Cash-flow review
retention
The GC keeps part of your money until some later milestone. The danger is when that milestone has nothing to do with your work.
Why it matters
Millwork often finishes before the entire project closes. If retainage waits on unrelated trades, your profit can sit locked up for months.
Retainage will be released only after final completion of the Project and final payment by Owner.
Retainage for Subcontractor's scope will be released within a fixed period after Subcontractor's substantial completion and completion of its punch list.
Can we tie retainage release to acceptance of our millwork scope instead of final completion of the entire project, with any holdback limited to specific disputed items?
Ask counsel to review if retainage is tied to project closeout, can be offset across jobs, or is larger than the upstream retainage for your scope.
Next step
Check the actual subcontract language.
Use the phrase checker or upload the subcontract to see whether this wording appears with other risk terms.