What the conditional actually conditions on
A conditional waiver usually states that the release becomes effective when the identified payment is received. “Received” can depend on the form’s words and applicable law; a check being printed, mailed, deposited, or finally collected are not interchangeable events.
The document should identify the payment and scope clearly enough for the parties to match it later:
- Claimant or subcontractor.
- Customer or hiring party.
- Project and property.
- Payment amount.
- Through-date or payment period.
- Progress or final scope.
- Retainage, disputed work, extras, or other reservations when the form permits them.
An unconditional waiver states the release without that payment condition. That makes timing important. A batch process that is appropriate for conditional requests can be dangerous for unconditional forms if it asks thirty vendors to attest to payment before the underlying facts are true.
Build the draw from one source list
Start with one project, one payment period, and the vendors included in that draw. For every row, keep the source amount and its reference: subcontract, purchase order, pay application, direct-cost bill, or a manual draw entered by the customer.
Do not force every payment into a contract record. A direct cost can be real even when no PO exists. The record should say what source was used rather than inventing a contract number to satisfy the software.
Before generating documents, resolve:
- Vendor and signer contact.
- Project and state.
- Amount and through-date.
- Conditional progress or conditional final.
- Retainage and known reservations.
- Whether a customer-approved state or company template is available for that workflow.
The goal is not “send all” as quickly as possible. It is to review a stable list once, preview every document, then send the approved batch without retyping each row.
Match the amount and through-date before sending
The amount answers “what payment is this tied to?” The through-date answers “what work period does this request cover?” If either field comes from a stale pay application, the sub may be asked to sign a document that does not match its own records.
Use the draw’s source document as the authority for the draft. If the customer changes an amount after generation, regenerate or invalidate the draft rather than editing a detached PDF. Keep the original source reference so a later reviewer can see why the amount appeared.
Final does not merely mean “last payment this month.” A final waiver is scoped to the job or contracted work through completion. Confirm that the project, subcontract, disputed items, retainage, and unfinished extras match the company’s final-closeout decision.
Joint checks: who signs what, and for how much
A joint check names two payees, usually your sub and one of its suppliers or sub-subs. A check payable to both of them, not to either one, can be negotiated only by both of them, so it needs both endorsements (UCC §3-110(d)). Each payee that has lien rights signs its own waiver, because a waiver releases only the signer’s rights. One payee’s endorsement does not stand in for the other payee’s waiver.
- The sub’s waiver covers the full check. The whole check is a payment on its subcontract, even though part of it passes to the supplier.
- The supplier’s or sub-sub’s waiver is for its share, the amount the joint check agreement gives it. Its waiver names the sub as its customer, because that is who it contracted with.
California and Arizona print the check on the form
California’s conditional progress and final forms (Civil Code §8132 and §8136) carry three lines: Maker of Check, Amount of Check, and Check Payable to. The waiver is effective only when the claimant receives payment from the bank the check is drawn on.
Arizona’s conditional forms (A.R.S. §33-1008(D)(1) and (D)(3)) ask for the same three facts: the maker of the check, the amount of the check, and the “payee or payees of check.” The statute calls for these forms when the claimant is not paid in exchange for the waiver, or when “a single payee check or joint payee check is given in exchange for the waiver and release.” Under §33-1008(A), evidence of payment on a conditional release can be the claimant’s endorsement on a single or joint payee check that the bank it was drawn on has paid, or the claimant’s written acknowledgment of payment.
Fill these lines from the check itself:
- Maker: whoever writes the check. On a normal draw that is you. On an owner-funded or lender-funded check, it is the owner or the lender.
- Amount: the face amount of the check. The line asks for the check, not the payee’s share, so both payees’ conditional waivers show the same figure. The split lives in the joint check agreement.
- Payee: every name printed on the check.
State details are on the California and Arizona pages.
The split reaches the waivers after the check clears. California’s unconditional progress form (§8134) states the progress payment “the claimant has received,” and Arizona’s states the sum the signer “has been paid and has received.” On those forms the sub states the full check, paid on its subcontract, and the supplier states the share it actually received.
South Dakota has its own joint-check route. Under SDCL 44-9A-2 through 44-9A-4, a party furnishing materials, supplies, equipment or services to the contractor or sub expressly waives its lien rights, to the extent of and as of the date of the check, when it endorses a joint check naming it and the contractor or sub, and signs a separate written waiver agreement with the check’s maker. The back of the check must carry a conspicuous provision that refers to that agreement. If another payee releases the check money to the contractor or sub, the waiver still stands; that risk is the furnishing party’s (SDCL 44-9A-5). The chapter adds this route to the other ways a lien can be waived; it does not replace them (SDCL 44-9A-1).
Retainage: left out of progress waivers, released on the final
Retainage (also called retention) is the part of each progress payment you hold back until the sub’s work is done. A progress waiver should not release it, because the sub has not been paid it yet. The final waiver does release it, so the final belongs with the payment that includes the retention.
The statutory forms build this in:
| State form | Progress waiver | Final waiver |
|---|---|---|
| California, Civ. Code §§8132, 8134, 8136 | Exceptions list “(1) Retentions.” and “(2) Extras for which the claimant has not received payment.” | The conditional final’s only exception is “Disputed claims for extras” in a stated amount. |
| Arizona, A.R.S. §33-1008(D) | Does “not cover any retention, pending modifications and changes or items furnished after that date.” | Covers the final payment, except disputed claims in a stated amount. |
| Texas, Prop. Code §53.284 | Covers the payment “except for unpaid retention, pending modifications and changes, or other items furnished.” | The conditional final covers “the final payment to the signer for all labor, services, equipment, or materials furnished,” with no retention carve-out. |
In practice:
- Waive progress at the net amount. The progress waiver’s amount is what you are paying this draw, after retention is held back. Its through-date is the last day of the pay application period.
