Virginia lien waiver: an advance waiver is null and void, at every tier
Virginia protects the general contractor as well as everybody under him, which is unusual. Several states write their anti waiver rule to cover subcontractors and suppliers and quietly leave the general contractor to fend for himself. Virginia names all four tiers.
In Virginia nobody at any tier may waive or diminish lien rights in a contract signed before furnishing labor, services or materials, and a contract provision that tries to is null and void.
Read the law: Virginia Code section 43-3(C)codes.findlaw.com
Va. Code 43-3(C), word for wordFill it in online Type your details in and download it already filled in.A general contractor, subcontractor, lower-tier subcontractor, or material supplier may not waive or diminish his lien rights in a contract in advance of furnishing any labor, services, or materials. A provision that waives or diminishes a general contractor's, subcontractor's, lower-tier subcontractor's, or material supplier's lien rights in a contract executed prior to providing any labor, services, or materials is null and void.
Note the word diminish sitting next to waive. A clause that does not wipe out your lien but shrinks it, caps it, or makes it harder to perfect, is caught by the same sentence.
Download a blank Virginia lien waiver
Virginia 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 line Virginia draws is the start of the work
The trigger is furnishing labor, services or materials. A waiver clause in a contract signed before any of that happened is null and void. A waiver you sign later, for work already done and being paid for, is an ordinary release and it binds.
So the clause in the subcontract you signed in March does nothing to the lien for the work you performed in June. The waiver you hand over in June, against the June draw, is real and you should read it before signing.
Waive or diminish, and why the second word matters
Most states void a waiver. Virginia voids a waiver or a diminishment, which reaches further. A contract clause that caps your lien at a figure lower than the contract sum, or that strips your right to lien for retainage, or that adds a hurdle the statute does not impose, is a provision that diminishes lien rights and falls inside the same sentence.
That is worth knowing at contract review. In Virginia you do not have to prove a clause destroys the lien to get it struck, only that it shrinks it.
What the statute does not do
It does not give you a form. Virginia prescribes no statutory waiver wording, so the document you hand over at each draw is whatever the parties agree on, and it means exactly what it says.
It does not protect a waiver signed after the work started. Once you have furnished labor or materials, the protection of 43-3(C) is behind you and an unconditional waiver signed against an uncleared check is a real release. Sign the conditional form until the money is in the bank.
Which of the four to sign on a Virginia job
The statute protects you from a waiver signed before the work or before the payment. It does not protect you from one worded too broadly, or handed over against a check that later bounces, so the conditional form is still the right default.
Questions people ask
Can a Virginia subcontract require me to waive lien rights up front?
It can say so, but the provision is void. Va. Code 43-3(C) says a provision waiving or diminishing lien rights in a contract executed before providing any labor, services or materials is null and void, and it names general contractors, subcontractors, lower tier subcontractors and material suppliers.
Does the Virginia rule protect general contractors too?
Yes. Virginia is one of the states that names the general contractor in the statute alongside the subcontractor, lower tier subcontractor and material supplier. Several states protect only the tiers below the general.
What does diminish mean in Va. Code 43-3(C)?
It reaches a clause that shrinks your lien rather than removing it: a cap below the contract sum, a carve out for retainage, an extra condition on perfecting. Virginia voids an advance provision that waives or diminishes lien rights, so both are caught.
Is a Virginia lien waiver signed at a progress draw enforceable?
Yes. The protection in 43-3(C) covers a waiver in a contract executed before any labor, services or materials were furnished. A waiver signed at a draw, for work already performed, is a normal release and binds according to its terms, which is why the conditional version is the safer one to hand over.
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 Virginia Code section 43-3(C) 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.