AIA G706 and G706A: The Closeout Affidavits That Unlock Final Payment

At the end of a project, the owner does not just cut a final payment check. The contract requires the contractor to provide a closeout package of documents that prove the work is complete, the subs and suppliers have been paid, and the title to the property is clear of liens and claims. The core documents in that stack are a small family of AIA forms: G704 (substantial completion), G706 (contractor's affidavit of payment), G706A (release of liens), and G707 (consent of surety to final payment). This post focuses on G706 and G706A.

These two forms are sworn statements by the contractor, signed and usually notarized. They are, in a real sense, the contractor's personal guarantee to the owner that the project's financial obligations have been satisfied. The sworn nature is what makes them consequential. A mechanic's lien filed after a G706 is signed exposes the contractor to a breach-of-contract claim and, if the facts are bad enough, potentially a fraud claim. AP teams that prepare these forms for signature need to understand the exposure.

G706: The Contractor's Affidavit of Payment of Debts and Claims

The G706 is the contractor's sworn statement that all debts, claims, and obligations of the contractor on the project have been paid or otherwise satisfied. The form requires the contractor to certify that payments have been made to subcontractors, material suppliers, equipment rental firms, labor, and anyone else for whom the contractor is responsible.

The form allows for exceptions — there's a section where the contractor lists any items that have not been paid and explains why. If a contractor genuinely has an unresolved claim (a warranty hold-back, a dispute with a supplier, a last invoice still in review), those can be called out on the G706. What the contractor is not allowed to do is sign the form representing everything is paid when they know it isn't, or when they should have known it isn't.

G706A: The Contractor's Affidavit of Release of Liens

The G706A is narrower than the G706 — it focuses specifically on liens and lien rights. The form requires the contractor to certify either that all lien waivers and releases have been obtained from parties with lien rights, or that bonds indemnifying the owner against liens are in place. Attached to the G706A are the actual lien waivers and releases from each subcontractor and supplier with lien rights on the project.

The practical question the G706A answers is: "Can the owner make final payment and know the property will not be liened by someone who worked on the project?" The waivers attached to the form are the evidence. Without complete waivers, the G706A exposes the contractor; it's effectively a certification that no lien claimant exists, backed by signed waivers from every potential claimant.

How G706 and G706A Fit With Standard Lien Waivers

Throughout the project, contractors collect progress lien waivers — typically unconditional waivers for previous payments and conditional waivers for the current progress payment. Those waivers are collected pay application by pay application. At the end, the G706A is the summary and consolidation of all those waivers.

A common mistake is to treat the G706A as a standalone document that replaces progress waivers. It doesn't — progress waivers are what lien statutes require and what build up the paper trail. The G706A is the contractor's roll-up certification that those waivers exist and are valid. If progress waivers were not collected properly during the job, the G706A at closeout is working on a thin foundation.

What AP Verifies Before the Contractor Signs

The AP team is the source of truth for the G706 and G706A inputs. Before the forms are signed, the team should have specific answers to specific questions.

Preparing the affidavits with known gaps is worse than saying they aren't ready yet. If a supplier has not signed a final waiver because they genuinely weren't paid, the G706 should not represent they were.

Joint Checks at Closeout

Joint check payments require extra attention at closeout. A joint check made payable to a sub and a supplier doesn't automatically satisfy both parties' lien rights — the waivers need to come from both. If the supplier endorses the joint check but hasn't sent a separate waiver, the supplier's lien right is still arguably open.

On the G706A, the contractor should confirm that joint check payees have each signed waivers for the amounts they received. If the joint check agreement that set up the arrangement included a lien waiver clause triggered by endorsement, that may substitute — but the better practice is a separate waiver form filed alongside the joint check record.

When Sub-Subs and Suppliers Are in the Mix

The G706A's lien coverage extends down the chain. A sub's supplier, a sub-sub, a material supplier to a sub — any party with lien rights under the state's lien statute — can file a lien if they aren't paid, regardless of whether they have a direct contract with the GC. The GC's affidavit covers the whole chain.

The way to cover this is to collect lower-tier waivers during the project (typically required by the subcontract as a condition of each progress payment to the first-tier sub) and verify their presence before signing the G706A. Some contracts require the first-tier sub to certify that their own lower tiers are paid on each pay application; that certification, if correctly collected, feeds up into the GC's final affidavit.

When an Exception Is Worth Disclosing

There's a tendency to want to get the forms signed clean and move on. That instinct is understandable but not always right. When a legitimate exception exists — a dispute with a sub over retainage, a warranty carve-out, a back-charge negotiation in progress — disclosing it on the G706 is often the right move. The owner would rather know about a documented exception than discover a lien filing after they've released final payment relying on a sworn affidavit of no exceptions.

Well-drafted exceptions on a G706 typically include the party involved, the nature of the claim, the estimated amount, and what steps are being taken to resolve it. Owners often release final payment subject to an escrow for the excepted amount — the project closes, the contractor gets most of their money, and the small disputed piece is held in escrow until resolved.

The Fraud Risk of a Careless Signature

Because the G706 and G706A are sworn statements, knowingly false statements on them are problematic beyond contract law. In some jurisdictions, a materially false sworn statement can support criminal fraud charges. More commonly, it supports a civil fraud claim that can survive an otherwise contractual dispute.

The risk is not just theoretical. When a lien is filed by a supplier after a G706A was signed representing full lien release, the supplier's attorney may include the GC and the GC's signing officer individually in the lien foreclosure suit, arguing fraudulent inducement to release final payment. Even if that claim fails, defending it is expensive.

The operational lesson is: the individual signing the G706 and G706A needs to trust the data. AP's job is to make that data trustworthy — complete lien waiver files, reconciled vendor ledgers, and documented exceptions for anything ambiguous.

Bottom Line

The G706 and G706A are short forms that carry serious weight. They're the sworn representations that unlock final payment, and their accuracy depends on the discipline of progress lien waiver collection, accurate AP ledgers, and honest disclosure of exceptions. AP teams that prepare these forms thoroughly — with complete waiver stacks, reconciled balances, and documented exceptions — protect the contractor from exposure and protect the owner from lien surprises. Signing them carelessly is how small closeout problems become legal problems.