We're already recovering old retention. Do we need Retention Loss Prevention as well?
Yes, if you want the next jobs' retention back on time: Retention Claim gets back what was left behind, and Retention Loss Prevention stops it happening again.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
The answer
Most retention is not lost because it was refused. It is lost because the request never went in on the day the release fell due. Recovering old jobs does not change that on its own. Retention Loss Prevention builds one register of the retention held on every live and finished job. For each job it records the sum held, taken from the applications and certificates, and each release in that subcontract's own words. Each release gets its due date, the evidence it needs, a diary warning and a request ready for its application. We prove the routine on your next live release, with your team making the request and checking the Payment Notice that answers it. Then we hand it over to your own people. That is why every Retention Claim ends with a Handover Pack that prices what the missed dates cost you and recommends Retention Loss Prevention. If a release is already overdue when we build the register, we tell you in writing that day.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
A mechanical subcontractor is part way through recovering retention left behind on old jobs. It still has eight live jobs deducting retention from every payment.
What happens
- Each live subcontract's retention terms are read: the percentage, any limit, what triggers each release and when payment follows.
- The register records the sum held on each job from the applications and certificates, with every release date and the evidence it needs.
- A diary warning goes in ahead of every date, and each request is written ready for its application.
- The commercial manager makes the next live request from the register and checks the Payment Notice that answers it.
The outcome
The old jobs stay with the recovery. The eight live jobs have every release date in a diary the subcontractor's own team keeps.
To have every release date on every job in one register and diary, see our Retention Loss Prevention service.