2022 Roofing Contractor Lien Waiver and Release Forms

View Samples

Lien waivers or lien release forms are required, in some states, to be given after and sometimes before a progress payment is made to the roofing contractor.

Exactly what is included in a lien waiver/release is codified into law by many states.

Even if not required by state law, most commercial customers, for their protection, will ask for a lien release before making a progress or final payment.  Also, roofing jobs with a funding control such as a construction lender or jobs where the work is paid from insurance proceeds, will require these forms be given. And if you pick up the latest copy of AARP or some other magazine, it is hard not to find an article about contracting for any type improvement work, roofing included, on your home, that does not recommend getting lien releases when making any progress or final payment on the work.

A recurring nightmare every contractor has had at one time or another is, during a time when bank accounts are low, having to depend on receiving a check to make payroll. If that happens, an even worse scenario is going to pick up that check on a Friday morning and being told your payment is delayed until you submit a statutory lien waiver... a form which you don't have, and which nobody local seems to carry.  Every roofing contractor should have all statutory lien waiver, lien release forms available for when this situation happens. Having these required forms is just good sense.  

Completion Certificates are also important because a completion certificate serves to set a point in time, or memorializes, when the interested parties on your roofing project have looked at and acknowledged satisfaction with the roofing work.  This is important both from a legal perspective and from the "psychological" standpoint of the customer. A customer who agrees they are satisfied, by signing a completion certificate, is not likely to, at a later date say... "well the job was never really done right but we paid because the contractor pressured us"... which, during any future dispute that we hope doesn't happen but could, is often given as a reason to explain why the customer paid the roofer even though they were supposedly unhappy with the work done. 

Lien waivers and completion certificates go hand in hand because the best time to get a completion certificate signed is at the same time you give the customer a lien waiver. That's why our lien waivers and completion certificates are on the same form. Used in this way, the form then becomes an "I give and you give back" situation. The customer gets a waiver from the roofing contractor on their right to lien the property... and the roofing contractor gets the completion certificate signed acknowledging that the work was done properly. This is "Win-Win" and is the easiest way to get a completion signed.

There are basically 5 different types of lien waivers...

  • Two types of "conditional" lien releases. A "conditional" lien release or waiver is named this because the lien waiver and release goes into effect on condition payment is received... if the check bounces, the lien rights of the roofing contractor remain in effect. There is one lien release/waiver for progress payments and one lien waiver/release for the final payment.
  • Two types of "unconditional" lien releases. An "unconditional" lien release/waiver is in effect immediately when signed by the roofing contractor unconditionally... even if the check bounces, the lien waiver/release is in effect and the roofing contractor has no lien rights for the work covered under the scope of the lien release/waiver. This type of lien waiver/release is primarily given only after payment has been received and the funds are in the roofing contractor's bank account. Like the conditional lien waiver/release, there is one unconditional lien waiver/release for progress payments and one for the final payment.
  • The fifth type of lien release/waiver is for workers on the roofing job and is called the Labor Lien Release. Some property owners will want to make sure all the people working on their property are being paid by the roofing contractor and to insure this, will require each worker to certify that they have been paid for their work and that they will not seek a laborer's lien on the property. Again, this is a form recommended by magazine article writers, that every homeowner get signed when having painting work done on their home to prevent labor liens from unpaid workers. 

ACT Contractors Forms Software for Roofing Contractors includes all 6 lien waiver/release forms and completion certificates so when you are asked for these, payments to you will never be delayed while you try and find one.

Act Contractors Forms Offers the Following 6 Roofing Project Lien Waiver and Release Forms and Completion Certificate Forms for Roofing Contractors

The forms below are included in the full version of ACT Contractors Forms Software and most are also available as fillable pdf forms and as printed multi-part paper forms.

CLR(conditional-final)
CLR- Roofing Contractor Conditional Lien Waiver & Release For Final Payment Form with Completion Certificate
View Document
CLRP(conditional-progress)
CLRP- Roofing Contractor Conditional Lien Waiver & Release For Progress Payment Form
View Document
COM(completion certificate)
COM- Roofing Contractor Job Completion Certificate Form
View Document
LLR(Workers Labor Release)
LLR- Roofing Contractor Labor Lien Waiver and Release Form
View Document
ULR(unconditional-final)
ULR- Roofing Contractor Unconditional Lien Waiver and Release For Final Payment Form with Completion Certificate
View Document
ULRP(unconditional- progress)
ULRP- Roofing Contractor Unconditional Lien Waiver and Release For Progress Payment Form
View Document
Back to Top