French Construction Retention Guarantee Calculator
One total, or several pay applications: calculate the retention guarantee (5% maximum) on a French works contract, its release deadline, and whether a bank guarantee would cost less than holding the cash.
Check the rate set in your contract, it can be lower than 5%, never higher.
This calculation comes back with every progress statement. Mirage prepares it.
Mirage builds your monthly progress statement (situation de travaux) from the DPGF and site progress, every line traced to its source. Send us a past statement and we send back a plan, no commitment.
See automated progress statements (in French)
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Frequently asked questions
5% maximum of the total works amount, on both private and public contracts. On private contracts, this cap comes from loi n°71-584 of 16 July 1971, a public-order statute, no contract clause can set it higher.
On a private contract, one year after the date of réception (handover), whether réception was with or without reservations: the sums are paid to the contractor, or the guarantee released, even without a formal release, unless the client has notified the holder of the funds (or the guarantor), by registered letter, a reasoned objection based on the contractor not fulfilling its obligations (loi n°71-584, article 2). On a public contract, the retention is repaid within thirty days of the end of the guarantee period, which for works is one year from réception under the CCAG Travaux (article 44.1), or within thirty days of the reservations being lifted if some notified during that period are still open (Code de la commande publique, article R2191-35).
It depends on your bank's fee versus your own cost of capital. A bank guarantee (garantie à première demande) has an annual fee (commonly 0.5-2%) charged on the guaranteed amount regardless of what you do with the freed-up cash. Cash retention has no fee, but ties up money for about a year that could otherwise earn a return or reduce financing costs elsewhere. Compare your own bank's quoted fee against your real cost of capital, this calculator does the arithmetic once you enter both.
Reservations alone do not keep the retention: on a private contract it is released one year after réception unless the client has notified a reasoned objection by registered letter, and the objection should be in proportion to what remains to be done, since an abusive objection exposes the client to damages (loi n°71-584, article 2). On a public contract, reservations notified during the guarantee period and still open at its end push the repayment to thirty days after they are lifted (article R2191-35).
Tracking a retention guarantee starts with accurate pay applications. Mirage helps construction companies keep their monthly pay applications and contractual tracking reliable through to completion.
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