Maryland lien waiver: void in a subcontract, and nothing protects the general contractor
Maryland's rule is narrower than the charts make it look, and the narrowness is the point. Section 9-113 governs contracts between a contractor and a subcontractor. If you are the general contractor signing with the homeowner, this section is not yours.
A Maryland executory contract between a contractor and a subcontractor may not waive or require the subcontractor to waive the right to claim a mechanics lien or to sue on a contractor's bond, and may not use a pay when paid clause to reach the same result. A provision made in violation of the section is void.
Read the law: Md. Code Real Prop. section 9-113codes.findlaw.com
Md. Code Real Prop. 9-113(c)Fill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.Any provision of a contract made in violation of this section is void as against the public policy of this State.
Subsections (a) and (b) are where the limit lives. Both are addressed to an executory contract between a contractor and any subcontractor, which leaves the owner to contractor contract outside the section entirely.
Download a blank Maryland lien waiver
Maryland 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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If you are a subcontractor, you are covered twice
Subsection (a) voids a provision in the subcontract that waives, or requires you to waive, the right to claim a mechanics lien or the right to sue on a contractor's bond.
Subsection (b) closes the back door. A pay when paid provision in that same class of contract may not abrogate or waive those two rights either. So a general contractor cannot get by conditioning your payment on his own, and then arguing the lien went with it.
Both rights are named separately for a reason. The bond claim is what you have on public work and on bonded private work where there is no lien to file, and a statute that protected only the lien would leave that side open.
If you are the general contractor, this section is not yours
Section 9-113 reaches contracts between a contractor and a subcontractor. The contract you sign with the property owner is not in that class, so a waiver clause in it is not void under this section.
That is the practical gap on a Maryland residential job. A remodeler signing a homeowner's contract, or a builder signing a developer's form, gets no protection here. Read the waiver clause at contract stage, because there is no statute waiting to strike it afterwards.
And at each draw, hand over a conditional waiver rather than an unconditional one. When the statute does not tie the release to the payment, the form has to.
Which of the four to sign on a Maryland 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 lien waiver clause in a Maryland subcontract enforceable?
No. Md. Code Real Prop. 9-113(a) voids a provision in an executory contract between a contractor and a subcontractor that waives or requires a waiver of the right to claim a mechanics lien or to sue on a contractor's bond, and (c) makes any provision in violation of the section void as against public policy.
Does Maryland void pay when paid clauses?
In that same class of contract, yes, to the extent the clause reaches lien or bond rights. Md. Code Real Prop. 9-113(b) says a pay when paid provision in a contractor to subcontractor contract may not abrogate or waive the right to claim a mechanics lien or to sue on a contractor's bond.
I am a general contractor in Maryland. Does 9-113 protect me?
Not in your contract with the owner. The section is addressed to executory contracts between a contractor and a subcontractor. A waiver clause in an owner's contract is outside it, which is why that clause has to be negotiated before signing.
Does Maryland prescribe a lien waiver form?
No. Maryland sets no statutory waiver wording, so the document you sign means what it says. A conditional waiver with the amount and the through date is the safer one to hand over at a draw.
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 Md. Code Real Prop. section 9-113 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.