On August 5, 2020, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp formally signed into law Senate Bill (SB) 315[1] to restore statutory lien and bond waivers to their original intended purpose of waiving lien and bond rights only and to resolve the confusion caused by ALA Construction Services, LLC v. Controlled Access, Inc.[2], in which the Georgia Court of Appeals held that Georgia statutory lien waivers can also waive breach of contract claims.[3]

SB 315 will take effect on January 1, 2021. Lien waivers signed from that point forward will only waive lien and bond rights, and not other claims, to the extent of the amounts stated in the waiver and release. The current lien and bond waivers should be used until the bill takes effect. For more details on the changes to lien and bond waivers caused by SB 315, please refer to our previous SGR Construction Blog on this topic, found here.

Please contact the Construction Group at Smith, Gambrell, & Russell, LLP if you have any questions about SB 315, the ALA Construction decision, or Georgia’s lien statute in general. We can help businesses in the construction industry navigate Georgia’s lien statute, including the changes due to SB 315, and provide guidance to businesses on how to protect their interests accordingly.

[1] A copy of SB 315 can be found here.

[2] ALA Constr. Servs., LLC v. Controlled Access, Inc., 351 Ga. App. 841, 833 S.E.2d 570 (Ga. Ct. App. 2019).

[3] Id. at 843.