What's the longest any of you have waited before receiving retention?

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wiredit

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I finished two jobs in December and am still waiting for my retention to the tune of $82,000.00. I do a lot of work with this customer and they have always paid retainage before, but it only took roughly 60 days in the past. We are now approaching 90 days and I have contacted them and they keep telling me that they are expecting retention funding from the owner any day. Would you guys just wait it out or would you start raising hell hoping that would make it arrive quicker?
 
I would contact the owner directly and find out what it going on, it could be somthing as simple as someone in the office not doing their job.
 
wiredit said:
I finished two jobs in December and am still waiting for my retention to the tune of $82,000.00. I do a lot of work with this customer and they have always paid retainage before, but it only took roughly 60 days in the past. We are now approaching 90 days and I have contacted them and they keep telling me that they are expecting retention funding from the owner any day. Would you guys just wait it out or would you start raising hell hoping that would make it arrive quicker?
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i was a PM for a company 3 years ago. i still get calls from subs on that job
who haven't been paid retention. job's been done 2 1/2 years.

right now, lot's of people's money is sitting in other people's banks. it's a sign
of the times. everyone is waiting for someone else to pay them. :-(
 
have you read your contract or spec. documents? on public work jobs it spells out exactly when all payments must be made by and what you should do if payment doesn't arrive by then.
 
What difference does it make whether the owner pays the builder? Your contract should not state anything about the owner and his dealings with the GC. Your contract is with the GC. He should have the operating capital to pay you.

Pay-when-paid is a bad way to do business. I'd look into starting collection proceedings, including filing a lein.
 
How bad do you need the money and are you ready to cut ties with this general contractor?? Years ago,when i still worked for generals, my retainage was $130,000. on a job we did for Turner Construction - one of the largest GC's in the country. WE never had one item, not one, on the punch list. Their woman accountant told me, point blank, "WE WILL PAY YOU WHEN THE PUNCH LIST IS DONE!". When i explained that we never had the first item on the punch list, she said "LET ME PUT IT IN DIFFERENT WORDS "WE WILL PAY YOU WHEN THE PUNCH LIST IS DONE AND WHEN WE (f-in) FEEL LIKE IT!" The money was 6 months overdue, and at the time i didn't need the money, but it was a matter of principle! I had made up my mind i was getting out of the business of working for general contractors - so i filed a lien which made them look stupid to the building owners. Turner's attorney told me "you should have contacted us before filing a lien" ! I told him "you should have hire a professional accountant". Never bid anymore work for Turner and didn't miss them!
 
480sparky said:
What difference does it make whether the owner pays the builder? Your contract should not state anything about the owner and his dealings with the GC. Your contract is with the GC. He should have the operating capital to pay you.

Pay-when-paid is a bad way to do business. I'd look into starting collection proceedings, including filing a lein.
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You shouls always contract with the owner, never with the GC, the owner has the real assets, that you can go after, yet everyday someone falls into the trap and starts projects with no attorney, and accept the GC's terms, then when everything falls apart, they are out of luck, we always use our contract and our terms, GC and owner hunt for green guys that they can play with, and there are plenty of guys that want the work so bad they will accept the GC's offer. and if you talk to them later they will say, but that is the way everyone does it, no it is not the way everyone does it.
 
How do you know the owner has not paid the GC?
You as a sub, when you enter into a contract with a GC, should notify the owner, in a certified letter that the GC is holding retainage.
If the owner paid retainage to the GC, and the GC skips town, you might have a case to hold the owner liable for your retainage.
 
this could be a case of the GC having cashflow problems and is using your money to stay afloat. I would contact the owner asap.
 
cdslotz said:
How do you know the owner has not paid the GC?
You as a sub, when you enter into a contract with a GC, should notify the owner, in a certified letter that the GC is holding retainage.
If the owner paid retainage to the GC, and the GC skips town, you might have a case to hold the owner liable for your retainage.
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First off, this above is great advice and we do it on every project that we have and stipulate in the letter that the owner has 3 days from date of releasing any payment --including all progress payments --- to the GC to notify us by certified mail. That is what puts the owner on the hook for the money should the GC skip. I received that info from my lawyer after our first major lien lawsuit. Secondly, you cant create a contract with the owner. He doesn't have a general contracting license and therefore cannot produce General Contracts for construction. But what we do is mark the contract they send us up with our lawyer to give us better terms. We have only had a few GC's give us a bunch of grief over it but we are usually already on the project so there isn't much they can do.
 
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