Construction retainage limits by US state — maximum withholding percentages, release deadlines, escrow requirements, and public vs private distinctions with statutory citations
State-by-state comparison of the statutory rules governing retainage (retention) on construction contracts. Each record is one state with the maximum retainage percentage for public and private projects, the deadline for releasing retained funds after substantial completion, whether retainage must be held in an interest-bearing escrow account, whether the cap is reduced after a completion milestone (e.g. 50% complete), and the statutory citation. Caps range from 0% (New Mexico) to 10%, with a strong trend toward 5%. Answers 'how much retainage can be withheld on my project in [state]', 'when must retainage be released', and 'does my state require retainage escrow'.
The data
| State | Public project retainage cap (%) | Private project retainage cap (%) | Release deadline | Escrow required | Milestone reduction | Statutory citation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California | 5% | not addressed in this statute | upon final completion and acceptance of the project | not addressed in this statute | after 95% of the work has been completed, the department may reduce the funds withheld to an amount not less than 125 percent of the estimated value of the work yet to be completed | Cal. Pub. Cont. Code § 10261 |
| Connecticut | no statutory cap stated on this page | no statutory cap stated on this page | not stated on this page | public only | none | not stated on this page |
| Florida | 5% | no statutory cap | same time limits for payment of a payment request apply regardless of whether the payment request is for, or includes, retainage | no | none | Fla. Stat. § 255.078 |
| Louisiana | no statutory cap stated on this page | no statutory cap stated on this page | not stated on this page | yes | none | not stated on this page |
| Michigan | no statutory cap stated on this page | no statutory cap stated on this page | not stated on this page | public only | none | not stated on this page |
| Nevada | 5% | no statutory cap | within 30 days after occupancy, use, or recording of notice of completion, whichever occurs first | no | after 50% of the work has been completed, the public body may pay remaining progress payments without withholding additional retainage | NRS 338.515 |
| New Mexico | 0% | 0% | not applicable | no | none | N.M. Stat. |
| New York | 5% | 5% | not stated on this page | not stated on this page | none | not stated on this page |
| Ohio | no statutory cap stated on this page | no statutory cap stated on this page | not stated on this page | public only | none | not stated on this page |
| Tennessee | no statutory cap stated on this page | no statutory cap stated on this page | not stated on this page | yes | none | not stated on this page |
| Virginia | 5% | no statutory cap | included in the final payment | no | none | Va. Code § 2.2-4333 |
Where this came from
Every record above links the page it was taken from and quotes the sentence that states it. These are the 5 sources this dataset was assembled from.
- leginfo.legislature.ca.govhttps://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?sectionNum=10261.&lawCode=PCC
- constructioncoverage.comhttps://constructioncoverage.com/glossary/retainage
- leg.state.fl.ushttp://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&URL=0200-0299/0255/Sections/0255.078.html
- leg.state.nv.ushttps://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/nrs-338.html
- law.lis.virginia.govhttps://law.lis.virginia.gov/vacode/2.2-4333/
Machine-readable
- data.jsonThe whole dataset — every record with its source URL and source quote.
- Open Knowledge Format bundleOne JSON object per line — every record's frontmatter and quoted span exactly as it is held here, in one fetch.
- How this is made and checkedWhat "verified against source" does and does not mean.