When is retention released in construction?
Usually in two parts, at practical completion and at the end of the defects period, but your subcontract sets the events and the dates.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
The answer
It decides the split, the events and any certificate or application each release needs. No standard date applies to every job. A release falls due only when its event has actually happened, not when the programme said it would. So for each job, list what is held, the event each release waits for, and whether it has happened. Keep a forecast date apart from a confirmed event, and a confirmed event apart from money due now. Then ask for each release that has fallen due in your next application, with the evidence attached. Your main contractor may give a reason for holding it: a missing certificate, the employer's own retention, or a notice. Have your solicitor check what that reason does before you accept it or treat the sum as due.
Example
Illustrative example. The scenario and figures are invented.
The facts
An office-block subcontract shows £30,000 of retention held. £15,000 is described as due at practical completion and the other £15,000 after a stated defects event.
What happens
- Each £15,000 is set against the certificate or event that triggers it.
- The schedule records the certificates, applications, dates, notices and any open defect.
- The main contractor's reply says the employer has not released its own retention. That reason is checked against the subcontract and the law, not accepted or rejected by rule of thumb.
The retention in figures
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Retention held | £30,000 |
| Due at practical completion | £15,000 |
| Due after the defects event | £15,000 |
The outcome
The result is a clear record of what is held, what has fallen due and what still waits on an event. It does not by itself mean the money will be paid.
To have every retention you are owed found, valued and recovered, see our Retention Claim service.