- Track the retention balance in your books, per sub, not in the waiver.
- Release retention on a final waiver. Send a conditional final when the retention check goes out, and an unconditional final after it clears. Where the final form has a disputed-claims line, as California’s and Arizona’s do, enter the disputed amount there.
- Check generic forms. If your state has no prescribed form, make sure your progress form excludes retention in plain words and your final form does not.
For how the four waiver types fit together, see Conditional vs. unconditional lien waivers.
Lower tiers: sub-subs, suppliers and sworn statements
Your sub’s waiver releases the sub’s rights, not its suppliers’ or sub-subs’ rights. California’s forms waive the rights “the claimant has.” Arizona’s release the rights “the undersigned has.” A supplier your sub did not pay can still have its own claim.
The Arizona and Texas statutory forms add a promise. The signer warrants that it has already paid, or will use the payment to promptly pay, its laborers, subcontractors, materialmen and suppliers. A warranty is a promise from the sub. It is not a waiver from those parties.
Get the list from the sub
Ask each sub for the suppliers and sub-subs on your job, with what each has been paid and what each is still owed. Some states put this in statute. Two examples:
- Illinois. Before each payment, the contractor must give the owner a sworn statement of everyone furnishing labor or material and the amount due or to become due to each (770 ILCS 60/5). A subcontractor must give the owner or contractor a statement of everyone furnishing it labor or material, and how much is due or to become due to each, whenever asked in writing, under oath if required. If it does not deliver within 5 days of the demand, it forfeits $50 per offense and cannot sue the owner or contractor until it does (770 ILCS 60/22).
- Michigan. A subcontractor must give the contractor a sworn statement when payment is due or when it asks for payment. The statement lists each sub-sub and supplier with its contract price, amount already paid and amount currently owing (MCL 570.1110).
Match lower-tier waivers to the statement
Make this a review step before you release the next draw:
- Add the lower-tier parties you want waivers from to the draw’s vendor list. Start with the larger suppliers, the sub-subs, and anyone who sent you a preliminary notice.
- Compare each lower-tier waiver amount with what the sub’s sworn statement or payment breakdown says that party was paid.
- Treat a gap as a question for the sub. A waiver for less than the statement shows, or a listed party with no waiver, needs an answer before the next payment.
- Whether to hold a payment while you get that answer is your decision under your subcontract.
At closeout, the sub’s last statement should show nothing still owed to anyone below it, and each party it listed should have a final waiver in your file.
Keep payment evidence in the accounting record
A signed conditional waiver does not prove payment. The GC keeps payment evidence in its ordinary accounting and banking records; SubLien does not duplicate that ledger with a separate post-sign “Record payment” step. When the transaction calls for a later unconditional waiver, the customer starts that waiver from the actual project and payment facts.
State-specific form differences can change the sequence
Some states prescribe waiver forms or payment conditions. Others regulate timing without providing a routine fill-in form. A few state forms need a notary or a witness, so the sub signs on paper and uploads the completed form instead of e-signing (which states).
Examples in the current primary sources include:
- Texas provides current conditional and unconditional progress and final forms (Property Code §53.284). SubLien has no separate route for older-law Texas waivers. A waiver on a project whose owner contract was entered into before January 1, 2022 still falls under the earlier law, notary included.
- Florida publishes waiver forms and includes payment-linked language in its statute.
- Utah prescribes progress and final forms with payment conditions; the supported variant set does not mirror the ordinary four-label model.
- Georgia’s statutory workflow includes a nonpayment period and does not map cleanly to the standard conditional/unconditional pair.
- New York and Rhode Island timing rules make an ordinary prepayment request unsafe as a default workflow.
Do not solve these differences by renaming a generic PDF. The customer should review the exact form, source, project state, waiver type, and template version before it becomes available to send.
A 30-sub draw checklist
Before the batch
- Confirm one project and one payment period.
- Reconcile the source amounts.
- Resolve missing vendor and signer contacts.
- Confirm the customer-approved form for every project-state workflow.
- Review retainage, final-payment, and joint-check exceptions.
- Collect each sub’s list of suppliers and sub-subs, and add the ones you need waivers from.
Before send
- Preview every generated document.
- Verify vendor, project, amount, through-date, and waiver type.
- Confirm progress amounts are net of retention.
- Remove any row that needs a different workflow.
- Send only conditional forms through the ordinary batch.
After send
- Track delivered, opened, signed, disputed, and bounced requests.
- Stop reminders when the requested document arrives or the ladder ends.
- Keep payment facts and evidence in the customer’s accounting records.
- Start a later unconditional waiver only when the actual transaction calls for it.
- Keep the source, signed PDF, consent, and audit events together.
What to do when a sub pushes back
A dispute should freeze the reminder chase and preserve what the sub reported. Common issues include the wrong amount, wrong project, work outside the through-date, retainage, disputed change orders, or a claim that payment already occurred.
Fix the source record first. Do not ask the vendor to sign an incorrect document and promise to clean it up later. If the facts change, regenerate a new draft and retain the event history showing why the first request stopped.