Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>We are owed retention on a state project. Should this sent in a verified statement to the advertising entity before they make final settlement?
We are owed retention on a state project. Should this sent in a verified statement to the advertising entity before they make final settlement?
We are owed retention on a state job. The City for which we completed the work has advertised for outstanding payment for final settlement. Should retention be included in this or it is for other work beside retention that has not been paid?
1 reply
Apr 19, 2018
That's a great question, and sorting our retention payments at the end of a job can get hairy - especially with public projects. To provide an answer - let's first look at the CO retainage laws for public projects. In Colorado, up to 5% retainage may be withheld until the project is completed satisfactorily and finally accepted by the public entity. Once the project is accepted, the public entity must release payment to the prime contractor within 60 days. Granted, a contractor may request a release of retainage (and a public entity may release it) earlier than that. Once that contractor receives payment, they must make payments to their subcontractors within 7 calendar days. Once the first-tier subs receive payment, they must release payments to their subs and suppliers within 7 days. Considering Colorado's retainage laws contemplate disbursement after the final acceptance of the project, it would seem that if payments were being properly retained, a call for outstanding payment might not contemplate properly retained amounts. However, the safest option might be to notify the public authority that all owed amounts, except for retention amounts, have been paid - if that is the case, of course.