Texas waiver of the list of subcontractors and suppliers, the four paragraphs the owner signs
Section 53.256(a) makes the original contractor hand the owner a written list of every subcontractor and supplier before construction starts, and keep it current inside fifteen days of anybody joining or leaving. Subsection (d) lets the owner waive all of it, but only in writing and only in words the legislature prints out in full. Four paragraphs, 87 words, not one blank, and the signature at the foot is the owner's rather than yours.
Subsection (d) says an owner may waive the right to receive the list only as provided by this subsection, that the waiver must be in writing, and that a separate waiver statement must be signed by the owner. Then it writes the waiver out, and the first sentence of it reads AN OWNER IS NOT REQUIRED TO WAIVE THE RIGHT GRANTED BY SECTION 53.256, PROPERTY CODE. You can print it and you can hand it over. You cannot sign it.
Read the law: Tex. Prop. Code 53.256statutes.capitol.texas.gov, 53.256 at FindLawcodes.findlaw.com, 53.001statutes.capitol.texas.gov, 53.251statutes.capitol.texas.gov, 53.254statutes.capitol.texas.gov and 53.255statutes.capitol.texas.gov
Download a blank Texas waiver of the list of subcontractors and suppliers
Word for word from the waiver printed in Tex. Prop. Code 53.256(d), subsection (d), all four paragraphs of it. There is nothing to fill in. The rule at the foot is the owner's signature, and it is drawn by this sheet rather than by the statute, which requires the signature but prints no line for it.
Free, no signup, no email, no watermark.
The waiver, word for word
Nothing here gets filled in. Section 53.256(d) prints all four paragraphs and says the waiver must read substantially similar to them. The signature rule under them belongs to the sheet, not to the statute, so the copy button leaves it out.
CopiedWAIVER OF THE LIST OF SUBCONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS. AN OWNER IS NOT REQUIRED TO WAIVE THE RIGHT GRANTED BY SECTION 53.256, PROPERTY CODE, TO RECEIVE FROM THE CONTRACTOR AN ORIGINAL OR UPDATED LIST OF SUBCONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS.
BY SIGNING THIS DOCUMENT, I AGREE TO WAIVE MY RIGHT TO RECEIVE FROM THE CONTRACTOR AN ORIGINAL OR UPDATED LIST OF SUBCONTRACTORS AND SUPPLIERS.
I UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, AFTER SIGNING THIS DOCUMENT, THIS WAIVER MAY NOT BE CANCELED AT A LATER DATE.
I HAVE VOLUNTARILY CONSENTED TO THIS WAIVER.
Owner signature
Date
This is the one form here you are not allowed to sign
Every other document on this site is signed by the contractor, the claimant or a notary. This one is signed by the customer. Subsection (d) is explicit about it: if the waiver is not included as a provision of the residential construction contract, the separate waiver statement must be signed by the owner. That is the whole reason the sheet exists as a separate sheet.
So the useful way to think about the page is that you are printing somebody else's decision, not filling in your own paperwork. There is nothing on it for you to complete, nothing for you to date, and no box anywhere with your company name in it. You print the four paragraphs, the owner reads them, and the owner either signs or does not.
The statute does not leave the owner unwarned either. Two of the four prescribed paragraphs argue against signing: the first says an owner is not required to waive the right granted by section 53.256, and the third says the waiver may not be canceled at a later date. The legislature put the warnings inside the document the owner is being asked to sign, which is a fair signal about how the section expects the conversation to go.
What the owner is actually giving up
Section 53.256(a) puts two duties on the original contractor for the construction of improvements under a residential construction contract. First, furnish the owner before the commencement of construction a written list that identifies by name, address and telephone number each subcontractor and supplier the contractor intends to use in the work to be performed. Second, provide the owner with an updated list not later than the 15th day after the date a subcontractor or supplier is added or deleted.
