South Carolina: Mechanic's Lien Waiver Form and Advance-Waiver Rules

Requirements one by one

The waiver is unenforceable until substantially equal payment is made

S.C. Code § 29-7-20(2) states the controlling rule:

An agreement to waive the right to file or claim a lien for labor and
materials is against public policy and is unenforceable unless payment
substantially equal to the amount waived is actually made.

This defeats a blanket waiver signed before work or payment. It also means a
token payment is not enough merely because some money changed hands: the actual
payment must be substantially equal to the amount of lien rights being waived.

South Carolina prescribes no payment-stage form

Section 29-7-20 supplies no conditional, unconditional, progress, or final form
and no claimant, owner, property, amount, check, through-date, exception,
signature-title, warning, or notary fields. Its only express writing reference
appears in the false-certification rule: a person certifying that everyone has
been paid may account for unpaid services or materials only where "all lien
rights have been waived in writing."

The enforceability test remains actual payment substantially equal to the amount
waived. Calling a private form "conditional" or "unconditional" does not replace
that statutory test.

The lien remedy and the contract debt are separate

Section 29-5-10(a) creates the real-property lien for qualifying labor and
materials, while § 29-7-10 gives laborers, subcontractors, and materialmen a
first lien on construction money received by a contractor or subcontractor.
The waiver language in § 29-7-20(2) is limited to the right to file or claim a
lien for labor and materials.

Section 29-5-420 separately says Chapter 5 does not prevent the creditor from
maintaining an action on the contract as if there were no lien. The waiver
statute does not state that giving up lien security also releases payment-bond
rights or the underlying contract claim.

What trips people up

The statute says "substantially equal," not merely "some payment." The
amount actually paid must correspond substantially to the amount waived. A
broad waiver paired with a small progress payment does not satisfy the text on
its face.

The criminal rule concerns a false payment certification. Under
§ 29-7-20(2), a person who willfully and intentionally certifies to an owner or
lender that everyone has been paid, when they have not, can face a misdemeanor,
a fine up to $5,000, imprisonment up to 60 days, or both. The written-waiver
exception belongs to that certification rule; the statute does not impose that
penalty merely for presenting a waiver form.

A pre-recording waiver is not the same as releasing a recorded lien. Once a
recorded lien debt is fully paid, § 29-5-430 requires the creditor to enter a
discharge on the registry margin or execute a recordable release. That later
land-record step is outside this survey's payment-stage waiver scope.

Common questions

Can a South Carolina construction contract waive all future lien rights?
Not enforceably before payment. The agreement is against public policy and
unenforceable unless actual payment is substantially equal to the amount waived.

Does South Carolina require four statutory waiver forms?
No. The statute supplies no conditional or unconditional progress or final
forms. Private wording remains subject to the actual-payment rule.

Must every waiver be notarized?
Section 29-7-20 states no general notarization requirement for a pre-recording
payment-stage waiver. It expressly mentions a writing only when a paid-in-full
certification relies on waived lien rights for services or materials that are
still unpaid.

Statutes and sources

• S.C. Code § 29-5-10(a), real-property mechanics' lien for labor and materials —
  https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed 2026-07-23)
• S.C. Code § 29-7-10, lien on construction money received by a contractor or
  subcontractor — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c007.php (accessed
  2026-07-23)
• S.C. Code § 29-7-20(2), anti-waiver, actual-payment, writing, and false-
  certification rules — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c007.php (accessed
  2026-07-23)
• S.C. Code §§ 29-5-420 and 29-5-430, contract action and post-recording
  discharge — https://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t29c005.php (accessed
  2026-07-23)