What it produces
An accepted waiver on file for every payment, conditional before the money moves and unconditional once it clears, plus final waivers from every tier at closeout.
Workflows
Lien Waivers
a signed document in which a contractor or supplier gives up its right to file a lien on a property in exchange for payment
The job in one minute
Who owns it
The project accountant accepts waivers; AP, the controller, treasury and AR play their parts; the PM owns closeout.
How often
With every payment run, and once per project at closeout.
Why it hurts
The waiver comes back for the invoice amount instead of the payment amount. The through date is last month's. A generic form shows up on a California job and is void on arrival. March's unconditional is still missing in June because nobody tied the request to the bank's clear date. At closeout, a supplier who sent a preliminary notice has no waiver, and retainage waits while three people search three inboxes.
Systems it touches
The ERP, banking portals, Outlook, AP and OCR tools, Excel logs, SharePoint, Textura, GCPay, Procore Pay, DocuSign or Adobe Sign, and Bluebeam at closeout.
Payment platforms handle waivers well for the payments that run through them. The agent covers everything in between: payments made outside the portal, statutory wording across every state, and unconditional requests tied to the real clear date.
- ERP
- Banking portals reads clear dates
- Outlook
- AP
- OCR tools
- Excel logs
- SharePoint
- Textura
- GCPay
- Procore Pay
- DocuSign or Adobe Sign
- Bluebeam at closeout
12 steps · 6 actions · 4 decisions · 2 human reviews
The workflow, step by step
Action Decision Human review Select a step in the flowchart to jump to it.
1Every payment steps 1–10
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Action · Agent
When a payment is scheduled, list each payee with amount, through date, job and state.
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Decision · Agent
The state table picks the form: statutory form where the state has one, notary flag where the state or contract requires it.
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Action · Portal
Send a prefilled conditional waiver by portal or email, then file each return by vendor, job, type and date.
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Action · Agent
Read the waiver: type, claimant, job, amount, through date, exceptions, signature, notary block.
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Decision · Agent
Type matches the payment stage, claimant matches the vendor's legal name, amount equals the payment, through date equals the period end, exceptions match the open disputes.
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Decision · Agent
In a statutory state, every required paragraph is present.
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Human review · Accountant
Any failure goes to the project accountant with the waiver beside the payment.
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Action · ERP
Mark it received in the ERP and attach the PDF. The agent reports release status but never changes a payment hold.
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Action · Bank
When the bank shows the payment cleared, request the unconditional.
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Decision · Agent
The unconditional amount equals the cleared amount and is dated on or after the clear date. Non-responders are chased on schedule and escalated to the PM.
2Closeout steps 11–12
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Action · Agent
At closeout, request finals from every sub and every party that sent a preliminary notice.
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Human review · PM
The PM assembles the closeout affidavits with releases attached and signs.
✓ Done
Rules vs judgment
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Exact rules
- Form by state and contract, amount and through date, unconditional date against the clear date, Georgia's 90-day clock, the reminder schedule.
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The model reads
- Scanned waivers with handwritten amounts, names written differently, statutory wording, carve-out language, notary blocks. A rule still decides.
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A person decides
- Carve-outs, paying short of a missing lower-tier waiver, non-standard forms, and the sworn closeout affidavits.
When it stops
Generic form on a statutory-state job
Rejected with the right form attached.
Through date short
Rejected with the correct date and a new request.
Notary missing where required
Rejected and resent with the notary flag.
Unconditional dated before the clear date
Rejected with the clear date shown.
Payment voided after the conditional
The unconditional request is cancelled and the record says why.
Noticed supplier with no final at closeout
Requests go out; retainage release stays with the PM.
What you end up with
A waiver file per job where every payment has the right conditional and unconditional, matched to the dollar and the date, and a closeout list built from the preliminary notices, not just the subcontract list. Every check is logged with screenshots. Product →
Questions
Why not collect unconditional waivers with every payment?
A sub that signs one before it is paid gives up rights to money it does not have yet, so most refuse. The standard is a conditional now and last period's unconditional next.
Who collects sub-tier waivers?
Usually the first-tier sub. The GC verifies them, because an unpaid supplier can still lien the property.
Can waivers be signed electronically?
Generally yes, as long as it is the required form. Where notarization is required, a notary still takes part.
What does the agent do with a preliminary notice?
It files it and adds the sender to the list of parties who must send a final waiver before retainage is released.
No prompts. No babysitting. No Integrations.