The Retainage Release Clock: How Long an Owner Can Sit on Your Retained Money in All 50 States
✓ Verified against state statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
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Key Findings of the 2026 Retainage Release Survey
The country splits exactly in half. Twenty-five states put a statutory clock on private-project retainage release, and twenty set no private release deadline at all, leaving timing to the contract. The remaining five do something else entirely: Montana and Washington require release without a day count, New Mexico bans retainage, and Colorado and Texas require the owner to hold money back after completion. Among states that count from completion or acceptance, Oregon allows 7 days after the owner approves all work and Florida 14 days after the punchlist, while Maryland and Tennessee allow 90, a 13-fold spread on the same event. Massachusetts and Rhode Island do not let the contractor apply until 60 days after substantial completion, then allow 30 more. Release deadlines count from completion of the whole job, while lien windows in most states count from the claimant's own last furnishing, so a subcontractor that left the job early can see its lien window close on or before the owner's release deadline. In Mississippi the cushion is just 30 days. California capped private retention at 5 percent for contracts entered on or after January 1, 2026 under Civ. Code 8811, Mississippi created a private 60-day release rule for contracts on or after July 1, 2024, and Georgia, frequently listed with a 30-day private release rule, has no such deadline in O.C.G.A. 13-11-5.
Three Ways a State Starts the Retainage Clock
The 25 timed states disagree not only on the number of days but on what the days are counted from. Twenty completion-clock states count from a project event such as substantial completion, final completion, final acceptance, occupancy, or a certificate, which the owner or architect controls. Three billing-clock states count from the contractor's billing for retainage and deem that billing approved after a fixed silence: Arizona after 14 days with payment 7 days later under A.R.S. 32-1182, Illinois after 25 days with payment 15 days after approval under 815 ILCS 603/10, and New Jersey after 20 days with payment 30 days after billing under N.J.S.A. 2A:30A-2, which expressly covers retainage monies. Two application states, Massachusetts under M.G.L. c. 149 section 29F and Rhode Island under R.I. Gen. Laws 37-12-10.1, allow a retainage application only 60 days after substantial completion and require payment 30 days after the application, an effective minimum of about 90 days. In the billing-clock states the deadline does not exist until the contractor sends the paper that creates it.
The Completion-Clock States Ranked From 7 Days to 90
Oregon requires final payment within 7 days after the owner approves all work under ORS 701.625, and Florida requires payment within 14 days once a substantial completion event has occurred and the punchlist is substantially complete under Fla. Stat. 715.12. The 30-day group is Connecticut from a certificate of final completion under Conn. Gen. Stat. 42-158k, Kansas from substantial completion under K.S.A. 16-1804, Kentucky from written certification of substantial completion under KRS 371.410, Maine and Vermont from final acceptance under 10 M.R.S. 1116 and 9 V.S.A. 4005, Missouri from substantial completion under RSMo 436.324, Nevada from occupancy, use, or availability under NRS 624.620, New York from final approval on private projects of 150,000 dollars or more under Gen. Bus. Law 756-c, and Pennsylvania from final acceptance under 73 P.S. 509. Idaho requires release within 35 days of final completion under Idaho Code 29-115. California allows 45 days after completion under Civ. Code 8812, Nebraska 45 days under Neb. Rev. Stat. 45-1203, Utah 45 days after the latest of several triggers under Utah Code 13-8-5, Alabama 60 days under Ala. Code 8-29-3, Minnesota 60 days under Minn. Stat. 337.10, and Mississippi 60 days under its 2024 act. Maryland allows 90 days after substantial completion on contracts of 100,000 dollars or more under Real Property 9-304, and Tennessee allows 90 days under Tenn. Code Ann. 66-34-103, with retainage on prime contracts of 500,000 dollars or more held in a third-party interest-bearing escrow under 66-34-104.
The Early-Finisher Problem
A release deadline counts from completion of the project, while a mechanics lien window in most states counts from the claimant's own last day furnishing labor or materials. Subtracting the owner's release deadline from the subcontractor's lien window gives the cushion: Mississippi 30 days (90-day lien under Miss. Code Ann. 85-7-405 against a 60-day release), Idaho 55, Alabama 60, Connecticut 60, Kansas 60 (3-month lien under K.S.A. 60-1103), Maine 60, Minnesota 60, Oregon 68, Nebraska 75, Florida 76, Maryland 90, Kentucky 150, Pennsylvania 150, and New York 210. A subcontractor that finished at least that many days before project completion sees its lien window close on or before the owner's retainage deadline. In California, Tennessee, and Utah the subcontractor's lien window runs from completion of the whole project instead, but a different collision occurs: Tennessee's 90-day release deadline and its 90-day lien window under 66-11-112 close on the same day, a California notice of completion cuts a non-direct claimant's lien window to 30 days under Civ. Code 8414, fifteen days before the 45-day retention deadline, and a Utah notice of completion cuts the lien window to 90 days. New York Lien Law 10 allows a notice of lien for retainage within 90 days after the retainage was due to be released. The defensive practice everywhere is to calendar the lien deadline from your own last furnishing date the day you demobilize.
