A reminder to all of you with construction projects in progress or planned in the short term.
Note: This article is for your information only. It is not legal advice. This information applies only to projects in Massachusetts. If you have specific questions, please send me a message at Andrew@AndrewLynnLaw.com or call 617-702-4045.
The new Massachusetts law on subcontractor retainage the I wrote about earlier is in effect, as of November 6th. Some of the key points:
Caps on retainage: Total retainage is now capped at 5% of the payment due. There are also specific caps for specific deficiencies, of example 2.5% of the contract value for incomplete document deliverables.
Payment timing: There are new timing requirements. For example, retainage most now be invoiced within 60 days following substantial completion, payable within 30 days of invoice receipt, with an allowance of 7 days per level of subcontract.
Substantial completion timing: The prime contractor must give notice of substantial completion within 14 days of actually achieving the substantial completion milestones.
Punchiest timing: The owner must submit the punchiest to the prime contractor(s) within 14 days of acceptance of substantial completion. The prime must provide the punchiest to its subcontractors within 21 days of acceptance of substantial completion.
Remember that these new requirements are statutory, so update your contracts.