Completion is the event that moves the money

Completion is the point where the works pass from construction into the defects phase. On HKIA and government GCC contracts it is marked by a certificate, and that certificate does real commercial work. It starts the maintenance or defects liability period, releases the first tranche of retention, and stops liquidated damages from running. The date on it matters to the money, not just the programme.

What the certificate triggers

The completion certificate is a hinge. Several separate consequences all turn on the one date, which is why the quantity surveyor tracks it closely.

• Retention release. The first half of the held retention typically falls due on completion, so the certificate date is a cash event.
• Defects period starts. The maintenance or defects liability period runs from completion, and its end releases the balance of retention.
• Damages stop. Liquidated damages for late completion cease at the certified completion date, so the date is contested for a reason.

Completion is not perfection

Completion does not mean the works are free of every fault. It means they are complete enough to be taken over and used, with outstanding minor items carried into the defects period. Reading it as perfection leads to certificates withheld over snagging that belongs on a defects list, which unfairly holds retention and keeps damages running.

No tax to settle at handover

There is no VAT or GST in Hong Kong, so completion carries no tax event. The retention released on the certificate is a clean value figure, gross equals net, with nothing to reconcile on a tax clock. Handover is a matter of value and dates, and nothing else.

The discipline

Record the completion certificate date the moment it issues, diary the retention release and the end of the defects period from it, and confirm damages have stopped. On a Hong Kong job the completion certificate is where time and money meet, and the surveyor who tracks it holds the whole close of the contract together.