Lien Waiver Laws by State
Twelve states print the wording of a lien waiver inside their own statute, and on those jobs a form that does not follow it can be worth nothing. The other thirty nine print no form at all, which is not the same thing as having no rule. Here is every one of them in two tables, with the section that governs and a link to the page that quotes it.
Twelve states whose statute prints the wording
On a job in one of these, the form is not a matter of preference. Use the state's own, which is on its page below as a free blank PDF, and read the sentence quoted there about how closely it has to be followed, because that sentence is not the same in all twelve.
| State | Forms | What the statute calls them | Section |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | A.R.S. 33-1008 |
| 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 | Civil Code 8132 to 8138 |
| Florida | 3 | Waiver and Release of Lien Upon Progress Payment Waiver and Release of Lien Upon Final Payment Contractor's Final Payment Affidavit | Fla. Stat. 713.20 |
| Georgia | 3 | Waiver and Release of Lien and Payment Bond Rights Upon Interim Payment Waiver and Release of Lien and Payment Bond Rights Upon Final Payment Affidavit of Nonpayment | O.C.G.A. 44-14-366 |
| Massachusetts | 1 | Partial Waiver and Subordination of Lien | M.G.L. c.254 s.32 |
| Michigan | 4 | Partial Conditional Waiver Partial Unconditional Waiver Full Conditional Waiver Full Unconditional Waiver | MCL 570.1115 |
| Mississippi | 3 | Interim Waiver and Release Upon Payment Waiver and Release Upon Final Payment Affidavit of Nonpayment | Miss. Code 85-7-433 |
| Missouri | 1 | Unconditional Final Lien Waiver for Residential Real Property | RSMo 429.016 |
| 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 | NRS 108.2457 |
| 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 | Property Code 53.284 |
| Utah | 2 | Utah Conditional Waiver and Release Upon Progress Payment Utah Waiver and Release Upon Final Payment | Utah Code 38-1a-802 |
| Wyoming | 1 | Lien Waiver | Wyo. Stat. 29-10-101 |
The other thirty nine, where the statute prints no form
No form does not mean no rule. The question that decides whether your signature cost you anything is what the state does with a waiver you signed before the money arrived, and the answer comes out of the code in more than two flavours:
- A statute voids a waiver signed before payment, thirteen states: Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia. Several of these void it only inside a particular kind of contract, and the row below says which.
- No statute voids one, fourteen states: Alabama, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia. Here the word conditional on the form you signed is the whole of your protection.
- Narrower than either, twelve states: Alaska, Colorado, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, Nebraska, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Wisconsin. A waiver that binds but whose reach is capped, a contract clause that is void while the signature under it is not, a void that stops at residential work, a void that only reaches a waiver signing which is what won you the job, a statute that lets the waiver stand, a form that has to carry an extra statement, a general who cannot waive it on your behalf. One or two states each.
Read the row rather than the bucket. The second column below is that state's own sentence, and where it carries a condition the bucket cannot, the condition is the part that decides your job.
| State | A waiver signed before payment | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | The waiver ban is real, and it skips liens | Ala. Code 8-29-5 |
| Alaska | Waiver binds, but its reach is capped | AS 34.35.117 |
| Arkansas | The only waiver line warns the owner | Ark. Code 18-44-115 |
| Colorado | The form must carry a statement | C.R.S. 38-22-119 |
| Connecticut | Void, and it names the draw waiver | Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-158l |
| Delaware | Advance waiver is void | 25 Del. C. 2706 |
| District of Columbia | Your general cannot waive it for you | DC Code 40-303.02(a) |
| Hawaii | No waiver rule, and a judge lets the lien attach | HRS 507-43 |
| Idaho | Waivers are a homeowner's right, at his cost | Idaho Code 45-525 |
| Illinois | Void only if it bought you the job | 770 ILCS 60/1(d) |
| Indiana | Void, but not on residential work | IC 32-28-3-16 |
| Iowa | No waiver ban, but 572.33A makes you collect them | Iowa Code 572.4 |
| Kansas | Advance waiver is void | K.S.A. 16-1803 |
| Kentucky | Advance waiver is void | KRS 371.405 |
| Louisiana | Nothing voids it, and it is a privilege | La. R.S. 9:4823 |
| Maine | No waiver rule, and the lawsuit is the lien | 10 MRS 3252 |
| Maryland | Void in subcontracts only | Md. Real Prop. 9-113 |
| Minnesota | Void, plus a 5% retainage cap | Minn. Stat. 337.10 |
| Montana | The clause is void, the signature is not | MCA 28-2-723 |
| Nebraska | Valid before payment, and it says so | Neb. Rev. Stat. 52-144 |
| New Hampshire | No waiver rule, and no lien to record | RSA 447:5 |
| New Jersey | Advance waiver is void | N.J.S.A. 2A:44A-38 |
