Sub-Tier Lien Waiver Best Practices for General Contractors

Use these practices to review Sub-Tier lien waiver compliance during a draw and make payment decisions.

Check Project Requirements before the Draw

Before relying on a compliance status, review the project’s lien waiver documents and payment hold settings. Check required prior-period and current-period waivers, automatic holds, and any different requirements for joint checks. If a sworn statement or other project document requires Sub-Tier tracking, confirm that Prime Subcontractors record Sub-Tiers and payment amounts during billing.

Keep Sub-Tier Records and Draw Inclusion Accurate

Confirm that each Sub-Tier appears under the Prime Subcontractor they work for on the project. Record vendors your organization manages directly under your organization on the Manage Lien Waivers page. When adding a Lien Waiver Only Sub-Tier, verify their name and identifying details before saving. Keep contract, service, and preliminary notice information current, and upload the notice when applicable.

Before requesting waivers, confirm that the draw includes the relevant Sub-Tiers. A missing draw assignment can exclude an expected waiver from review. The project may automatically include Lien Waiver Only and Manual Sub-Tiers with their Prime Subcontractor. If a Sib-Tier is not included, add them as needed.

Use Lien Waiver Status as a Review Queue

Review Lien Waiver Status throughout the draw. Search by organization, contract, or service, and filter for missing, unapproved, or held waivers. Change the draw view to see more than the previous four draws. Use the Manage Lien Waivers by Draw page to review one organization’s history.

Use Payment Hold Settings to check current requirements. Before exporting the status table to CSV, check the filters; the export includes the details shown on the page. You can also freeze identifying columns or hide unused columns.

Resolve Exceptions before Approving Waivers

Review the waiver and alerts before updating GC Approval. Alerts may identify disputed text, a disputed amount, or an effective-date change. Confirm modifications only after reviewing them. If a Lien Waiver Only Sub-Tier’s waiver is invalid, add a clear rejection comment explaining what to correct. For a Manual Sub-Tier, coordinate corrections with the organization that collected and uploaded the waiver.

Uploading a waiver does not automatically change its status. After review, update the status on the Manage Lien Waivers or Manage Lien Waivers by Draw pages. Recheck the status after you or the Prime Subcontractor replace the document.

Connect Hold Decisions to Payment Releases

Check the current draw and project settings before applying or reviewing holds. Apply manual lien waiver holds on the Manage Lien Waivers page for the selected draw. If automatic holds are enabled, review the resulting hold status rather than assuming a missing waiver is clear for payment.

Before releasing payment, confirm that required Sub-Tier waivers have the appropriate approval status and review holds on the Prime Subcontractor. After accepting a missing waiver and updating its status, check that the hold information reflects the correction. Coordinate remaining hold or release decisions with the disburser.

Use Reports for Follow-Up

Use the Lien Waiver Status Report to review waiver status, values, dates, final-waiver information, and preliminary notice fields by project or draw. Use the Lien Waivers Uploaded Report to find manually uploaded Sub-Tier waivers and their draw, file name, type, and uploader. Assign follow-up for missing or unapproved items and rerun the view after corrections.