Construction Retention Tracking Register (UAE)

Retention money is the most under-tracked liability on a Dubai construction project — teams know they withheld it but cannot tell you the exact balance, release schedule, or conditions per subcontractor.

Start here

• Construction cost management — where project costs and commitments live
• Vendor management — the subcontractor records
• Accounts payable — where retention liabilities sit

What the register must capture

A retention tracking register is a structured record of every retention amount withheld and every release made. At minimum, each row needs:

• Subcontractor name and contract reference
• Invoice or payment certificate reference
• Retention percentage applied
• Retention amount withheld (AED)
• Cumulative retention balance per subcontractor
• Release conditions (defects liability period end date, final account sign-off, etc.)
• Release status: held / partially released / fully released
• Release approval reference

Without this, your finance team will reconstruct the data from payment records at year-end — and it will be wrong.

Retention calculation rules

Standard UAE construction retention is 5–10% of each interim payment certificate value, capped at a contract-level maximum (often 5% of total contract value). Your register must enforce:

1. Percentage per contract — not all subcontracts use the same rate
2. Cap enforcement — stop withholding once the cumulative retention hits the cap
3. Variation order impact — if the contract value changes, recalculate the cap

Track these per subcontractor per project. Use report builder to surface total retention liability across all active projects.

Release controls

Releasing retention is a financial event that needs approval. The release workflow should require:

1. Confirmation that the defects liability period has expired
2. A defects inspection sign-off (attach as evidence via document management)
3. Approval through your approval matrix
4. A payment record linked to the release

Never release retention without an approval record. Disputes over premature releases are common in UAE construction — the register is your evidence.

Operationalize it

Add retention balances to your monthly project cost review. Flag subcontractors whose defects liability period ends within 60 days — these are upcoming cash outflows that need planning.

Review the register quarterly with your QS and finance team. Stale records (retention held for 2+ years with no release or write-off) need investigation.