Illinois lien waiver: void only if it was the price of getting the job
Illinois is narrower than the charts make it look, and the narrowness decides real jobs. The statute voids a waiver made in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract. The waiver you hand over at a draw was not the price of getting the job, so nothing here voids it.
An Illinois agreement to waive or subordinate a lien, where the agreement is in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract or subcontract, is against public policy and unenforceable. A waiver given at a payment, rather than to win the work, is outside the section.
Read the law: 770 ILCS 60/1(d)codes.findlaw.com
770 ILCS 60/1(d), word for wordFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.An agreement to waive any right to enforce or claim any lien under this Act, or an agreement to subordinate the lien, where the agreement is in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract or subcontract, either express or implied, to perform work or supply materials for an improvement upon real property is against public policy and unenforceable.
In anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract is the whole test. Both halves have to be true. A waiver signed at a progress payment is neither in anticipation of an award nor given in consideration for one.
Download a blank Illinois lien waiver
Illinois 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.
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What the section actually kills
It kills the clause a general contractor or an owner puts in front of you before you have the work, where signing away your lien is part of what you are giving in exchange for being chosen.
Either express or implied, so it does not have to be written into the contract. If the understanding was that you get the job and the lien goes with it, the section reaches that understanding.
What it does not kill is the ordinary draw waiver. That one is given in consideration for a payment, not in consideration for an award, and the statute simply does not describe it.
So the form does the work Illinois law does not
On an Illinois job the discipline is the same as in a state with no anti waiver statute at all, because at the draw stage that is effectively where you are.
Conditional waiver every time, with the amount and the through date on its face. Unconditional only after the money has cleared the bank. Retainage and disputed change orders written into the exceptions box before you sign anything final.
Subordination to a construction loan
The same subsection reaches an agreement to subordinate a lien when it is given for the award of the contract. Illinois separately allows subordination to a construction loan mortgage once more than half the loan proceeds have been disbursed into the improvement.
Subordinating and waiving are not the same act. Subordination leaves your lien alive and ranks it behind the lender. Waiver removes it. Check the heading and then check the operative sentence before signing either.
Which of the four to sign on an Illinois job
Illinois voids the waiver that bought you the job and nothing else, so the waiver you sign at a draw has to protect itself. Sign the conditional version and the release attaches when the payment clears. Sign the unconditional one and the release happens on signature, paid or not, with no statute standing behind you.
Questions people ask
Are lien waivers enforceable in Illinois?
Usually yes. 770 ILCS 60/1(d) voids only an agreement to waive or subordinate a lien made in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract or subcontract. A waiver given at a progress payment is outside that description.
Can my Illinois subcontract make me waive lien rights up front?
No. If the waiver is in anticipation of and in consideration for being awarded the subcontract, express or implied, it is against public policy and unenforceable under 770 ILCS 60/1(d).
Does Illinois protect me if I sign a waiver and never get paid?
Not by statute. The section addresses waivers given to win work, not waivers given at a payment. That is why the conditional form matters in Illinois: it ties the release to the payment clearing, which the law does not do for you.
Can an Illinois lien be subordinated to the construction lender?
Yes, in the right circumstances. Illinois allows subordination to a construction loan mortgage once more than half the loan has been disbursed into the improvement. That is a ranking agreement, not a waiver.
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 770 ILCS 60/1(d) 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.