Completion

The certificates that actually move money

Practical completion is not a tidy site. It is a certificate, and on the date it carries, five separate things change at once. A program that prints the certificate and leaves the figures alone has done the easy half.

Sections with their own value, dates and damages rate
Retention released against the section, at that section’s practical completion
Partial possession reduces damages proportionately from the date of possession

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Completion

Sectional retention

Section A · PC 3 Mar 26£400,000

Section B · PC 9 Sep 26£600,000

Retention held on all works£50,000

Released at section PCs(£25,000)

Held after both sections£25,000

Half the retention attributable to each section is released at that section’s own practical completion, not at the end of the contract.

Sections and partial possession, handled separately

Where the contract divides the works into sections, each has its own completion date, its own damages rate and its own retention release.

A section handed over in March should not be waiting on a contract that finishes in November, and in most systems it is. Partial possession works the same way. Give the part a value and QScope releases retention against it as if it had reached practical completion, and reduces the damages rate in the same proportion, from the date of possession rather than retrospectively.

Completion

Issuing the certificate changes the arithmetic

Enter the date on the certificate and the retention halves from that valuation, the rectification period starts, and liability for liquidated damages ends.

Practical completion, partial possession, non-completion, making good and the final certificate
Each certificate prints as a formal document with the clause reference and its consequences
The certificate governs over the settings field, with a warning if the two disagree

Completion

Certificate of practical completion

Certified

7 Sep 26

Retention now

2.5%

Released

£12,500

Rate before certificate5.0%

Rate after certificate2.5%

Rectification period12 months

Balance released7 Sep 2027

Half the retention held was released on the certified date. The balance follows the certificate of making good.

Completion

Damages that survive being challenged

The calculation takes a minute.

Damages run from the revised completion date, not the original
Cap applied where the contract states one
Red warning where no certificate of non-completion has been issued

Completion

Liquidated damages

Completion date after extension12 Oct 2026

Practical completion9 Nov 2026

Weeks late4.00

Rate per week£2,500

Damages£10,000

No certificate of non-completion is on the register. Under a JCT form the deduction cannot be made until it is issued and the employer has given notice.

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Retention

The certificate hands the retention to the retention module

The moment practical completion is certified the held retention halves, and QScope carries the new figure straight onto the retention notice the client receives.

Rate halved from the certified date, not from a settings field
Release notice printed for the client on your letterhead
Balance held to the end of the rectification period

Retention

Position after PC-04

Rate now

2.5%

Held

£12,500

Release

7 Sep 27

Retention before certificate£25,000.00

Released at practical completion(£12,500.00)

Held to end of rectification£12,500.00

Half the retention was released on the certified date. The balance follows the certificate of making good.

Defects

Making good releases the last of it

The certificate of making good releases the balance of the retention, and it depends on the schedule of defects being clear.

Rectification end date filled from the practical completion date in Settings
A warning on making good while defects remain outstanding
Notified and made good held as separate dates on every item

Defects

Schedule at rectification end

On the schedule

Outstanding

To release

£12,500

Rectification period ended7 Sep 2027

Items made good19 of 23

Making goodWarning

Four items remain outstanding, and the certificate of making good shows a warning until the schedule is clear.

Every other function on the Completion and certificates screen

9 functions the sections above do not cover, each as it works in the program.

Functions 1 to 5

01Complete & archive project takes a finished job off the main list without changing a single figure, and Reopen project brings it back.

02Each certificate records what it applies to, the date certified, its number and any notes qualifying it.

03Guests on the project can read the completion screen, and a guest who is not given the client figures sees no damages rate.

04Before you archive, the project status card warns you about any valuation not yet marked as paid.

05The first print of a dated certificate fixes the parties as they stood that day, so a later change in the settings does not rewrite it.

Functions 6 to 9

06Register prints every contractual certificate issued, with its clause, date and the part of the works it covers.

07A Final Certificate cannot be dated until the payment periods are confirmed from the contract, because its date starts the final date for payment.

08When the damages figure cannot be worked out, the total says why, for example no LAD rate set.

09Practical completion, making good and the final certificate each appear on the Contract Register with what they release.

Who it is for

One programme, four clocks running on it

You are applying

You claim the time before damages run

You notice delay, name the relevant event and claim the time before the damages clock does the arguing for you.

Applying for payment

the same measurement

You are certifying

You award the weeks and stop the clock

You assess the extension from the other chair, and the completion certificate you issue halves retention and stops the damages clock.

Certifying payment

You are doing both

Your delay is your own money waiting

You run the programme and the money together, and a completion date that slips moves the whole payment tail with it.

Doing both yourself

You are reporting

A late job is a loan running long

You track completion against the facility term, because a job that finishes late is a loan that runs longer than the model.

Recommending a drawdown

The client, the architect and the tenderer are not on this list. They are the people you let in on a link: they see the one document you sent them, answer it, and that answer is written into the record. No account, no licence, no charge, on every plan.

FAQs

The questions this page raises most often, answered without a sales pitch at the end.

For retention, no: the date on the certificate governs, and QScope warns if the settings field disagrees. Damages and the end of the rectification period still read the practical completion date in Settings, so keep it filled in.

Give each section a value that reconciles to the contract sum. QScope warns you when the values do not add up, because retention is released against them and an unreconciled split releases the wrong amount.

The contract does not really allow it, because the consequences cannot be made conditional. Record outstanding work as a separate schedule and issue an unqualified certificate.

Damages run to the actual completion date you enter with them, or to the practical completion date in Settings, and no further.

From the blog

The part nobody teaches you, written down

Three pieces from the same corner of a contract as this page, answered at length and without a sales pitch at the end.

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Which delays entitle you to more time, and which do not?

The dividing line is simpler than the clause lists make it look: delay from the client’s side of the fence gives time, delay from yours does not, and neutral events give whatever the contract chose to give. Where weather really sits.

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A defect has appeared a year after handover. Am I still liable?

Almost certainly yes: the defects period ending did not end your responsibility, it ended a retention mechanism. How long liability really runs, six years on a signed contract, twelve on a deed, and how to respond to the call.

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