Retention, held in two halves and released in two

Retention is the Employer security for performance, and on a FIDIC contract it is mechanical. It is deducted the same way every month and released in two defined steps. On a large Doha project the sums held are substantial, so the surveyor who tracks them is the one who gets them back.

How it is deducted

Under Sub-Clause 14.3 the Engineer deducts retention from each Interim Payment Certificate at the percentage stated in the Contract Data, up to the limit set there. It comes off the certified gross value before the previous certificates are netted off. The deduction accumulates certificate by certificate until it reaches the cap, and then it simply holds.

The first release: Taking-Over

Under Sub-Clause 14.9 the first half of the retention is released when the Taking-Over Certificate is issued for the Works under Clause 10. Taking-Over is the point at which the Employer takes the work into use, and FIDIC treats that as the moment half the security is no longer needed. The Engineer certifies the release, and it flows through the next IPC.

Where the contract provides for Taking-Over of Sections, the corresponding proportion of the first half is released for each Section as it is taken over. On a phased Qatar project that is worth watching, because a Section taken over early frees its retention early, and that is cash a busy team can miss.

The second release: end of the Defects Notification Period

The remaining half is released after the Defects Notification Period expires and the Contractor has made good the notified defects. This is the point the contract treats the work as proven. The second half is often the harder one to collect, not because entitlement is unclear but because attention has moved to the next job.

• At Taking-Over. First half released, certified through the next IPC.
• At the end of the Defects Notification Period. Second half released, once outstanding defects are made good.
• On Sections. Proportionate release tracks each Section through both stages.

Why tracking beats remembering

With no statutory retention trust and no adjudication backstop in Qatar, the release depends on the surveyor knowing the running balance and the two trigger dates. A retention figure that is only ever seen as a deduction line, never as an asset with a due date, is a figure that quietly stays with the Employer. Keep a live balance of what is held, tie the first half to the Taking-Over Certificate and the second to the Defects Notification Period, and put both on the forecast so the cash is expected and chased.