The Outliers: Holdback Floors and a Ban
Colorado and Texas forbid the owner from paying all of the contract price until a date has passed. C.R.S. 38-22-102 requires that at least 15 percent of the first 250,000 dollars, 10 percent of the next 250,000, 5 percent of the next 250,000, and 2 percent above 750,000 be payable no earlier than 35 days after final completion, and Tex. Prop. Code 53.101 requires the owner to retain 10 percent of the contract price during the work and for 30 days after completion. Both holdbacks protect lien claimants, and Colorado provides that a payment made before it is due cannot defeat or diminish another claimant's lien. New Mexico abolished retainage on private and public work in 2007 under N.M. Stat. Ann. 57-28-5(E), with 21-day owner payment, 7-day flow-down, and 1.5 percent monthly interest.
The 20 Silent States
Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming set no statutory deadline for an owner to release retainage to the prime contractor on private work. Ohio Rev. Code 4113.61 still requires a contractor to pay a subcontractor's retainage within 10 days of receiving it, with 18 percent annual interest and non-waivable attorney fees. Louisiana requires retainage on private contracts of 50,000 dollars or more to be held in an interest-bearing escrow under La. R.S. 9:4857. Virginia's private prompt payment statute, Va. Code 11-4.6, expressly does not govern retainage. Georgia's 30-day and 10-day release rules are in O.C.G.A. 13-10-80, which governs public works, not private projects.
Flow-Down, Withholding, and Late-Release Penalties
In every timed state the prime contractor's deadline to pass retainage down is shorter than the owner's: California gives the owner 45 days and the direct contractor 10, Minnesota 60 and 10, Tennessee 90 and 10. Common flow-down periods are 7 days in Arizona, Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont; 10 days in California, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Utah; 14 days in Pennsylvania; 15 days in Illinois; and 15 business days in Kentucky. Release statutes pair the deadline with a withholding right measured as a multiple of the problem: 150 percent in California, Idaho, Missouri, Oregon, and Arizona, 125 percent in Nebraska, 200 percent in Kentucky, and up to 250 percent in Minnesota. Late release costs 2 percent per month in California under Civ. Code 8818, 2 percent per month on knowing wrongful withholding in Utah, 18 percent per year in Kansas, and 12 percent per year in Kentucky, while Maine, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Vermont make attorney's fees mandatory for the prevailing party. The Mechanics Lien Management State System calculates the lien deadlines that keep a retained balance secured in every state.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does an owner have to release retainage?
It depends entirely on the state, and in 20 states there is no statutory deadline on private work at all. Where a deadline exists it ranges from 7 days after the owner approves all work in Oregon (ORS 701.625) and 14 days after substantial completion and the punchlist in Florida (Fla. Stat. 715.12) to 90 days after completion in Tennessee (Tenn. Code Ann. 66-34-103) and 90 days after substantial completion in Maryland (Real Prop. 9-304). The most common figure is 30 days, used by Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, and Vermont, each measured from its own completion or acceptance event.
How long does a general contractor have to pass retainage down to a subcontractor?
Usually far less time than the owner had. Once the prime contractor receives retainage, most statutes give it between 7 and 15 days to pay the subcontractor's share: 7 days in Arizona, Maine, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, and Vermont; 10 days in California, Idaho, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, Tennessee, and Utah; 14 days in Pennsylvania; 15 days in Illinois; and 15 business days in Kentucky. Massachusetts and Rhode Island let each lower tier take 7 days longer than the tier above it. These flow-down clocks run from the prime's receipt of money, not from the subcontractor's completion.
Does the mechanics lien deadline wait for retainage to be released?
No. In most states the lien recording deadline runs from the claimant's own last day furnishing labor or materials, while the retainage release deadline runs from completion or acceptance of the whole project. A subcontractor who finishes early can see its lien window close before the owner's release deadline even arrives. Waiting to see whether retainage is paid on time is how retained balances become unsecured. The safe practice is to calendar the lien deadline from your own last furnishing date and treat the release deadline as a separate, later date.
Which states have no retainage release deadline on private projects?
Twenty states set no statutory deadline for an owner to release retainage to the prime contractor on a private project: Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Hawaii, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. In those states timing is set by the contract, sometimes supplemented by a general prompt payment act or a flow-down rule. Georgia is commonly reported as having a 30-day private release rule; the private prompt payment provision at O.C.G.A. 13-11-5 regulates the amount of retainage but contains no release deadline.
What happens if retainage is released late?
Most deadline states attach interest or a penalty. California charges 2 percent per month on retention wrongfully withheld in place of interest under Civ. Code 8818, Kansas 18 percent per year under K.S.A. 16-1804, Kentucky 12 percent per year under KRS 371.410, Minnesota 1.5 percent per month with mandatory attorney fees under Minn. Stat. 337.10, and Utah 2 percent per month on retention knowingly and wrongfully withheld under Utah Code 13-8-5. Several states also let the paying party keep back a multiple of the cost of unfinished work, commonly 150 percent, so a release deadline rarely means the whole balance is due at once.