Simple Pay ApplicationConditional waiver and release on final payment, explained
A conditional waiver and release on final payment gives up lien, stop payment notice and payment bond rights for the whole job, effective only once the claimant receives the final payment it names. It is the last waiver a sub sends on a job, and it goes out while the final check is still on its way.
Its twin, the unconditional final waiver, says the claimant has been paid in full and binds the signer on signing. The conditional version waits for the money instead. A sub can attach it to the final pay app and know that the job is released only when the check clears. In the app it is made from that final pay app, so the amount of the check is the pay app’s payment due.
What the waiver says
The final forms are shorter than the progress ones, and the first thing missing is a Through Date. A progress waiver covers work up to a date; a final waiver covers the job. California’s conditional final form names the claimant, the customer, the job location and the owner, and then releases the claimant’s rights for labor, service, equipment and material provided to the customer on this job, with no cut-off.
The condition is the same one the progress form uses: This document is effective only on the claimant’s receipt of payment from the financial institution on which the following check is drawn
. Below it come three lines for the check: its maker, its amount and the payee. If the check never arrives, the release never starts. As on the progress forms, work under a written change order fully executed by the parties before the signing date is released too, unless it is listed as an exception.
The exception section is where the final form parts company with the progress form. California’s progress forms list retentions, unpaid extras and contract rights. The conditional final form lists one thing only, and gives it a single line: Disputed claims for extras in the amount of
, followed by a dollar blank. The form has no line for retentions at all.
The notice at the top
California’s conditional forms carry a notice written for whoever reads the waiver, not for the signer. It says the document waives the claimant’s rights effective on receipt of payment, and it cautions a reader against relying on it before being satisfied that payment has been received. The sample picture shows it in large capitals above the identifying information.
California’s sections state no type-size rule for the conditional forms, unlike the unconditional ones. The conditional final forms of Arizona, Nevada and Texas make the same point inside their body text, telling a recipient to look for evidence of payment before relying on the document.
Which States print a form for it
Twelve States have waiver wording in their statutes, and the app prints it word for word. Six of them have a conditional final form of their own. The rest have no form with this name, so the table shows the nearest one, marked as a different kind, or says there is none. The use and notary columns repeat the facts as we read them in each statute.
| State | Its form for a conditional final payment | Section | Use of the form | Notary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Conditional Waiver and Release on Final Payment | A.R.S. § 33-1008(D)(3) | Yes: a waiver is to be substantially in the statute’s form. | The statute is silent. |
| California | Conditional Waiver and Release on Final Payment | Cal. Civ. Code § 8136 | Yes: a waiver is unenforceable unless it is in substantially the statute’s form (8132-8138). | The statute is silent. |
| Florida | Waiver and Release of Lien upon Final Payment (a different kind) | Fla. Stat. § 713.20(5) | No: the statute gives forms a waiver may follow, and no one may require a different form (713.20(6)). The statute’s two forms are for progress and final payments; it does not call them conditional or unconditional. | The statute is silent. |
| Georgia | Waiver and Release of Lien and Payment Bond Rights upon Final Payment (a different kind) | O.C.G.A. § 44-14-366 (e) | Yes: a waiver is enforceable only on a form that substantially follows the statute’s language, and only once payment is made as the statute sets out (44-14-366(c), (d), (e)). Under 44-14-366(g)(2) a waiver takes effect at the earliest of: receipt of the amount it states; a separate written acknowledgment of payment in full; or 90 days after it is signed, unless an affidavit of nonpayment is filed before then in the county where the property is located. The affidavit form is offered here. | The waiver forms have witness and address lines; the affidavit of nonpayment has a notary line. |
| Massachusetts | None for this kind | M.G.L. c. 254, s. 32(4) | The statute gives the form. | Signed under the penalties of perjury; the statute names no notary. |
| Michigan | Full Conditional Waiver | MCL 570.1115(9)(d) | Yes: the forms are to be used in substantially the statute’s format. | The statute is silent. |
| Mississippi | Waiver and Release upon Final Payment (a different kind) | Miss. Code § 85-7-433(2) | The section does not say. The notice on each form says a form without that notice is not enforceable as a waiver and release. The notice on each waiver form says the claimant is treated as paid in full the amount stated 60 days after the date stated on the form, unless an affidavit of nonpayment or a claim of lien is filed before then (85-7-433(1), (2)). The affidavit form is offered here. | Each waiver form and the affidavit of nonpayment carry a notary block. |
| Missouri | Unconditional Final Lien Waiver for Residential Real Property (a different kind) | RSMo 429.016 subsection 27 | Yes, for an unconditional final waiver on residential real property: it is valid only on a form substantially like the statute’s. The statute sets no form for the other kinds. | The statute is silent. |
| Nevada | Conditional Waiver and Release upon Final Payment | NRS 108.2457 subsec. 5(c) | Yes: other forms are not enforceable. | The statute is silent. |
| Texas | Conditional Waiver and Release on Final Payment | Tex. Prop. Code § 53.284(d) | Yes: a waiver is unenforceable unless it substantially complies with the statute’s form. | The statute is silent; it asks for the claimant’s or an authorized agent’s signature. |
| Utah | Waiver and Release upon Final Payment | Utah Code § 38-1a-802(4)(c) | The statute gives forms a waiver may substantially follow. | The statute is silent. |
| Wyoming | Lien Waiver (a different kind) | W.S. 29-10-101(b) | The statute gives one form, to be substantially followed. One form for progress and final payments alike. | The form has a notary acknowledgment block. |
Arizona, California, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Utah print a conditional final form. In Arizona, Nevada and Texas it becomes effective when the check has been properly endorsed and paid by the bank it is drawn on, and Utah’s version takes effect once the claimant endorses the check and the depository institution pays it. Michigan’s Full Conditional Waiver is conditioned on actual payment of the amount it names.
