Government to consider reform of policy on cash retentions under construction contracts
Cash retentions have been used in the construction industry for decades as security against defects in the work but it is a payment practice that is vulnerable to both insolvency and abuse. The Scottish Government is to form a short-life working group to consider the policy options including the possibility of a retention deposit scheme, the phasing out of retentions completely or the viability of alternative mechanisms of assurance.