Subsection (d) reaches both. The words are the right to receive the list of subcontractors and suppliers or any updated information required by this section, so a signed waiver does not merely switch off the fifteen day updates and leave the opening list standing. It switches off the whole of subsection (a), which is why subsection (a) opens with the phrase except as provided by Subsection (d).
That matters most on a long remodel, where the list that was accurate in week one has very little to do with who is on site in month four. The updating duty is the expensive half of the section and it is the half the waiver is usually really about.
Two ways to do it, and only one of them needs this sheet
Subsection (d) says the waiver must be in writing and may be included in the residential construction contract. If it is a provision of the contract, the contract is the waiver and the owner's signature on the contract carries it. There is no second document and no second signature.
If it is not a provision of the contract, then it is a separate waiver statement, and that is what this sheet is. In that case the separate statement must be signed by the owner on its own. Pick one route and use it. A waiver clause buried in the contract plus a loose unsigned sheet in the packet is neither of the two things the subsection describes.
Note also the phrase only as provided by this subsection. The section does not recognize a waiver the owner gave you on the phone, in an email thread, or by never once asking for the list. Written, in the prescribed words, in the prescribed type, and signed if it is separate.
The type size and the bold face are part of the statute
Subsection (d) says the waiver must be conspicuously printed in at least 10-point bold-faced type. That is unusual enough to be worth flagging, because most prescribed wording in this chapter comes with no printing instruction at all. The disclosure statement in 53.255 is 1411 words long and prescribes neither a size nor a face.
It is not unique in Subchapter K, though. Subsection (b) of this same section requires the notice printed on the list itself to be conspicuously printed, stamped, or typed in a size equal to at least 10-point boldface or the computer equivalent, and 53.254(f) carries a similar instruction for the lien affidavit on a homestead.
The sheet on this page takes both halves. The four paragraphs print bold, and the document sets a ten point floor so nothing on it can come out smaller than the section allows. If you retype the waiver into your own contract template instead, that instruction travels with the words.
A signed waiver is not lien protection
Subsection (c) of this section is one sentence: the failure of a contractor to comply with this section does not invalidate a lien under this chapter, a contract lien, or a deed of trust. It is the same sentence 53.255(c) uses about the disclosure statement, and it means a missing list has no effect on your lien rights at all.
So if the reason you want the waiver signed is that you are worried about the list somehow costing you a lien, the worry is aimed at the wrong thing. Nothing in 53.256 is lien collateral. What the waiver buys you is administrative: no opening list to assemble before the first day, and no fifteen day clock running every time a supplier changes.
What a breach of subsection (a) is worth to the owner in some other proceeding is a question for a lawyer, not for this page. The section simply does not answer it, and the honest thing is to say so rather than to invent a penalty that is not written down.
Which jobs the section reaches
Section 53.256 sits in Subchapter K, which covers residential construction projects, and it is written for the construction of improvements under a residential construction contract. Section 53.001(9) defines that as a contract between an owner and a contractor in which the contractor agrees to construct or repair the owner's residence, including improvements appurtenant to the residence.
Residence is defined narrowly at 53.001(8). It is the real property and improvements for a single-family house, duplex, triplex, or quadruplex, or a unit in a multiunit structure whose individual units are transferred under a condominium arrangement, owned by one or more adult persons and used or intended to be used as a dwelling by one of the owners. The owner living there, or intending to, is part of the definition rather than an afterthought.
The duty is on the original contractor, which 53.001(7) defines as a person contracting with an owner either directly or through the owner's agent. A subcontractor owes no list to anybody under this section, so a subcontractor has no reason to hand this waiver to anyone either. Whether a particular property or a particular contract lands inside those definitions is the kind of question worth putting to a lawyer before you rely on the answer.
Questions people ask
Is there anything to fill in on this form?
No. Section 53.256(d) prints all four paragraphs complete, with no blanks in them. The only mark that belongs on the sheet is the owner's signature and the date, and the rule for those is drawn at the foot. That is why this page shows the wording and offers a copy button instead of a form builder.
Who signs it?
