Usually a member of a finance or accounting team is responsible for filling out Texas lien waivers. From the GC to the suppliers, each person involved in a construction project may send or request lien waiver forms.

In Texas, lien waivers are requested whenever they are part of a checklist of documents needed for payment. Although lien waivers are not required, they are commonplace in the construction industry.

Lien waivers in Texas protect each person involved in a construction job from a potential mechanics lien. If a stakeholder on a project doesn’t get paid, they can put a lien on that property for non-payment. In the construction industry, lien waivers are proof of payment.

A lien waiver waives the right of a payee to sue the payor for non-payment. A lien waiver is essentially acting as the receipt of payment therefore making it impossible for a lien to be placed on a property when construction costs are not paid. It’s very important to carefully read a lien waiver before signing.

Yes. Due to state legislation, all stakeholders working on a construction project in Texas must utilize the Texas statutory lien waiver forms. These forms cannot not be changed or amended with provisions.

The form will likely be unenforceable.

Yes. Texas recognizes any one of these four standard lien waiver forms:

• Conditional lien waiver upon progress payment
• Unconditional lien waiver upon progress payment
• Conditional lien waiver upon final payment
• Unconditional lien waiver upon final payment

Unconditional Texas lien waivers are used when invoices for work or supplies have been paid and you’re waiving your right to place a lien on the property. Remember: unconditional lien waiver forms don’t protect against insufficient funds (a bounced check). Only sign an unconditional lien waiver if monies are in your account.

Texas conditional lien waiver forms are used before payment is made. They are based on the “condition” that payment is expected to be made and then lien rights are waived after payment has been received.

You could manually locate and complete the Texas statutory lien waiver form, or simply use Flexbase’s template to semi-automate your lien waiver process to guarantee compliance and accuracy.

Yes. Texas lien waivers must be notarized to be valid.

The only Texas lien waivers you should sign before payment are conditional lien waivers. You should only waive your right to place a lien on the property once payment has been made.

No. You cannot waive lien rights before work begins. Texas labor law explicitly allows the right to place a lien on a property, therefore rights can never be waived in a contract.

If a subcontractor or contractor requests lien waivers from the suppliers on a job prior to releasing payment, then yes, lien waivers are required for materials.