Yes, to a certain extent.
Hawaii is fairly lenient with respect to allowing construction participants to dictate payment terms through their own contracts. While, generally, the ability to control payment terms through contract doesn’t modify the existence of the debt itself, the terms can have a big impact on payment. Having control over many of the payment terms means that a construction contract in Hawaii can make it take longer or be more difficult to recover amounts owed.
Hawaii doesn’t regulate the content or timing of lien waivers, so participants on a construction project in Hawaii can find themselves without the ability to secure the amount owed to them through a mechanics lien. This can have significant impact on payment, especially when the party who should be paying runs into financial difficulties or even declares bankruptcy.
Additionally, Hawaii allows parties to determine that payment to the party above them on the payment chain is a condition precedent to their own payment. This means that the right to payment can be completely barred if payment is not forthcoming from higher on the payment chain. While no Hawaii courts have specifically addressed this issue, Hawaii statute HRS Sec. 444-25 states that: “If payment is contingent upon receipt of funds, the contractor shall clearly state this fact in the contractor’s solicitation of bids.”