Ohio lien waiver: what the law actually voids, and what it does not
Most states tell you that a lien waiver signed before you were paid is worthless. Ohio does not say that. There is no Ohio statute voiding an advance waiver of a mechanics lien, which means in Ohio the paper you signed is the paper you are stuck with.
Ohio has no statute that voids a lien waiver signed in advance of payment. What ORC 4113.62 voids is narrower: a provision waiving rights under a surety bond, and a provision that treats final payment as a waiver of a claim the other side already has notice of.
Read the law: Ohio Revised Code section 4113.62codes.findlaw.com
ORC 1311.21, on taking a note as securityFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.in the absence of a written agreement that the taking of such note or such security is a waiver of the lien
That clause is usually quoted to show that taking a promissory note does not waive your lien. Read it the other way and it is the Ohio problem in nine words: a written agreement that waives the lien does work.
Download a blank Ohio lien waiver
Ohio 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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Why Ohio is the exception
Thirty states have a section that says an advance waiver of lien rights is against public policy and void. Ohio has no such section, and it is not for want of looking. Ohio Revised Code chapter 1311 creates the mechanics lien and chapter 4113 governs what a construction contract may not contain. Neither voids a waiver signed before payment.
ORC 1311.011 is the section people point at, but it is the residential section and it protects the homeowner, not the contractor. It caps what a subcontractor can lien for when the owner has already paid the general contractor. It says nothing about waivers.
What ORC 4113.62 does void
Three things, and none of them is a lien waiver. A provision that waives rights under a surety bond is void as against public policy. A provision that makes final payment operate as a waiver of a claim, once the other side has given notice of that claim, is void. And a pay if paid clause cannot be used to stop a claimant filing in time to keep its lien rights from expiring while it waits for money that has not arrived.
That last one matters more than it sounds. It means an Ohio subcontractor waiting on a pay if paid clause can still file to preserve the lien, and the clause is no defense to the filing.
What to do about it on an Ohio job
Sign conditional, never unconditional, until the money has actually cleared your bank. In a state with no anti waiver statute the form is the only protection there is, and a conditional waiver that says in terms that it takes effect when the payment clears is a different document from one that takes effect on signature.
Read the contract before the waiver. In Ohio an advance waiver clause buried in a subcontract is enforceable, so the place to catch it is at the contract stage, not at the first draw.
Put the amount and the through date on every waiver you sign. Without them a progress waiver can be read as releasing more than the payment it was given for, and Ohio has no statute to argue against that reading.
Working under somebody else on an Ohio job where the owner recorded a notice of commencement? Long before any waiver matters, ORC 1311.05 gives you twenty-one days from your first day to serve a notice of furnishing on the designee that document names and on the original contractor. Miss it and the lien behind your waiver was never preserved. Fill that one in here.
Not been paid on an Ohio job and running out of patience? The document that actually puts a lien on the property is an affidavit for mechanics' lien, sworn in front of a notary and filed with the county recorder, and ORC 1311.06(B) gives you sixty days from your last day on a one- or two-family dwelling and seventy-five on everything else. Fill that one in here.
Which of the four to sign on an Ohio job
In a state with no anti waiver statute this choice is the entire protection. Sign the conditional version and the release is tied to the payment clearing. Sign the unconditional one and the release happens on signature, paid or not, with no statute to argue against it.
Questions people ask
Is an Ohio lien waiver signed before payment valid?
Yes, as far as any Ohio statute is concerned. There is no section of the Ohio Revised Code that voids a waiver of mechanics lien rights signed in advance of payment. That is the opposite of the rule in about thirty states and it is why the form you sign matters more in Ohio than it does in most places.
Can my Ohio subcontract make me waive lien rights up front?
Nothing in the Ohio Revised Code voids such a clause. ORC 4113.62 voids a clause waiving surety bond rights and a clause treating final payment as a waiver of a noticed claim, but it does not reach an advance waiver of the lien itself. Negotiate the clause out at contract stage.
Does taking a promissory note waive an Ohio lien?
No, not by itself. ORC 1311.21 says taking a note or other security is not a waiver in the absence of a written agreement that it is. The trap is in the exception: if the paperwork says taking the note waives the lien, it does.
Does Ohio require a particular lien waiver form?
No. Ohio prescribes no statutory wording, so any clearly written waiver is effective according to its own terms. That is a reason to use a form that states its conditions plainly rather than one that leaves them to argument.
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 Ohio Revised Code section 4113.62 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.