Contractor remodeling a part of the interior of my house is owed a balance and I want to know what form I use to insure that he has paid all of the suppliers and any laborers he used to complete the work.
1 reply
Jul 9, 2018
It's a wise move to be concerned at whether your contractor has paid all of their subs and suppliers. Of course, it's also worth mentioning that there's a good chance that the contractor will not be able to make final payments to their subs and suppliers until the contractor themselves has received the payment. Anyway, while Alabama statute may not provide a particular statutory document for the above situation, that does not mean an owner cannot verify that their contractor has made all necessary payments. One option that can be effective is to request an Affidavit of Payment from the contractor. In fact, an Affidavit of Payment is a statutorily created document in other states. An Affidavit of Payment, when submitted by the contractor, certifies that the contractor has made all necessary payments on the project, and it can help an owner more confidently send payments down the chain. You can find a downloadable form for requesting an affidavit here, titled "Request for Affidavit of Payment (General)." While this document can be effective, another route many owners take is to request lien waivers from everyone on the payment chain before making payment. When this method is utilized, owners typically demand that their contractor provide a lien waiver completed by everyone on the payment chain - often a large number of parties. When a lien waiver is in hand for everyone on the job, the owner can be sure that everyone has been paid on the job - or at least that everyone waives their lien rights upon the receipt of payment (if conditional waivers are utilized). For more on the subject, try this article: The Property Owner’s Guide to Lien Waivers.