Retainage: How It Works and Best Practices

As the contractor has to do enough work to justify the billing, accountants treat this as a liability; the company owes the customer the work. Costs and estimated earnings in excess of billing works the other way; the customer owes the contractor. Should a project not be completed, the money withheld can go toward paying subs so they don’t lose out.

• This implies that the owner and the general contractor must agree on the money retained before beginning a project.
• Lien waivers and lien releases are completely different documents (even though they are often confused by the construction industry).
• Moreover, PandaDoc’s Contract Negotiations feature lets you view and comment on contract changes in a shared workflow 一 allowing ease of negotiating retention.
• While they might sound similar, these shouldn’t be confused with retainage receivable or retainage payable.

Retention for Construction Projects?

To manage work time and milestone accomplishments, some companies have even turned to innovative employee time clocks. Furthermore, maintaining and recording transactions tracking withheld funds is a major headache for everyone involved. Retention tactics in construction have been widely condemned around the world. The practice of withholding money from contractors during a construction project has been around for almost 200 years, and it still exists in substantially the same manner as it did in the 1840s. It can often come down to retainage vs. retention since they are often used interchangeably in many situations.

Submit accurate pay apps on time.

But, there are different rules depending on the location and project type. Except for the countries or states where having a retainage in construction is obligatory, you are free to negotiate its absence or some other, safer alternative with the individual entity you do business with. Merchants has almost exclusively focused on surety bonds for nearly a century, and has had an “A” (Excellent) rating or better from A.M. For the agreement made on…………………………………, you are keeping the sum of $………………… that you are willing to release the retention aforementioned in exchange for a guarantee and the Contract value. Other states will require immediate release of funds if the retainage is more than 10 percent on a $100,000 project or 5 percent on a project at $500,000 or more.

Set up retention policies for your contracts with PandaDoc contract management software

There are two main alternatives owners or general contractors typically request in lieu of holding retainage on a construction contract. However, many of these inexperienced companies were unable to work to the required standards, which led to a high number of insolvencies. Began to withhold 20% of contractors’ payments as security to ensure a project’s completion. Finally, when parties have agreed to retainage, it is vital that general and subcontractors plan for less upfront income throughout the project. Though retained monies will eventually be released, a cash crunch will likely be Record Keeping for Small Business felt in the short term.

• However, while retainage offers financial security and project quality benefits, it also presents challenges, including cash flow strain for contractors and the potential for disputes.
• It is meant to protect the client’s investment in the event that the construction project may run into some major issues.
• Get real-time insights into every pay app, waiver, and change order—all in one place.
• For example, an owner and contractor might agree to retain 10% of the payments until the job reaches 50% completion, after which they will reduce the retainage on progress payments to 5%.
• It is common for retainage to be released upon completion and acceptance of the project, but it can also be held for a specified period of time, such as 30, 60, or 90 days after completion.
• If there is to be retainage on the construction project, it is set forth in the construction contract.21 Retainage provisions are applicable to subcontracts as well as prime contracts.
• Unfortunately, it can be used against contractors by unethical persons who take advantage of the practice.

Clashes with mechanic’s liens

The vast majority of contracts often set the deadline of retention vs retainage retainage payments the exact date of the project’s substantial completion. As a result, it raises problems for many reasons when managing construction projects and participating crew. The subs who work at the start of the project, starting from laying the foundation, might be forced to wait for months or even years before collecting the retained amounts.