Who this applies to
Private work. The limit in § 42-158k reaches every "construction contract" as chapter 742b defines the term [1], including the subcontracts on a covered project. The definition leaves out:
- public works or other building contracts with Connecticut, the United States, another state, or a municipality or political subdivision;
- projects funded or insured by HUD;
- owner-contractor contracts of $25,000 or less [1], and the subcontracts that result from them;
- contracts for a building intended for residential occupancy with four or fewer units [1].
Public work. Section 49-41b governs where § 49-41 requires a payment bond and the contract calls for a performance bond in the full contract price [2]. Its caps bind the awarding authority and, one tier down, the general or prime contractor in what it holds from subcontractors.
What the rule says
Connecticut regulates the private side end to end and the public side by who is paying. A private construction contract may not provide for retainage above 5% [1] of the estimated amount of a progress payment, for the life of the project, and the owner owes all of it within 30 days [1] of certifying final completion or accepting the work in writing. Bonded public work has three caps, set by who awards the contract.
How to comply
Private contracts
- Measure the retainage clause against 5% [1] of each progress payment's estimated amount.
- Start the 30-day [1] clock when the owner, or its authorized representative, issues the certificate of final completion, or when the owner accepts the work in an equivalent writing.
- If payment does not come, the claim is served by registered or certified mail. Ten days later the payer owes interest at 1% per month [1] from its receipt of the notice and, on written demand, must put the claimed amount plus that interest in an interest-bearing escrow account at a Connecticut bank. An unreasonable refusal to escrow brings attorneys' fees on top of the payment and interest; bad-faith withholding adds 10% damages [1].
- In an action to enforce § 42-158k, a court may award court costs and reasonable attorney's fees to the prevailing party [1].
- Chapter 742b also has sections on retainage escrow accounts, § 42-158p, and on exclusions from escrow, § 42-158q [1].
Public contracts
The cap turns on who advertised the contract [2]:
- Department of Administrative Services or another state agency. No more than 7.5% [2] withheld from the general or prime contractor, reduced to 5% once the contract is 50% complete [2]. The prime may withhold from a subcontractor no more than 7.5% or what is being withheld from the prime, whichever is less, with the same drop to 5% at the halfway mark [2].
- State Department of Transportation. No more than 2.5% [2], at both tiers.
- Municipal awarding authorities. No more than 5% [2], at both tiers.
On state agency contracts the reduction is payable within 90 days after a complete application for payment showing 50% completion is submitted [2], and the awarding authority must run an early release program for periodic payments from primes to subcontractors. Section 49-41b does not itself fix a deadline for releasing the rest of the retainage [2]; the contract and a lawyer answer that question.
A general contractor or subcontractor that fails to pay as required, after notice by registered or certified mail, owes 1% per month [2] from ten days later, must escrow the claim plus 1% [2] in a Connecticut bank on written demand, and pays the claimant's attorney's fees if it refuses to escrow and the claimant is found to have substantially performed.
What changed recently
P.A. 10-148 cut the private cap from 7.5% to 5% [1], and P.A. 17-182 added the owner-payment provision effective July 1, 2017 [1]. The public section, § 49-41b, dates to P.A. 77-306, and its most recent listed amendment is P.A. 16-104 [2].
Related
- Retainage calculator: pay-application math with a step-down option.
- Retainage laws by state: the state-by-state index.