Lien Waivers in OwnerDraw: What to Send and When

Choose the right waiver form, send or upload it, retry or renew a request, and read every waiver status correctly.

What do I do next?

Open **Expenses** and select the status in the **Waiver** column. The panel gives you one next action.

| Status you see | Who acts now? | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| **Not required** | Nobody | Select **View reason** if you want to see which project setting or manual correction produced the result. |
| **Needs review** | You | Select **Review** to supply or correct the missing information. If a signed document is unlinked, select **Review & link** and choose the payment it covers. |
| **Not started** | You | Select **Create & send**. Answer the payment-clearance and scope questions, preview the form, then use **Create & Send Waiver**. |
| **Prepared — not sent** | You | Select **Review & send**. Enter the vendor email and send, or copy the existing signing link to share yourself. |
| **Email failed** | You | Correct or enter the vendor email, then select **Retry email**. The existing request and signing link are reused. |
| **Awaiting signature** | Vendor | Wait for the vendor. Open **View request** if you need to **Copy link** or **Send reminder**. |
| **Request expired** | You | Select **Renew request**, review the carried-forward answers, and create a fresh request. The expired request stays in history. |
| **Conditional signed** | Usually you | If the panel asks, use **Confirm payment** after the payment has actually cleared. If the project also requires an unconditional waiver, follow **Create & send** next. |
| **Requirements met** | Nobody for this payment | Select **View signed waiver** if you need the file. This does not mean the vendor's whole scope is complete. |

1. Check whether this expense requires a waiver

The result comes from **Lien Waiver Requirements** in the project's **Edit** form. A project can apply waivers to loan-funded payments, every payment, or no payments; it also has its own amount threshold and can require an unconditional waiver after payment clears.

There is no universal OwnerDraw threshold. The panel shows **Required**, **Not required**, or **Needs review**, the reason, and whether it came from the project setting or a manual correction.

If the decision is wrong and your permission allows it, open **Correct the requirement manually**. Choose **Follow project setting**, **Required**, or **Not required**, add a note, and save the correction. This changes the requirement for that expense only and records the action in its history.

If a loan-funded-only policy cannot tell whether the expense is Loan or Cash, correct **Funding Source** on the expense first.

2. Save the expense before preparing its waiver

A waiver must attach to a saved expense. For a new expense, complete its required fields and select **Save & Continue to Waiver**. The expense is saved first. If you close or cancel the waiver work afterward, the expense remains in the ledger.

Saving an expense does not create, download, send, or sign a waiver.

3. Choose the form using two separate decisions

The panel asks:

1. **Has the vendor received this payment, and has it cleared?**
2. **Is this a progress payment or the final payment for this vendor's agreed scope?**

These answer different questions:

  • **Conditional** versus **unconditional** is about payment clearance. A conditional waiver takes effect only when the payment clears. Use an unconditional waiver only after the payment has cleared.
  • **Progress** versus **final** is about scope. Progress covers work through the document's date. Final releases the vendor's remaining agreed scope.

**Final is not another name for unconditional.** A final payment can still be conditional if it has not cleared.

OwnerDraw prepares **Conditional — progress**, **Unconditional — progress**, and **Unconditional — final** forms. It does not prepare a **Conditional — final** form. When that combination applies, **Create & Send Waiver** and **Download Blank PDF** are unavailable. Get the correct form from your state or lender, have it signed outside OwnerDraw, then use **Upload Signed Waiver**. OwnerDraw will not substitute a progress or unconditional form.

**Vendor Paid**, draw funding, and payment clearance are also separate. Marking an expense **Vendor Paid** does not prove that a check or transfer cleared, and funding a draw does not mean the vendor was paid.

4. Prepare, preview, and send

Review the suggested form name and explanation before continuing.

Then choose one path:

  • **Create & Send Waiver** creates the request and signing link. If a vendor email is entered, OwnerDraw attempts to email it. If no email is entered, no email is sent; copy the signing link and share it yourself.
  • **Download Blank PDF** downloads the supported form selected by your answers and records that download in activity. It does not create a signing request, send an email, or mark anything signed. It is unavailable when the answers call for the unsupported **Conditional — final** form.

