North Carolina lien waiver: void only if it was the price of getting the job
North Carolina writes the same test Illinois does, almost word for word, and it is a narrower test than the charts suggest. The waiver that is void is the one you gave to win the work. The waiver you sign at a draw is not described by the section at all.
An agreement to waive the right to file a claim of lien on real property, or to serve a notice of claim of lien upon funds, made in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract, is against public policy and unenforceable in North Carolina.
Read the law: N.C. Gen. Stat. section 44A-12(f)codes.findlaw.com
N.C. Gen. Stat. 44A-12(f), word for wordFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.An agreement to waive the right to file a claim of lien on real property granted under this Part, or an agreement to waive the right to serve a notice of claim of lien upon funds granted under Part 2 of this Article, which agreement is in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of any contract, either expressed or implied, for the making of an improvement upon real property under this Article is against public policy and is unenforceable.
Note that it names two different rights. The claim of lien on real property is the lien against the house. The notice of claim of lien upon funds is the one that reaches money still sitting above you in the payment chain. A waiver given to win work cannot take either.
Download a blank North Carolina lien waiver
North Carolina 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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The lien upon funds is the one most subcontractors forget
North Carolina gives a lower tier contractor two separate tools. One attaches to the property. The other, the lien upon funds, attaches to money the owner or the general contractor still owes upward in the chain, and it is served rather than filed.
Section 44A-12(f) protects both from an up front waiver. That matters because a general contractor's waiver clause often names only the lien on real property, and a subcontractor who reads only that word assumes the funds claim survives. Under this section neither can be taken from you as the price of the job.
What is not protected is the draw waiver
The trigger is in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of any contract. A waiver handed over in exchange for a progress payment fails that test, which means the statute is silent about it.
So on a North Carolina job the form carries the weight. Conditional waiver at every draw, with the payment amount and the through date on it. Unconditional only after the money is in the account. Everything still owed written into the exceptions before a final waiver is signed.
Release after the fact is a different thing
Subordinating a lien, or releasing one you have already claimed, is not what this subsection addresses. Those are bargains struck over a lien that already exists.
The line to watch is timing plus consideration. If you are signing because you want the job, the section protects you. If you are signing because a check is coming, it does not, and the wording of the document is your only protection.
Not paid on a North Carolina job? The waiver is the end of the story and the lien is what you have left. G.S. 44A-12(b) gives you 120 days from the last labor or material to file a claim of lien on real property with the clerk of superior court in every county the property sits in, and G.S. 44A-12(d) says it cannot be amended afterwards. Fill that one in here.
Which of the four to sign on a North Carolina job
North Carolina voids the waiver that bought you the job and stops there, so the paper you sign at a draw is doing its own work. The conditional form ties the release to the payment clearing. The unconditional form releases on signature whether the money arrives or not.
Questions people ask
Are lien waivers legal in North Carolina?
Mostly yes. N.C. Gen. Stat. 44A-12(f) voids only an agreement to waive a claim of lien on real property or a notice of claim of lien upon funds made in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract.
Does the North Carolina rule cover the lien upon funds?
Yes, expressly. The subsection names both the right to file a claim of lien on real property and the right to serve a notice of claim of lien upon funds, so an up front waiver cannot take either one.
Can my general contractor require a waiver before awarding the subcontract?
The clause will not hold. An agreement to waive those rights in anticipation of and in consideration for the award, expressed or implied, is against public policy and unenforceable in North Carolina.
What protects me at a North Carolina progress payment?
The form itself. Section 44A-12(f) does not reach a waiver given for a payment, so sign a conditional waiver that takes effect when the payment clears rather than an unconditional one that releases on signature.
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 N.C. Gen. Stat. section 44A-12(f) 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.