Are your retentions being well retained?

21ST JUNE 2022


Did you know it is estimated that £3.2bn is tied-up at any one time in retentions? This is the money that's withheld from Contractors or Sub-Contractors until the contracted project is completed to a satisfactory standard within an agreed time period.

Naturally then, keeping on top of what you are owed, by whom and by when can be hard work. And frustrating too when you may have overlooked certain contract provisions that put you on the back foot when requesting payments.

The way to overcome retentions headaches is to:

  1. Make sure you know what you are signing up for by reading the contract and understand the retentions process set by your employer, and
  2. Outsource management of retentions to a specialist - Quantum CPM.

How our Retention Fund Management service works

Quantum CPM has a team of qualified quantity surveyors and contract management specialists who can work on your behalf - exactly like you would appoint an accountant to look after your company accounts.

Remember, better recovery of retentions has two huge benefits:

  1. You'll receive money that can be added to your profits - money that would otherwise have been lost, and
  2. You don't have to price the risk of non-recovery into your tender price.

With our service we keep a ledger of retentions due, monitor defect correction and chase down debtors. The service provides Contractors and Sub-Contractors with better retention recovery and control, supported with regular advice to management on commercial/accurate accounting for non-recoverable book debts.

Part of our Package of Services

Retention Fund Management is just one of the services we offer to help Sub-Contractors and Contractors protect themselves across the board in construction projects. These help to ensure their services can be delivered as promised with the minimum fuss or risk of financial loss.

These start before you agree to work on the project with our Contract Vetting service and also includes services for Project Liability Auditing and Final Account Control, right through to Retention Fund Management at the end.


To find out more about this topic and any of the challenges facing the UK construction industry, why not get in touch?

North and West: 0161 974 6655
North and East: 0113 447 0133