Kansas lien waiver: good only to the extent of the payment received, which is a dollar test
Kansas states the exact test a waiver has to pass, in one clause, and it is an amount test rather than a signature test. A contract may require a waiver as a condition for payment, but only to the extent of the amount of payment received.
A Kansas private construction contract provision that purports to waive, release or extinguish mechanics lien rights is against public policy and void, except that a contract may require a waiver as a condition for payment, and then only to the extent of the amount of payment received.
Read the law: K.S.A. 16-1803codes.findlaw.com
K.S.A. 16-1803(b)(2), word for wordFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.a provision that purports to waive, release or extinguish rights provided by article 11 of chapter 60 of the Kansas Statutes Annotated, and amendments thereto, except that a contract may require a contractor or subcontractor to provide a waiver or release of such rights as a condition for payment, but only to the extent of the amount of payment received
Article 11 of chapter 60 is the mechanics lien article, reached by cross reference rather than by name. The last nine words are the whole rule: a waiver is good to the extent of the amount of payment received, and no further.
Download a blank Kansas lien waiver
Kansas 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.
A Kansas waiver form with no amount on it is arguing against itself
The statute measures the waiver against a number. If the form does not carry the payment amount on its face, there is nothing for the release to be measured against, and the argument about how far it reached has to be had with bank records instead of with the document.
Put the amount on every waiver you sign in Kansas. Then a waiver taken against a $12,000 payment releases $12,000 of lien rights, whatever figure the general contractor would prefer it to mean.
The same logic applies to the through date on a progress waiver. The statute caps the release by amount; the date is what stops it creeping forward into work the payment never covered.
Pay when paid is no defense to a lien claim
Subsection (c) closes the other common route. A pay when paid clause is no defense to a claim to enforce a mechanics lien or bond.
That is the sentence to have in hand when a general contractor says he cannot pay you because the owner has not paid him, and therefore you should hold off filing. The clause may govern when he owes you the money. It does not stop you enforcing the lien.
Where the rule lives
K.S.A. 16-1803 is headed Private construction contracts, payment provisions, provisions against public policy, void, unenforceable, failure to pay. Chapter 16 is Contracts and Promises, not the lien article.
Kansas is one of six states verified on this site that put the anti waiver rule outside the mechanics lien chapter, and one of four that reach the lien rights by cross reference. If you search the lien article for a waiver section in Kansas you will not find one.
Kansas prints one notice in the whole of article 11 and this is it: a supplier or subcontractor on residential work has no lien under 60-1103 unless a warning statement reached one of the owners first, and the statement's own words tell that owner the lien is coming unless they hold a waiver of lien signed by the supplier.
Which of the four to sign on a Kansas 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
Can a Kansas contract require a lien waiver before payment?
It can require a waiver as a condition for payment, but the waiver only works to the extent of the amount of payment received. K.S.A. 16-1803(b)(2) voids a provision that purports to waive, release or extinguish mechanics lien rights beyond that.
I signed a Kansas waiver for more than I was paid. What did it release?
Only the amount received. The statute makes the waiver effective to the extent of the amount of payment received, which is why the payment figure belongs on the face of the form.
Can pay when paid stop me enforcing a Kansas mechanics lien?
No. K.S.A. 16-1803(c) says such a provision is no defense to a claim to enforce a mechanic's lien or bond.
Where is the Kansas lien waiver statute?
K.S.A. 16-1803, in chapter 16, Contracts and Promises. It reaches lien rights by referring to article 11 of chapter 60, the mechanics lien article, rather than by naming the lien directly.
Work out what retainage is still outstanding before you sign a final 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 K.S.A. 16-1803 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.