Fort Lauderdale, FL · Member since 2016 · 146 posts · 27 votes
I saw that my state provides a template for a lien waiver that can be presented to the GC at the time of progress payments/invoices. I assume industry standard is to have the GC only sign the one lien waiver form at the end of his services, but am curious.
Do you personally only go through this once, or do you provide your contractors with this multiple times throughout the flip? (The form states that they do not have the right to place a lien for services provided/completed work up until the date that you sign that particular form).
This is a good question. I recently thought about having my contractors and subs sign this as well. I suppose if it were me and I was going to put something like this in place, I'd have each sub sign off on their own form at the end. I'm curious what other people do....
@Will Barnard -- Might you be able to point us in the direction of an example lien waiver or do people tend to have them drawn up by their attorneys? Within the next 3 days, I am nearing the end of one part of a project I subbed out so I need to make a decision soon.
@Will Barnard -- Might you be able to point us in the direction of an example lien waiver or do people tend to have them drawn up by their attorneys? Within the next 3 days, I am nearing the end of one part of a project I subbed out so I need to make a decision soon.
You can get one from your state contractors board or simply google one. When it comes to contracts, I don't usually recommend going the Google route but in this case, it is a very simple form and not much too it, though I do recommend you start with the state contractors board first.
Do partial releases with each draw, that prevents surprises at the end (you owe the gc $5k on his final draw, and you have subs that are owed $10k). This is why the procedure/forms are in place.
@Wayne Brooks So you're suggesting to have the GC and the subs sign lien waivers each time a payment is issued for the work done leading up to the payment? Or just the GC?
Do partial releases with each draw, that prevents surprises at the end (you owe the gc $5k on his final draw, and you have subs that are owed $10k). This is why the procedure/forms are in place.
Good point Wayne, anytime the total amount is significant you should get partial releases as you go. If the sub contractor scope of work totals $2000 and you paid $1000 deposit, I'm not going to worry about a partial release for such insignificant amounts but that is me personally.
@Will Barnard -- Might you be able to point us in the direction of an example lien waiver or do people tend to have them drawn up by their attorneys? Within the next 3 days, I am nearing the end of one part of a project I subbed out so I need to make a decision soon.
They are typically found in the statues for your particular state. :)
It hasn't been written here yet but the partial waivers, final waivers should be presented to the owner for payment WITH the sworn and notarized contractors affidavit. Let's say an owner is one half into a renovation. The sworn contractors affidavit then spells out all the expenses and the GC overhead and profit. This is really the blueprint for the money. You have drawings for the job and sworn statements for YOUR money. Partial waivers from subs, materials delivered by vendors, and the GC waivers accompany the affidavits. It's easy to understand: if they are working on your property, delivering to your property, they have lien rights. When you pay, you want them to waive rights in the amounts presented on the contractors sworn statements. Get the forms from an architect, this is their business. Hire the architect, too, to design and administer the work. This business goes back to before the year 1900.