an application under section 49-35a, whichever is later. After that it is invalid and discharged as a matter of law, with no order needed.
Section 49-35a is the fast route the other way, and it is the only place in the chapter that prints a form. An owner or anyone else with an interest can apply to the Superior Court for the lien to be discharged or reduced, on four days notice, and the statute says the application, order and summons shall be substantially in the following form, then sets out the APPLICATION FOR DISCHARGE OR REDUCTION OF MECHANIC'S LIEN with its blanks, an ORDER for the court to sign fixing the hearing, and a SUMMONS commanding a state marshal to serve it. The tests it puts to your lien are short: that there is not probable cause to sustain its validity, or that it is excessive.
That form is deliberately not built on this site. Half of it is completed by a court clerk who fixes the hearing date and collects the entry fee, half of it is a command to an officer, and it is signed by a Commissioner of the Superior Court. A generator that hands a non lawyer a filled in court pleading is a different product from a notice you post, and this site does not make that trade. If a lien on your job is being challenged this way, the document to read is the one served on you, and the deadline that matters is the four days notice before the hearing.
Which of the four to sign on a Connecticut job
The statute protects you from a waiver signed before the work or before the payment. It does not protect you from one worded too broadly, or handed over against a check that later bounces, so the conditional form is still the right default.
Questions people ask
Is a Connecticut lien waiver signed before payment valid?
No, to the extent it covers services, labor or materials not yet performed and paid for. Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-158l(a) makes such a provision, and any periodic lien waiver issued under a construction contract, void and of no effect.
Does the Connecticut rule cover the waiver form I sign each month?
Yes. The statute names any periodic lien waiver issued pursuant to a construction contract alongside a provision in the contract itself, which is unusual. Most states void only the contract clause.
Is subordinating my Connecticut lien to the bank the same as waiving it?
No. Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-158l(b) says the section does not prohibit subordinating a mechanics lien to the lien of a mortgage or security interest, or enforcing an agreement to do so. Your lien survives, ranked behind the mortgage.
Where is Connecticut's lien waiver statute?
Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-158l, in title 42, Business, Selling, Trading and Collection Practices. It is not in the mechanics lien chapter.
Is there an official Connecticut mechanics lien form?
No. Section 49-34 prescribes what the certificate must contain, a description of the premises, the amount claimed, the name of the person it is filed against, the date work commenced, a statement that the amount is justly due, and the claimant's oath, and prints no layout for it. The only form in the chapter is the court application in section 49-35a, which is not a document a contractor files.
How long do I have to file a mechanics lien in Connecticut?
Ninety days after you cease to perform the services or furnish the materials, under section 49-34. It is lodged with the town clerk of the town where the property is, not with a county recorder, and it is recorded with deeds of land.
Do I have to serve the certificate after recording it?
Yes, and it is the step people miss. Section 49-34 requires a true and attested copy served on the owner not later than thirty days after the certificate is lodged, in the same manner as the notice in section 49-35. The lien is not valid without it.
Who has to send a Connecticut notice of intent to claim a lien?
Everybody except the original contractor and a subcontractor whose written contract was assented to in writing by the other party to the original contract. Under section 49-35 it goes to the owner and to the original contractor, after you start and not later than ninety days after you cease, served by an indifferent person, a state marshal or other proper officer. The original contractor is only entitled to it if that contractor lodged an affidavit with the town clerk within fifteen days of commencing.
How much can my Connecticut lien be for?
Section 49-36 caps all the liens on the job at the price the owner agreed to pay, with everybody other than the original contractor paid first and the rest apportioned. The owner also gets credit for payments made in good faith before receiving notice of your lien, which is what the notice of intent is really protecting.
How long does a Connecticut mechanics lien last?
One year after it is perfected, under section 49-39, unless you commence a foreclosure action and record a notice of lis pendens on the land records of the same town, or within sixty days of the final disposition of a discharge application under section 49-35a, whichever is later. After that it is invalid and discharged as a matter of law.
Can the owner get my Connecticut lien thrown out without a trial?
They can try. Section 49-35a lets an owner apply to the Superior Court on four days notice for the lien to be discharged or reduced, on the ground that there is not probable cause to sustain its validity or that it is excessive. The statute prints the application, the order and the summons. This site does not generate that one, because a court clerk and a state marshal complete half of it.
Working in another state? The general lien waiver forms page covers all four waiver types, and conditional vs unconditional lien waiver explains which of the two to sign and when.
This page quotes Conn. Gen. Stat. section 42-158l and explains what it says. It is not legal advice, and a statute can be amended. Read the linked section before you rely on it.