Retention Statement Template (UK Construction) + Release Letter
Free retention statement template in Excel and a Word retention release request letter. How much is held, when each half is released, and how to ask for it in a way that gets paid.
Key Takeaways
- There is no statutory retention scheme and no statutory release date — the contract decides everything.
- The JCT default is 3%, commonly amended to 5%. Read the particulars rather than assuming.
- Diarise both release dates at contract award; the second half is the one that gets forgotten.
- Attach the statement to the request so the payer does not have to rebuild the arithmetic.
- Release is a payment under the contract and goes through the same notice machinery as any other.
Retention tracked from the first certificate to the last release
Site Samurai deducts retention on each certified cycle at the contract percentage, keeps the running balance per project, and holds both release dates from the day the contract is set up. The statement you attach to a release request comes off the same record the valuations came from, so the payer is checking your arithmetic rather than rebuilding it.
What retention is, and what it is not
Retention is a contractual deduction from each certified payment, held as security against defects and non-completion. There is no statutory retention scheme in the UK and no statutory release date — everything about retention comes from your contract. JCT sets a default retention percentage of 3%, which is very commonly amended upward to 5% and occasionally higher. Half is typically released on practical completion and the balance on the certificate of making good at the end of the rectification period.
- It is a deduction from a certified sum, not a separate debt with its own rules.
- The percentage and the release triggers are contractual.
- The JCT default is 3%; amendment to 5% is normal, so read the particulars.
- The rectification or defects liability period is commonly six months to two years.
When each half is released
Two dates, both contractual, both easy to miss because they fall long after everyone has moved to the next job.
| Release | Typical trigger | Typical amount | What to attach |
|---|---|---|---|
| First half | Practical completion of the works or the subcontract works | Half the retention held | Practical completion certificate and the retention statement |
| Second half | Certificate of making good, at the end of the rectification period | The balance held | Certificate of making good, defect close-out evidence, retention statement |
- Since the 2011 amendments to the Construction Act, a subcontract cannot make release of your retention conditional on an event under a different contract, such as the main contractor being paid its own retention upstream.
- A retention bond is sometimes offered as an alternative to cash retention. It improves cashflow but costs money — a tender-stage conversation, not a close-out one.
Download Templates
What the statement must show
The point of the statement is that the payer can check the figure without rebuilding it. Every cycle, in one table.
- Each valuation number and certificate date.
- The gross certified sum for that cycle.
- The retention percentage applied.
- Retention held in that cycle, and cumulatively.
- Anything released to date, with the date and the trigger.
- The balance held, which is the figure you are asking for.
- The release trigger dates for both halves, so the next one is visible.
Worked example
A subcontract certifies £310,000 gross across nine cycles at 3% retention, so £9,300 is held. Practical completion is certified on 14/08/2026, releasing the first half of £4,650. The request goes in on 17/08/2026 with the certificate and the retention statement attached, and the release is certified in the cycle valued at 25/08/2026, due on 01/09/2026 with a final date for payment of 15/09/2026. The rectification period runs twelve months, so the certificate of making good is expected around 14/08/2027 and the balance of £4,650 falls due after it. Both dates are in the tracker on the day the subcontract is signed, not discovered a year later.
Common mistakes
Retention is rarely refused. It is usually just never requested.
- Not diarising the release dates at contract award, so the second half is forgotten entirely.
- Asking for retention without a statement, so the payer has to reconstruct the arithmetic before it can agree.
- Assuming release is automatic when the trigger date passes — it still has to be certified and paid.
- Deducting retention twice, once inside the valuation line and again as a separate deduction.
- Not chasing outstanding defects, so the certificate of making good never issues and the second half never falls due.
- Treating retention as a separate debt outside the payment machinery, when it is an ordinary payment under the contract.
How a release actually gets paid
Retention release goes through the same machinery as every other payment. Once the trigger is reached, the amount is included in a payment cycle, certified in the payment notice for that cycle, and payable by the final date for payment. If the payer wants to hold some of it back for defects, it must give a valid pay less notice — the same rules, the same deadlines. That is why the release request asks the payer to confirm the due date and the final date for payment.
- Trigger reached → release request with statement → certified in a cycle → paid by the final date.
- A certified release that is not paid in full is an ordinary notified-sum claim.
- Statutory interest on a late commercial debt runs at 8% above the Bank of England base rate, with fixed compensation of £40, £70 or £100 depending on the size of the debt.
Sources
Every statement of law or standard-form practice on this page was checked against the source named below before publication. This is general information, not legal advice — your contract governs retention entirely.
- BESA, "Retentions and security" and Designing Buildings, "Retention" — thebesa.com/payments/retentions-security
- BEIS Research Paper, “Retentions in the Construction Industry”, Pye Tait Consulting, October 2017 — assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/654399/Retention_Payments_Pye_Tait_report.pdf
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, Part II, ss.109–111 (as amended by the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Act 2009) — legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1996/53/part/II
- JCT, "JCT explains: interim payments" (SBC/Q 2016 clauses 4.9 and 4.11) — corporate.jctltd.co.uk/jct-explains-interim-payments/
- Late Payment of Commercial Debts (Interest) Act 1998, s.5A, and gov.uk "Late commercial payments: charging interest and debt recovery" — legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1998/20/section/5A
Last reviewed: 2 September 2026
Both release dates on the record from day one
Site Samurai holds retention against each project, tracks both release dates, and produces the statement to attach to a request.
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