That 5–10% the owner or GC holds back on every draw adds up to your margin on the whole job. And in Texas, retainage has its own lien track and its own deadline — separate from the notices you send for regular progress work.
Retainage is a different animal
Because retainage isn't “due” until the end of the job, its deadline doesn't line up with the monthly notices for the labor and materials you furnished along the way. There's a distinct window to secure a lien for retainage, keyed to completion of the work rather than to each month of performance.
Why contractors lose it
- They assume the monthly notices already covered “everything,” retainage included.
- The job winds down, the crew moves on, and the retainage deadline passes unnoticed weeks later.
- Nobody's tracking “completion” as a date that starts a new clock.
How to protect it
Track retainage as its own line item with its own deadline from day one, anchored to substantial completion. When the job ends, that's not the finish line for your paperwork — it's the start of the retainage window. A short, deliberate close-out checklist saves the last and often most profitable slice of the contract.
RevnuPros puts retainage on its own clock automatically, so the end of the job triggers a reminder instead of a silent expiration.
This article is general information for Texas trade contractors, not legal advice. Statutes change and every project is different — confirm the exact deadlines and requirements for your job with a licensed Texas attorney. RevnuPros provides deadline tracking and document preparation, not legal representation.
Let RevnuPros track this deadline for you.
Enter a job once and every Texas notice and filing date computes on its own clock — with the documents staged and ready to send.