OldShooter
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
In may limited experience, a requirement for lien waivers has been implicit, not explicit. I'm sure this varies from state to state, though. I'd suggest you contact the consumer affairs tentacle of your state attorney general's office. They may have a publication to send you or may just be able to discuss the question with you. You could also buy an hour of a real estate attorney's time to make sure you are on firm ground.... Regarding the second boldface - unfortunately, my wife and I were unaware of lien wavers prior to signing the contract and as a result did not have it included as a requirement in the contract. Please tell me how we can "get him to sign" a mechanical lien release that wasn't required in the contract - I'd love to know. If we withhold payment, he'll most definitely put a lien on my home, or cause some sort of legal trouble.
In a nutshell, in our state anyway, if the GC does not pay a sub that sub gets an automatic lien against your house and it is only released when somebody pays. Running out of cash, robbing Peter to pay Paul, is the most common way to go out of business. If you have any sense that your GC might be having cash flow problems. the lien waivers are worth paying attention to. One workaround is for you to pay the major subs and the lumber yard, deducting from his final check. Then you know things are kosher.