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Renovating
rach_at_montanea

When should 5% snagging rentention be paid?

rach_at_montanea
5 years ago

We are currently negotiating the final contract details with our builder for him to complete a double storey extension and renovation to our house. It's a fairly big project. He is a sole operator and brings in other trades as and when required during the build. We've checked his references (they're solid) and we are happy with what we see of his previous builds, however this build is bigger than his normal projects - in fact it's his biggest yet. We would like to hold back 5% of the total sum to cover a snagging period at the end of the build. Is that normal for residential projects employing a small building firm? How long should the snagging 'period last? 2-3 months? I read online about 6 months but worry that it's not fair to a small builder to hold onto a large sum of cash for so long. Advice appreciated!

Comments (3)

  • Tani H-S
    5 years ago
    I think when I ran a company contracting to a larger company they kept the retention for 3 months. One did it for 6 months but paid half of it back after 3 months so you could look at doing stage returns of the 5%
    Ie a month after the build you agree to pay of a portion of the retention and so on.

    Sometimes the company will add on the retention to their costs though in planning but I would perhaps discuss it with the builder and see what they think.
    I knew my work was good and wouldn’t fail so I didn’t have a problem with the small retention which gave my customers confidence in my skills.
  • rach_at_montanea
    Original Author
    5 years ago
    Thanks Tani, your comments are appreciated. We’ve decided on a 2 month retention at the end at 5%, mostly for the reasons already outlined and also because his references are so solid. I was very tempted to say 3 months... time will tell!
  • PRO
    Akiva Projects Ltd
    5 years ago

    This is a good topic to discuss on our podcast @propertyrenovationpodcast as I hear more and more people concern about this area and it’s mostly discretionary still.



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