Running the Business · Part 3
Template: the four statutory lien waiver and release forms (Civil Code 8132 to 8138), verbatim
Lesson 17 of 19~8 minFree previewCurrent as of September 2026
The only four forms California allows for waiving lien, stop payment notice, and payment bond rights, exactly as the Civil Code sets them out, with the rule for which one to use when: conditional with the invoice, unconditional when the check has cleared; progress during the job, final at the end. Never sign an unconditional release before the money is in your account; the form itself warns you in the largest type on the page.
What the full lesson covers
- Conditional on Progress Payment (8132): with each progress invoice, before payment; effective only when the named check clears.
- Unconditional on Progress Payment (8134): after the progress payment has cleared; this is the release you owe a residential customer under B&P 7159.5(a)(6).
- Conditional on Final Payment (8136): with the final invoice; Unconditional on Final Payment (8138): after the final payment has cleared.
- Fill the exceptions: retentions, unpaid extras, prior conditional releases not yet paid, and disputed extras in a stated dollar amount. A blank exception line waives the item.
- The forms are statutory; do not edit the text. Any other form is void.
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