Florida Statutes
Chapter 255 - Public Property and Publicly Owned Buildings
255.078 - Public Construction Retainage.

(1) With regard to any contract for construction services, a public entity may withhold from each progress payment made to the contractor an amount not exceeding 5 percent of the payment as retainage.
(2) This section and s. 255.077 do not prohibit a public entity from withholding retainage at a rate less than 5 percent of each progress payment, from incrementally reducing the rate of retainage pursuant to a schedule provided for in the contract, or from releasing at any point all or a portion of any retainage withheld by the public entity which is attributable to the labor, services, or materials supplied by the contractor or by one or more subcontractors or suppliers. If a public entity makes any payment of retainage to the contractor which is attributable to the labor, services, or materials supplied by one or more subcontractors or suppliers, the contractor must timely remit payment of such retainage to those subcontractors and suppliers.
(3) This section and s. 255.077 do not require the public entity to pay or release any amounts that are the subject of a good faith dispute, the subject of a claim brought pursuant to s. 255.05, or otherwise the subject of a claim or demand by the public entity or contractor.
(4) The same time limits for payment of a payment request apply regardless of whether the payment request is for, or includes, retainage.
(5) Subsection (1) does not apply to construction services purchased by a public entity which are paid for, in whole or in part, with federal funds and are subject to federal grantor laws and regulations or requirements that are contrary to any provision of the Florida Prompt Payment Act.
(6) This section does not apply to any construction services purchased by a public entity if the total cost of the construction services purchased as identified in the contract is $200,000 or less.
History.—s. 12, ch. 2005-230; s. 4, ch. 2020-173.
1Note.—Section 5(2), ch. 2020-173, provides that “[t]he amendments made to ss. 255.05 and 255.078, Florida Statutes, by this act do not apply to contracts executed under chapter 337, Florida Statutes.”

Structure Florida Statutes