Florida lien waiver forms: which one to use and when

Florida's statutory forms

Optional for you, mandatory for whoever asks

Florida's rule cuts in the lienor's favor. Subsections (4) and (5) say a waiver “may be in substantially the following form,” and subsection (8) says a waiver that isn't substantially similar “is enforceable in accordance with the terms of the lien waiver or lien release.” So a different form can still bind you. What the statute takes away is the other side's power to insist on one:

If a GC or lender sends you a three-page release with indemnities and a broad release of claims, you can answer with the statutory form instead. The payment bond waivers in § 713.235 work the same way: optional wording, no one can require a different form, and a non-matching waiver is enforceable by its terms.

Progress vs final

• The progress form waives the lien “for labor, services, or materials furnished through” a date you insert, to your customer, on the owner's job, for the property described. It ends: “This waiver and release does not cover any retention or labor, services, or materials furnished after the date specified.”
• The final form waives the lien for everything furnished to your customer on that job, “in consideration of the final payment in the amount of” the figure you fill in. It has no exception for retention, because final payment is supposed to include it.
• Partial releases are allowed. Section 713.20(3) lets a lienor release part of a lien at any time, by amount, through a certain date with stated exceptions, or as to part of the property.

There's no conditional form, but you can add the condition

Unlike the four-form states, Florida's forms aren't labeled conditional or unconditional. They recite that the waiver is given “in consideration of” a sum, which reads as payment already made. Section 713.20(7) gives you the fix when you're paid by check:

Add a line saying the waiver takes effect only when the named check is paid by the bank. The same subsection lets an owner without a payment bond withhold the amount of an unpaid check from the contractor until the condition is met. Section 713.235(4) gives the same right to condition a bond waiver on the check clearing.

Signing rules, and the one form that needs a notary

The waiver forms end with “DATED on,” the lienor's name and a “By” line. There's no notary block and no witness line, so an authorized person's signature is enough. An electronic signature satisfies a signature requirement under Florida's Uniform Electronic Transaction Act, § 668.50, and the federal ESIGN Act. See Florida's e-signature law for the details.

The Contractor's Final Payment Affidavit is different. It's a sworn statement that every lienor who served a notice to owner has been paid, or a list of who hasn't and how much, and the statutory form ends “Sworn to and subscribed before me” with a notary's signature and commission. The contractor has to deliver it at least 5 days before suing to enforce a lien, and has no lien or right of action against the owner while in default on it.

Florida allows online notarization by a registered online notary, who confirms identity over two-way audio-video (§ 117.265), so the affidavit can be completed without paper. SignMaster isn't a notary service; the affiant arranges the notarization.

Common Florida mistakes

• Signing a final waiver while retention is still held. The final form doesn't carve it out.
• Giving a waiver against a check with no condition. Use § 713.20(7) and write the condition in.
• Signing the GC's custom release because you think you must. Under § 713.20(6), you can insist on the statutory form.
• Forgetting the bond. On a bonded job, the lien waiver and the bond waiver are separate documents.
• Treating the final payment affidavit as a waiver. It's the contractor's sworn statement to the owner, and it needs a notary.

Sending Florida waivers with SignMaster

1. 1

   Set up the two statutory forms

   Type the progress and final forms word for word from § 713.20 and upload each with New template. If you're paid by check, add your condition sentence to your progress template once, so it's on every copy.

2. 2

   Add the fields

   Text fields for the amount, through date, your customer, the owner and the property description, plus Signature, Name and Date signed for the lienor.

3. 3

   Send with each pay request

   Send the waiver with the invoice so the owner or GC has it when the check is cut. Reminders follow up until it's signed, and the certificate of completion records who signed and when.

4. 4

   Handle the affidavit separately

   Send the final payment affidavit as its own envelope. The affiant can choose Print and sign instead on the signing page, sign before a notary, and upload the notarized pages, which are added to the signed PDF.