Retention is money held against the work and released in stages: half at practical completion, the balance once defects are made good. These guides cover the rate, the release dates, retention on variations and reconciling it at the final account.
There is no legal maximum and no standard figure to fall back on. Where the percentage comes from, what you will actually meet, and what twenty one thousand pounds of difference looks like on one job.
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You can, if the subcontract says so, and half the industry does it on autopilot. The honest questions first: what risk is it actually securing, will you ever administer the releases, and is a right you exercise against subs one you can complain about upwards?
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Practical completion is what releases the first half. What it takes to get it certified, why the rate has to drop in the same month, and why the second half is the money that goes missing.
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Everybody downstream dislikes it and the arguments against are strong. It survives because every alternative shifts the risk rather than removing it.
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The end of the rectification period is silent. No invoice, no application, no meeting, and that is exactly why the money sits there.
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Held should equal cumulative value at the applicable rates, less releases. When it does not, one of three specific things has gone wrong.
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Variations attract retention because they are work. Loss and expense normally does not, because there is no work in it that can be defective.
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The direction matters entirely. Money you hold and money somebody holds for you behave in opposite ways when a company fails.
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QScope tracks retention cumulatively across valuations, releases the first moiety at practical completion and the balance at the end of the rectification period.
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The clause is in the contract. The separate bank account usually is not, because nobody asked for it while the money still felt safe.
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