Guides

Lien waivers for subcontractors in North Carolina and South Carolina

Updated November 3, 2026.

General information, not legal advice. Laws change and your contract matters. Check the linked statutes and talk to an attorney about your situation.

A lien waiver is a document in which you give up some or all of your lien rights on a job, usually in exchange for a payment. Most general contractors ask for one with every pay application. This guide explains the usual kinds of waiver, what North Carolina and South Carolina statutes say about lien rights and notices, and what to check before you sign.

Each point is labelled so you know where it comes from:

• Law points quote or summarise a statute and link to it on the North Carolina General Assembly's or South Carolina Legislature's website.
• Practice points are common industry practice, not law. Your subcontract, your GC's billing instructions and the waiver form itself decide.

Why GCs ask for lien waivers

• Practice: owners, lenders and title companies want proof that the people paid down the chain won't later file a lien for money they've already received. So the GC collects a waiver from each subcontractor with each pay app, and often asks you for waivers from your own subs and suppliers too.
• Practice: the waiver form usually comes from the GC, the owner or the lender, or is attached to your subcontract. Use the form your contract requires, and read it every time: forms change between jobs.

The four common kinds of waiver

"Conditional", "unconditional", "partial" and "final" are industry terms. The North Carolina and South Carolina statutes linked on this page don't define them, so what a particular form does depends on its wording.

• Conditional partial waiver (practice): waives your lien rights for a stated amount, for work through a stated date, and says it takes effect only when you actually receive that payment. This is the one most GCs want with each monthly pay app.
• Unconditional partial waiver (practice): waives your lien rights for a stated amount through a stated date, effective when you sign it, whether or not the money has arrived. Many GCs ask for it for the previous month's payment.
• Conditional final waiver (practice): waives all your remaining lien rights on the job, effective only when you receive the final payment, including retainage.
• Unconditional final waiver (practice): waives all your remaining lien rights on the job as soon as you sign it.

The rule of thumb most subcontractors follow (practice): sign conditional waivers to get paid, and unconditional waivers only for money that has already cleared your bank.

What North Carolina law says

You can't be made to give up lien rights to win the job

• Law (NC): "An agreement to waive the right to file a claim of lien on real property ... or an agreement to waive the right to serve a notice of claim of lien upon funds ... which agreement is in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of any contract ... is against public policy and is unenforceable" (G.S. 44A-12(f)).
• Law (NC): the same subsection says it "does not prohibit subordination or release of a lien" (G.S. 44A-12(f)). It is aimed at waivers given up front to get a contract, not the waivers exchanged for payments during the job.

Lien agents and the Notice to Lien Agent

• Law (NC): for improvements where "the costs of the undertaking are forty thousand dollars ($40,000) or more", the owner must designate a lien agent. The owner doesn't have to for improvements to an existing single-family home it occupies as a residence (G.S. 44A-11.1(a)).
• Law (NC): on those jobs, a potential lien claimant may perfect a claim of lien on real property only if at least one of the conditions in the statute is met. The first is that the lien agent "has received a Notice to Lien Agent from the potential lien claimant no later than 15 days after the first furnishing of labor or materials" (G.S. 44A-11.2(l)).
• Law (NC): the statute sets out the contents of the Notice to Lien Agent (G.S. 44A-11.2(i)) and how it can be delivered, including certified mail, return receipt requested; email with delivery receipt; and a website approved by the lien agent (G.S. 44A-11.2(f)).
• Law (NC): the building permit must be posted on the site, and if it doesn't carry the lien agent's contact information, a sign with it must be posted (G.S. 44A-11.2(d) and (e)). If you ask the owner in writing, the owner must give you the contact information within seven days (G.S. 44A-11.2(b)).
• Law (NC): serving a Notice to Lien Agent doesn't satisfy the requirements for a Notice of Subcontract, a Notice of Claim of Lien upon Funds or a Claim of Lien on Real Property (G.S. 44A-11.2(j)).
• Practice: send the Notice to Lien Agent when you start a North Carolina private job of $40,000 or more, before your first pay app and your first waiver.