| New Mexico | The waiver ban was drafted, then struck out | NMSA 48-2-10 |
| New York | Advance waiver is void | N.Y. Lien Law 34 |
| North Carolina | Void only if it bought you the job | N.C.G.S. 44A-12(f) |
| North Dakota | A valid waiver and the lien is not allowed | NDCC 35-27-02 |
| Ohio | No statute voids an advance waiver | ORC 4113.62 |
| Oklahoma | The money is a trust fund, waiver or not | 42 O.S. 153 |
| Oregon | No statute voids it, two can require it | ORS 87.025 |
| Pennsylvania | Residential waiver is allowed outright | 49 P.S. 1401 |
| Rhode Island | Waive after the payment, never before it | RIGL 34-28-1(b) |
| South Carolina | Advance waiver is void | S.C. Code 29-7-20(2) |
| South Dakota | Endorse the joint check and the lien is gone | SDCL 44-9A-4 |
| Tennessee | Advance waiver is void | T.C.A. 66-11-124 |
| Vermont | Advance waiver is void | 9 V.S.A. 1921(f) |
| Virginia | Advance waiver is void | Va. Code 43-3(C) |
| Washington | No statute voids an advance waiver | RCW 60.04.035 |
| West Virginia | No statute voids an advance waiver | W. Va. Code 38-2 |
| Wisconsin | The clause is void, the signature is not | Wis. Stat. 779.05 |
Read the second column before you read the first
The table people expect is a list of which states have a form. The column that actually costs money is the other one. A general contractor who hands out an unconditional waiver on the first of the month and pays on the fifteenth is doing something that is void in thirteen of these states and perfectly effective in fourteen of them, and the paper looks identical either way. In the second group the only protection you have is the word conditional on the form you signed.
That is also why this site keeps a page per state instead of one chart. A one line answer is enough to tell you which kind of state you are in. It is not enough to sign anything on, and the section it came from is on the state's own page with the sentence quoted.
What this table is not
It carries no deadline, no dollar threshold and no percentage, for any state, on purpose. Those numbers differ state by state, they are the part that changes when a legislature moves, and a chart that prints them is the single most copied and least checked thing in this whole subject. Where a number is real it belongs next to the section it was read out of, which is the state page.
It also says nothing about preliminary notices. Missing a notice window usually does not cost a late fee, it costs the lien right that a waiver is about in the first place, and it is a different set of rules with different dates: construction notice forms by state.
How the table is built
Nothing on this page was typed into it. The form names in the first table are the titles the statutes themselves use, pulled from the same file that prints the forms. The sentence in the second table is the same one line each state page prints under its own heading, and the counts in the list above it are counted at build time rather than written down. If a state's entry changes, this page changes with it, and it cannot quietly disagree with the page it links to.
Questions people ask
Which states print a lien waiver form in their own statute?
Twelve: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, Texas, Utah, Wyoming. Between them the statutes print thirty four separate forms, because most of those states print one for each combination of conditional or unconditional and progress or final. Every one of them is on this site, word for word, as a free blank PDF.
Is a lien waiver valid if I sign it before I have been paid?
That depends on the state and the split is nowhere near even. Of the thirty nine states that print no form, thirteen void a waiver signed in advance, fourteen have no statute that voids one at all, and the remaining twelve land somewhere in between, which is why the second table has more than two answers in it. Several of the thirteen void it only in a particular kind of contract, and the row for each state carries that qualifier in its own words.
In a state that prints the form, do I have to use that exact wording?
Each of those states says it differently and the difference is the whole point. One says a waiver is only effective if it is on a statutory form, another says it has to substantially comply, another says nobody may require a different form but a different form you sign voluntarily still binds you. That sentence is quoted on each state's own page with its section number beside it, which is the only place worth reading it.
Does this page tell me when a preliminary notice is due in my state?
No, and it deliberately does not try. A waiver is signed at a payment and a notice goes out long before there has been one, often within days of your first day on site. That is a separate question with its own deadlines, and the statutory notice forms are on the construction notice forms page rather than here.
Are the forms behind these links free?
Yes. Every state page has that state's wording as a blank PDF and a filled one you can generate in the browser. No signup, no email, no watermark, and nothing you type is uploaded anywhere.