The UK Retention Deposit Scheme

Accounts can be opened online, 24/7, using our Account Portal. Simply upload your contract and we will take the paying party through the necessary compliance requirements before providing you with the bank details for your account.

Through our banking technology partners, we hold all construction retentions liquid and unencumbered at the Bank of England.

They are safeguarded and segregated (each project gets its own unique account number and sort code combination) in the paying party's name (as trustee for the receiving party) so, in the unlikely event of our insolvency, they remain protected and available for the receiving party.

Our Account Portal shows the balance of each retention account and each transaction made against it.

We also have API links to various accounting packages enabling the receiving party to view their retentions directly within their accounting package, just like a normal bank account.

At the end of the works, your contract will determine the basis upon which the retention can be released.

In the event of any dispute between the parties, we will simply hold the retention while the dispute resolution process continues. In the event that the contract does not contain any dispute resolution mechanism, the parties will usually be able to adjudicate using the Scheme for Construction Contracts.

We will release retention against any enforcement order from the Court, though we would generally expect parties to consent to us releasing it against the decision of any adjudicator that directs the same.