The disputed claims line is not universal. California, Arizona and Nevada each print one, and the Texas and Utah forms do not. Nevada also asks for a Payment Period, and Utah titles its form simply Waiver and Release upon Final Payment. Florida’s statute gives a final form that mentions no check and does not use the word conditional, and Georgia and Mississippi print one final form each. Wyoming has one form for progress and final payments, Missouri’s statute sets a final form for residential property in the unconditional kind only, and Massachusetts has a single partial waiver and subordination form. Where a State prints nothing for this kind, the app offers our general conditional final waiver.
The blanks, and where the app fills them from
The conditional final form has fewer blanks than the progress version, and the app fills most of them without retyping. The sample picture shows the check lines filled and 0.00 on the disputed claims line.
| Blank | In the sample | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Name of Claimant | Delta Line Drywall LLC | The company set on the account |
| Name of Customer | Northgate Builders Inc. | The party billed on the project |
| Job Location | 1450 Maple Street, Sacramento, CA 95814 | The project |
| Owner | Maple Street Medical Partners LLC | The project |
| Maker of Check | Northgate Builders Inc. | The customer, which can be changed when a lender or a joint check pays |
| Amount of Check | $6,320.00 | The final pay app’s current payment due |
| Check Payable to | Delta Line Drywall LLC | The company on the account |
| Disputed claims for extras | 0.00 | Typed on the waiver screen: the amount, or 0.00 when there is none |
| Signature, title, date | /s/ Dana Reyes, Office manager | Typed or drawn in the app, or signed from a link sent to the signer |
Conditional against unconditional, side by side
The conditional and unconditional final forms share their identifying information and their single exception. They split over timing and over what the form says about the payment. California’s pair is Civil Code 8136 and 8138.
| Point | Conditional final | Unconditional final |
|---|---|---|
| Takes effect | On the claimant’s receipt of payment from the bank the check is drawn on | When the claimant signs it |
| What it says about payment | Names a check: maker, amount and payee | States that the claimant has been paid in full, with no amount line |
| Notice at the top | To the reader, about relying on it before payment is received | To the claimant: enforceable if signed, even if unpaid |
| Type-size rule | None stated in the section | The notice at least as large as the largest type on the form |
| Exception | Disputed claims for extras, one dollar line | The same single line |
| Usual moment | With the final pay app, before the check | After the final check has cleared |
Many jobs end with both: the conditional waiver rides along with the final pay app, and the unconditional one follows once the money is in the bank. The unconditional final waiver page covers the second paper, and conditional vs unconditional sets all four kinds against each other.
A worked case: the final pay app that releases retainage
A drywall sub has a $120,000 contract, no change orders and 10% retainage. By the third pay app every line is billed at 100%, and $12,000 of retainage is still held. Pay apps 1 to 3 asked for $108,000.00 in all. Pay app 4, for the period to April 30, 2026, has no new work on it, only the release of the $12,000 held.
| Total completed and stored to date | $120,000.00 |
| Retainage after the release | $0.00 |
| Total earned less retainage | $120,000.00 |
| Less previous applications | $108,000.00 |
| Current payment due | $12,000.00 |
| Balance to finish | $0.00 |
The conditional final waiver for this pay app carries $12,000.00 as the amount of the check, with the GC as its maker and the sub as the payee. The form has no Through Date, so there is nothing to date. The disputed claims line reads 0.00, because no extra on this job is in dispute.
The waiver goes to the GC with pay app 4. It takes effect only when the sub receives the $12,000.00, and from that point the release covers the whole job. Since the final payment here is the retainage release itself, the amount on the form and the retainage held are the same number, which is the easiest place to see how the retainage guide and this waiver meet.
Questions about conditional final waivers
When does a conditional final waiver go out?
Usually with the final pay app, or when the GC asks for a waiver before releasing the last check. California’s wording takes effect only on the claimant’s receipt of payment from the bank the check is drawn on.
Does the form have a Through Date?
California’s final forms have none, because they cover the whole job. Nevada’s conditional final form asks for a Payment Period instead.
What goes on the disputed claims line?
The amount of any disputed claims for extras that the claimant keeps outside the release. California, Arizona and Nevada print the line on their conditional final forms; Texas and Utah do not.
Does a conditional final waiver cover retainage?
California’s final forms have no line for retentions. The one exception printed is disputed claims for extras. In the worked case the final payment is the retainage release itself, so the check amount and the retainage are both $12,000.00.
Is a notary needed?
California’s sections are silent on a notary. The State table above shows each statute’s position: Mississippi’s final form and Wyoming’s form carry a notary block, and Georgia’s has witness and address lines.
Can the GC ask for the unconditional final waiver instead?
The GC and the contract set the order. California’s unconditional form carries its own notice that a claimant who has not been paid is to use a conditional form.
Sources: California Civil Code 8136, Texas Property Code 53.284.
Related pages
The lien waiver guide lays out all four kinds, and the California page prints this form in full with the statute’s other rules. During the job, the conditional progress waiver does the same work month by month. The amount always starts in the pay application.
When the final payment is the retainage, the retainage release guide shows how that pay app is billed.
The wording above is each State’s own and the figures are plain arithmetic. This page describes forms and does not advise on legal matters.