Where the Vendor email comes from

  • When the payment is linked to a Vendor Directory record that has an email saved, **Vendor email** is filled in from that record. It stays visible and editable, and nothing is sent until you choose **Create & Send Waiver**, **Retry email**, or **Send reminder**.
  • Anything you type stays. If you clear the field on purpose, it stays clear — a saved address never reappears over your edit, even if the vendor record loads a moment later.
  • On a retry, reminder, or renewal, the address the request was already sent to is kept. A newer directory address never quietly replaces it; change it yourself if it was wrong.
  • With no linked vendor record, or a record with no email saved, the field is left blank and says so. OwnerDraw never guesses an address from a company name.
  • Editing the address here does not change the Vendor Directory. Correct the directory record on the **Vendors** page if the saved address is wrong.
  • Switching to a different payment or vendor clears the field, so a recipient is never carried into another request.

If vendor information is missing, return to the expense or vendor record and correct it. For sending, retrying, or reminding, the panel requires a vendor email in its **Vendor email** field; it does not treat a missing address as sent.

5. Wait, retry, remind, or renew

  • **Awaiting signature** means a live signing link exists and the vendor has not signed. You are waiting on the vendor. Use **Send reminder** only from the open request when a reminder is needed; it reuses the same link.
  • **Email failed** means the request and link were created, but the email was not delivered. Enter or correct the address and select **Retry email**. Retrying reuses the request rather than creating a duplicate.
  • **Request expired** means the old link can no longer be used. Select **Renew request** to create a fresh request and link. The old request remains visible in history.

6. Upload an existing signed waiver

Select **Upload Signed Waiver**, choose the form that was actually signed, enter the amount covered, attach the signed PDF or image, and add a note if useful. You can explicitly select other payments by the same vendor that the document covers.

Selecting a file is not enough by itself. OwnerDraw records the waiver as **Signed** only after the upload finishes and the signed document record is created. Uploading this way does not email the vendor or start a signing request.

One waiver covers only the expenses you explicitly select. OwnerDraw does not guess based on a vendor name.

7. Find the signed document and previous requests

Inside an expense, expand **Documents & Activity**. Use **Open** for a document, **Copy link** for an active request, or **Send reminder** where shown, and review the dated history.

For the whole project, use **Waiver Documents & Requests**. **Document type** shows Conditional or Unconditional and Progress or Final. **Document status** describes that one document; **Signed** does not necessarily mean the expense's full waiver requirement is complete. Select **Check requirement** to open the linked expense's waiver panel and follow its next step. An unlinked upload shows **Not linked** or **Needs review**; select **Review & link**, inspect the vendor, amount, and payment period, then choose the correct expense. Use **Open document** to inspect the file.

Important distinctions

  • Saving an expense does not send a waiver.
  • Generating, previewing, or downloading a PDF does not mean it was sent or signed.
  • A signed conditional waiver does not by itself confirm payment cleared.
  • **Vendor Paid**, **Draw Funded — Vendor Unpaid**, and waiver status track different facts.
  • **Final** describes scope; **unconditional** describes payment conditions.
  • **Requirements met** means the configured requirement for this payment is met. It does not necessarily mean all vendor work is finished.

For professional builders

Treat requirement, release type, delivery, signature, and payment clearance as separate controls. When one waiver covers several payments, link each covered expense explicitly and use **Documents & Activity** as the audit trail. Confirm any statutory form, lender packet, or legal-sufficiency requirement outside OwnerDraw.

OwnerDraw helps prepare, route, store, and track waiver documents. It does not determine whether a document is legally sufficient or whether a lender will accept it.

Related guides

  • [How to Record and Manage Expenses](/help/expenses/expenses-page-guide) — record the payment, understand vendor and draw statuses, and open the Waiver panel.