Mechanic's Lien Waiver Form and Advance-Waiver Rules in Florida
At a glance
| Governing law and project scope | Fla. Stat. § 713.20, within Chapter 713 Part I; governs waiver, release, or satisfaction of construction liens and rights to claim a lien under that part. |
|---|---|
| Advance or prospective waiver | Prohibited: lien rights may be waived only to the extent labor, services, or materials have been furnished; an advance waiver is unenforceable (§ 713.20(2)). |
| Statutory form requirement | Optional statutory forms: progress/final waivers 'may' substantially follow subsections (4)-(5). A person cannot require a different form, but a non-similar waiver is enforceable by its own terms (§ 713.20(4)-(6), (8)). |
| Waiver types and payment stage | Two statutory samples: progress payment and final payment (§ 713.20(4)-(5)). No separate statutory conditional/unconditional quartet; lienor may add a check-payment condition (§ 713.20(7)). |
| Payment and effectiveness | Forms recite consideration/payment amount. A lienor exchanging a waiver for a check may condition effectiveness on payment of the check; absent a payment bond, owner may withhold that unpaid-check amount from contractor (§ 713.20(7)). Otherwise the document's own terms govern (§ 713.20(8)). |
| Required contents, exceptions, and through date | Progress form: amount, through date, customer, owner/job, property description, date, lienor/by; automatically excludes retention and later-furnished work. Final form: final-payment amount, customer, owner/job, property, date, lienor/by. Partial releases may be limited by amount, date with stated exceptions, or parcel (§ 713.20(3)-(5)). |
| Rights released and reserved | Statutory forms release only the lien and right to claim a lien for the described furnished work. Progress form preserves retention and post-through-date work; § 713.20(3) permits amount/date/exception/parcel limits. The forms do not state a release of bond or contract claims. |
| Signature, authority, notary, and format | Forms end with date, lienor, and 'By' signature line. Section 713.20 imposes no notary, acknowledgment, warning, type-size, attachment, or electronic-format rule. |
| Noncompliance, remedies, and transition traps | Advance waiver is unenforceable; non-similar payment-stage waiver is not void and instead is enforced by its terms (§ 713.20(2), (8)). Accepting an unsecured note is not a waiver unless expressly agreed in writing and does not extend notice/lien deadlines (§ 713.20(1)). |
Requirements one by one
Separate the advance-waiver ban from a payment-stage release
Florida Statutes § 713.20(2) says a lien right may be waived only to the extent labor, services, or materials have already been furnished. A blanket waiver signed before that work is supplied is unenforceable.
Once work has been furnished, subsection (3) allows a release limited to "labor, services, or materials furnished through a certain date subject to exceptions specified at the time of release." It also permits an amount or parcel limit. The exceptions must be specified when the release is given.
Treat the two forms as protected choices, not exclusive text
Subsections (4) and (5) say the progress and final waivers "may" substantially follow the printed forms. Subsection (6) prevents another person from requiring a different form. Subsection (8) says a non-similar waiver is enforceable "in accordance with the terms of the lien waiver or lien release." A form received from another party therefore needs its own wording read carefully.
The progress form uses a through date and preserves retention plus later- furnished labor, services, and materials. The final form has no through date or automatic retention reservation. Both identify the payment amount, customer, owner/job, property, date, lienor, and signer.
Add the condition when payment is by check
Florida does not print separate conditional and unconditional versions. Under § 713.20(7), a lienor exchanging the waiver for a check may condition the release on payment of that check. The statute says the lienor "may condition the waiver and release on payment of the check"; the condition should appear in the signed waiver.
What trips people up
The printed forms release the lien and right to claim a lien. They do not themselves mention payment-bond or contract claims. Because subsection (8) enforces a variant waiver by its own terms, read any added release language before signing.
Common questions
Does accepting an unsecured note waive my lien or extend the filing deadlines? Neither happens automatically. Section 713.20(1) requires an express written agreement for the note to waive the lien and says the note does not affect the statutory notice or lien-filing periods.
What can the owner do if a waiver check has not been paid? If no payment bond protects the owner, § 713.20(7) allows the owner to withhold that unpaid amount from a payment to the contractor until the check condition is satisfied.
Statutes and sources
- Fla. Stat. § 713.20 (advance-waiver ban, partial releases, progress/final forms, check condition, and variant-form effect) — https://www.leg.state.fl.us/Statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0700-0799/0713/Sections/0713.20.html (accessed 2026-09-23)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.
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