Oregon lien waiver: the statute does not void it, it demands it
Most states tell you that a lien waiver signed before you were paid is worth nothing. Oregon says the opposite thing, twice. No section of Oregon law voids an advance waiver, and two separate sections can oblige you to hand one over, on wording the statute never controls.
No Oregon statute voids a lien waiver signed before payment. The Oregon sections that do mention waivers run the other way. ORS 87.025(5) obliges a paid materials supplier to execute one on demand, and ORS 701.630 says the waiver follows the subcontract or purchase order terms. The duty to sign is statutory. The wording is not.
Read the law: Oregon Revised Statutes section 87.025codes.findlaw.com
ORS 87.025(5), the duty to execute a waiverFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.Upon payment and acceptance of the amount due to the supplier of materials or supplies, and upon demand of the person making payment, the supplier shall execute a waiver of all lien rights as to materials or supplies for which payment has been made.
This is the only place the Oregon lien chapter uses the word waiver on a construction job, and it is an obligation on the person being paid rather than a protection for him. Read what it leaves out: nothing about what the waiver may contain, and nothing about a waiver signed before the money arrives.
Download a blank Oregon lien waiver
Oregon 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 Oregon has no anti waiver statute
Around thirty states carry a section declaring that a waiver of lien rights signed before payment is against public policy and void. Oregon carries no such section. The construction lien lives in ORS chapter 87, which grants the lien, fixes the notice and filing deadlines and sets out how a lien gets bonded off under ORS 87.076. None of it voids a waiver signed in advance.
The section that does void construction contract terms is ORS 701.640, and it is worth reading for how narrow it is. It voids a clause making the contract subject to another state's law, a clause forcing the dispute into another state, and a clause saying you may not suspend or terminate when you are not paid on time. Lien waivers are not on that list, and that list is the whole of the section.
A search will usually put ORS 87.705 in front of you with the word waiver attached to it. That section belongs to the agricultural produce lien and concerns a farmer's claim on crops. It has nothing to do with a construction lien, and citing it in a payment argument will cost you the argument.
What ORS 87.025 actually requires
ORS 87.025(5) is the Oregon section that mentions waivers, and it runs in the direction almost nobody expects. It does not protect the party signing. It obliges him. On payment and acceptance of the amount due, and on the demand of whoever made the payment, a supplier of materials has to execute a waiver of lien rights for the materials that have been paid for.
Read the scope closely, because it is doing real work. The duty reaches a supplier of materials or supplies, and it reaches the amount already paid. It is not a general rule that everyone on the job must sign whatever paper is put in front of them, and it is not a rule about what that paper may say. The statute names the duty and then stops.
That silence is the Oregon problem in one line. There is a statutory duty to hand over a waiver and no statutory limit on the waiver's wording, so a document that reaches well past the payment it was given for is enforceable on its own terms.
ORS 701.630 hands the wording to your subcontract
ORS 701.630 sits in the prompt payment sections and says it plainly. Each subcontractor or material supplier must provide an appropriate waiver of any lien for labor, equipment, services, materials or products in accordance with subcontract or purchase order terms and conditions. The words that matter are the ones at the end. The subcontract writes the waiver.
The same section lets the original contractor or subcontractor require that waivers of lien be notarized, so a demand for a notary on an Oregon job is a statutory right on their side and not the other party being difficult. It also runs money downstream on a clock, with an original contractor paying its subcontractors and suppliers within seven days of being paid by the owner, and it caps retainage held out of a billing at the percentage the contract actually allows.
None of that constrains the release language. Oregon regulates when you get paid and when you must sign. What you sign stays a matter between you and the contract.
What to do about it on an Oregon job
Sign conditional, never unconditional, until the money has cleared your bank. Where no statute voids a bad waiver the form is the entire protection, and a conditional waiver that takes effect when the payment clears is a different document from one that takes effect on signature.
Settle the waiver language at the subcontract stage, because ORS 701.630 is going to point straight back at it. If the subcontract attaches an unconditional final waiver as the form to be used at every draw, that is the form you have agreed to produce, and the first draw is far too late to start arguing about it.
Put the amount and the through date on every waiver you sign, and expect to notarize. ORS 87.025(5) obliges you to release lien rights only for materials that have been paid for, so a waiver reaching past that payment is reaching past anything the statute asked of you, purely by agreement.
Working in Oregon and not in privity with the owner? Sign nothing before you have sent the notice of right to a lien. ORS 87.021 makes it a condition of the lien itself rather than a courtesy, and ORS 87.021(3)(a) says a lien may be perfected only to the extent the notice was given. It also reaches backwards only eight working days from the day it is mailed, so a waiver signed on a job where the notice was never sent is waiving something that may not exist.
Which of the four to sign on an Oregon job
Oregon has no statute voiding a bad waiver and two that can require you to produce one, so the form is the whole of the protection. A conditional waiver ties the release to the payment clearing. An unconditional one releases on signature, paid or not, and ORS 701.630 means your subcontract can name that as the form you already agreed to use.
Questions people ask
Is an Oregon lien waiver signed before payment valid?
Yes, as far as any Oregon statute is concerned. No section of the Oregon Revised Statutes voids a waiver of construction lien rights signed in advance of payment. ORS 701.640 is the section that voids construction contract terms, and it reaches choice of law clauses, out of state venue clauses and clauses barring you from suspending work over late payment. It does not reach waivers.
Does Oregon law require me to sign a lien waiver?
It can. ORS 87.025(5) says that on payment and acceptance of the amount due, and on the demand of the person making the payment, a supplier of materials or supplies shall execute a waiver of lien rights as to the materials paid for. ORS 701.630 goes wider and says each subcontractor or material supplier must provide an appropriate waiver in accordance with the subcontract or purchase order terms.
Does Oregon prescribe a lien waiver form?
No. There is no statutory Oregon waiver wording, which is exactly why the form is worth choosing with care. A conditional waiver on progress payment states the amount, the through date and the condition that the payment clears, and it is effective on those terms because no Oregon statute overrides them.
Can an Oregon contractor make me notarize a lien waiver?
Yes. ORS 701.630 says in terms that the original contractor or subcontractor may require that waivers of lien be notarized. That is a right the statute gives them rather than a negotiating position, so plan for a notary instead of treating the request as an obstacle to the 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 Oregon Revised Statutes section 87.025 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.