Free Unconditional Waiver on Final Payment Form
Signed AFTER the final payment has cleared. It gives up all lien rights on the job, permanently. Never sign this before the money is in the bank.
An unconditional waiver takes effect the moment you sign it, whether you were paid or not. A check in your hand is not cleared funds. If you have not been paid yet, use the conditional version instead.
Download the blank template
Print it and sign by hand, or open it in Word and type.
Free, no signup, no email, no watermark.
This releases the whole job
A final waiver gives up your lien rights for everything on that property, not just the last payment. Retainage, an unpaid change order, a disputed extra: if it is not written into the exceptions box before you sign, you have released it.
Check the number on the form against what you are actually being paid. If they do not match, fix the form.
What this form must contain
- Whether it is conditional or unconditional, which decides if it takes effect before or after the money clears
- Whether it covers a progress payment or the final payment
- The claimant, meaning you or your company
- The customer, meaning whoever is paying you, which may be the general contractor and not the owner
- The job location, written precisely enough to identify the property
- The through date, because a progress waiver only releases work up to a specific day
- The payment amount, and any disputed or unpaid amounts listed as exceptions
The other three waiver forms
Questions people ask
When do I sign a unconditional waiver on final payment?
Only after the payment has cleared your bank account. It is effective from the moment of signing regardless of whether you were paid, so signing it early gives up rights for nothing.
Does it need to be notarized?
In most states, no. A few states require notarization for certain waiver types and some general contractors ask for it as policy. Check your state and read what your contract requires.
What goes in the exceptions box?
Every amount still owed to you on that job: retainage, disputed change orders, pending extras. Anything not listed there is released when you sign.
Is this form valid in my state?
It follows the structure common to most states. Twelve states prescribe the wording of a waiver in their own statute: California, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Missouri, Wyoming, Massachusetts, Michigan and Mississippi. On a job in one of those, use that state's form instead, free on this site. This is not legal advice.
More detail on the difference is in conditional vs unconditional lien waiver.