The Commissioners Court established a unified retainage and payment policy for all county construction contracts, setting a standard 5% retainage rate that can be reduced to 2% upon substantial completion, to take effect by July 1, 2026.

What it means for you

Construction contractors working with Harris County will operate under consistent retainage rules, and payments can be expedited at the substantial completion stage without requiring additional Commissioners Court approval.

Outcome

A motion was made by Commissioner Garcia, seconded by Commissioner Ellis, to establish a unified retainage policy by updating all General Conditions for construction contracts as follows by no later than July 1, 2026: 1) All qualifying projects with contract values greater than or equal to $400,000 should include a retainage of 5%. 2) Retainage will be reduced by three percentage points, from 5 to 2, when the contractor requests the reduction in writing and the relevant department has determined that the project has reached substantial completion, provided that there is no bona fide dispute regarding the work and that retainage is not less than the value of the work that remains to be performed per the substantial completion punch list. 3) In the event of Certificate of Partial Substantial Completion, the released retainage shall be only that of the work that is substantially completed. 4) To expedite payment to vendors, retainage reduced in accordance with this policy will not require intermediate Commissioners Court approval. Any potential retainage rate or release exceptions to this policy will require Commissioners Court approval. The motion carried by the following vote: (5-0)

How each member voted

5–0, per the official record.