What South Carolina law says

• Law (SC): "Every laborer, mechanic, subcontractor, or person furnishing material for the improvement of real estate when the improvement has been authorized by the owner has a lien thereon ... to the value of the labor or material so furnished" (S.C. Code § 29-5-20(A)).
• Law (SC), notice of furnishing: for a sub-subcontractor or a supplier to a subcontractor, the total of its liens can't exceed what the contractor owes the subcontractor it supplied "unless the sub-subcontractor or supplier has provided notice of furnishing labor or materials by certified or registered mail to the contractor". The notice lists who is claiming, who they contracted with, what was furnished and its price, the project, the first and last dates of furnishing, and the amount claimed. After the contractor receives it, "no payment by the contractor to the subcontractor will lessen the amount recoverable" by the person who gave notice (S.C. Code § 29-5-20(B)). This limit doesn't apply to individual laborers whose lien is under $2,000 (S.C. Code § 29-5-20(D)).
• Law (SC), notice of project commencement: a person who contracts directly with the owner "may file" a notice of project commencement with the clerk of court or register of deeds, and it "must be filed within fifteen days of the commencement of work". The contractor's name and address and a location notice must be posted at the job site. If no notice of project commencement is filed, the limit in § 29-5-20(B) doesn't apply (S.C. Code § 29-5-23).
• Practice: if you're a second-tier sub or a supplier on a South Carolina job, look for the posted location notice when you start, and send the notice of furnishing to the contractor early.

This guide doesn't cover deadlines for filing or enforcing a lien. They're in the statutes linked above (G.S. 44A-12 in North Carolina and Title 29, Chapter 5 in South Carolina); ask a construction attorney how they apply to your job.

What to check before you sign a waiver

All of these are common practice, not law:

1. The kind of waiver. Conditional or unconditional, partial or final. Don't sign an unconditional or final waiver when the form you expected was conditional or partial.
2. The amount. It should match the payment this waiver covers: usually this pay app's amount due, not the contract total or the total billed to date.
3. The through date. It should match the period your pay app covers, not a later date.
4. Exceptions. If you're still owed money that this payment doesn't cover, such as retainage, pending or disputed change orders, extra work or an earlier unpaid pay app, list it as an exception if the form allows, or ask the GC to add it.
5. Unconditional means paid. Sign an unconditional waiver only after the funds have cleared.
6. Extra language. Some forms also release "all claims", confirm that your lower tiers are paid, or add indemnities. Those go beyond lien rights. Read them, and ask an attorney if you're unsure.
7. The details. Project, owner, GC, your company name and the pay app number should all be right.
8. Your own lower tiers. Collect your subs' and suppliers' waivers before the GC asks for them.
9. Records. Keep a copy of every waiver with the matching pay app and payment record.

Every term on a waiver or pay app is explained in the pay application glossary.

Related tools and guides

• Late payment interest calculator (NC and SC): the 1%-a-month interest the prompt-payment statutes allow, worked out from your dates.
• Retainage calculator and tracker: retainage held and amount due on one pay app, and a running total across a job.
• How to bill a general contractor: the monthly pay-app cycle from schedule of values to final payment.

Questions

Can a GC require me to waive my lien rights before I get the job in North Carolina?

Not enforceably. G.S. 44A-12(f) says an agreement to waive the right to file a claim of lien on real property, or to serve a notice of claim of lien upon funds, made in anticipation of and in consideration for the awarding of a contract is against public policy and unenforceable (G.S. 44A-12(f)). The same subsection doesn't prohibit subordination or release of a lien.

Is it safe to sign a conditional lien waiver before I'm paid?

Practice, not law: a conditional waiver is meant to take effect only when the stated payment is received, which is why GCs ask for it with the pay app. Check that the form's wording really makes it conditional, and that the amount and through date match the payment.

When should I sign an unconditional lien waiver?

Practice, not law: only for money that has already cleared your bank. An unconditional waiver usually takes effect when you sign it, whether or not you've been paid.

Do I need to send a Notice to Lien Agent in North Carolina?

On improvements that need a lien agent (costs of $40,000 or more, with an exception for an owner-occupied existing single-family home), a potential lien claimant may perfect a claim of lien on real property only if at least one statutory condition is met. One is that the lien agent received a Notice to Lien Agent from you no later than 15 days after you first furnished labor or materials (G.S. 44A-11.1; G.S. 44A-11.2(l)).

Who sends a notice of furnishing in South Carolina?

Sub-subcontractors and suppliers to a subcontractor, by certified or registered mail to the contractor. Without it, their liens are limited to what the contractor owes the subcontractor they supplied (S.C. Code § 29-5-20(B)).

Sources

• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-11.1 (ncleg.gov)
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-11.2 (ncleg.gov)
• N.C. Gen. Stat. § 44A-12 (ncleg.gov)
• S.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 5 (scstatehouse.gov)