The owner, and only the owner. Subsection (d) says that if the waiver is not included as a provision of the residential construction contract, the separate waiver statement must be signed by the owner. There is no contractor signature anywhere in the section and the sheet does not print a line for one.
Where did the signature line come from, if the statute prints no blanks?
From this sheet, and the page says so rather than hiding it. Subsection (d) requires the owner's signature on a separate waiver statement but writes out only the four paragraphs, so a rule and a date line are added underneath them. The four paragraphs are sliced from the statute word for word. The rule is not part of the prescribed wording, and the copy button does not copy it.
What is the owner giving up exactly?
The right to receive the list of subcontractors and suppliers or any updated information required by section 53.256. That is both halves of subsection (a): the written list of names, addresses and telephone numbers due before construction commences, and the updated list due not later than the 15th day after a subcontractor or supplier is added or deleted.
Can the waiver just go in the contract instead?
Yes. Subsection (d) says the waiver must be in writing and may be included in the residential construction contract. If it is a provision of the contract then the contract carries it and no separate sheet or separate signature is needed. The separate waiver statement in this form is the alternative route, not an extra step on top of the contract clause.
Does a verbal waiver count?
No. Subsection (d) says an owner may waive the right only as provided by this subsection, and this subsection requires writing. An owner who never asks for the list has not waived anything, and neither has one who said it was fine over the phone.
Can the owner change their mind later?
The waiver itself answers that, in the third paragraph the owner signs: I UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, AFTER SIGNING THIS DOCUMENT, THIS WAIVER MAY NOT BE CANCELED AT A LATER DATE. The legislature put that sentence in the prescribed wording rather than leaving it to be explained afterwards.
What happens to my lien if I never furnish the list and never get a waiver?
Nothing under this chapter. Section 53.256(c) says the failure of a contractor to comply with this section does not invalidate a lien under this chapter, a contract lien, or a deed of trust. The duty in subsection (a) is still a duty, and what a breach of it is worth in some other proceeding is a lawyer's question, not one this section answers.
Does it have to be printed a particular way?
Yes, and this one is specific. Subsection (d) says the waiver must be conspicuously printed in at least 10-point bold-faced type. The sheet prints all four paragraphs bold and sets a ten point floor for the document. If you move the wording into your own contract template, that instruction moves with it.
Does a subcontractor ever hand this to anybody?
No. The list duty in subsection (a) is on the original contractor, which section 53.001(7) defines as a person contracting with an owner either directly or through the owner's agent. A subcontractor owes no list, so there is nothing for a subcontractor to ask an owner to waive.
Which jobs does section 53.256 apply to?
The construction of improvements under a residential construction contract, which section 53.001(9) defines as a contract between an owner and a contractor to construct or repair the owner's residence, including improvements appurtenant to it. Section 53.001(8) then defines residence narrowly, down to a single-family house, duplex, triplex, quadruplex or condominium unit that is used or intended to be used as a dwelling by one of the owners.
Is this the same thing as the disclosure statement?
No, though they are neighbors and they point at each other. The disclosure statement in section 53.255 is the fifteen paragraph notice the contractor owes the owner before the contract is signed, and one of its paragraphs tells the owner to get a list of subcontractors and suppliers. This waiver is the owner giving that list up. Both are on this site.
Does substantially similar mean I can reword it?
Subsection (d) says the waiver must read substantially similar to the words it prints, which is the same latitude the rest of this chapter gives. The safe reading is that the latitude exists for formatting and for the document around the wording, not as an invitation to paraphrase the four paragraphs. This sheet reproduces them exactly, which is the version nobody has to argue about.
Where does this wording come from?
It is sliced out of downloaded statute text byte for byte, never retyped, and keyed against a second publisher before it goes up. Section 53.256(d) is the source and the four paragraphs are in the order the subsection prints them. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
Once the job is running and you are getting paid on it, the paperwork that comes next is the waiver: see the Texas statutory lien waiver forms, and conditional vs unconditional lien waiver for which of the two to sign.