Guides for GC document teams
Plain-language explainers for the people who chase subcontractor paperwork at a general contractor: lien waivers, certificates of insurance, W-9s and the rest of the sub’s file. Every reference states its sources and the date it was compiled.
Which form, and when it goes out
The two questions that decide a waiver: whether payment has landed, and whether this release covers one period or the whole job.
Conditional vs. unconditional
The four waiver types, where each belongs in a payment run, and which blanks the claimant fills in rather than the sender. Carries the prescribed statutory notice text for the states that print one.
Closing out a draw
Sequence conditional and unconditional waivers around the payment, handle retainage and joint checks, and return to the unsigned rows without rebuilding the draw.
Do lien waivers need to be notarized?
Which states put a notary block or a witness line on their waiver form, which never did, and how e-signatures fit — one table for all 50 states and DC.
Reading the paper, and chasing the gap
An ACORD 25 is a one-page summary of policies it does not contain. These cover what it can tell you, what to do when it falls short or runs out, and how to ask for it.
How to read an ACORD 25
A box-by-box read of the insured, producer, policy dates, limits and endorsements — and what the one-page certificate cannot prove on its own.
When a certificate comes back short
Work out whether the problem is the paper or the policy, send the exact difference with the sample emails, and keep a clean record while the replacement is chased.
When a sub's COI expires mid-project
Renewal in progress, true lapse or cancellation: how to tell, what a binder covers, and what to record before the renewal comes in.
COI request email templates
Copy-and-paste requests for the sub and the broker, renewal reminders, missing endorsements, a final notice, plus lien waiver and W-9 requests.
Premium audits and your subs' certificates
Why a workers' comp or GL audit charges you for uninsured subs, the certificates auditors accept, and the routine that avoids the surprise bill.
What to collect, and when
The full document list for a subcontractor, from award to closeout, and the tax form to get before the first payment.
Documents to collect from subcontractors
A stage-by-stage checklist — before award, before mobilization, at every pay application and at closeout — with what to check on each document.
W-9s from subcontractors
When to request one, what to do when a sub won't send it, backup withholding, and the 1099-NEC threshold for 2026 payments.
Look it up by state or by trade
The two long-form references the guides above point into. Both are free, both cite their sources, and both carry the date they were compiled.
Lien waiver requirements by state
A page for every state and DC. 26 are flagged for a prescribed form or state-specific handling, each with the statute citation it rests on; the rest state plainly that the reference identifies nothing state-specific.
COI requirements by trade
Typical certificate minimums by construction trade as a starting point — the figures we see most often, before your company and its advisors set their own.
Comparisons and integrations
Side-by-side comparisons, and how SubLien works with Procore and QuickBooks.
Reading about it is not the same as knowing who still owes you one.
SubLien requests lien waivers, COIs, W‑9s and vendor documents from your subs, chases the ones who go quiet, and keeps each one on the sub's record.