Close-out is where contractors leave the most money on the table. Based on CALIM's engagement data across more than 50 projects, a look at the most common close-out failures and how to prevent them.
The pattern is consistent: the project reaches substantial completion, the team demobilises, attention shifts to the next project, and close-out becomes an afterthought. Retention releases are delayed. Final account submissions are incomplete. Outstanding claims are abandoned. Defects liability obligations are managed reactively rather than proactively.
The financial impact is significant. In CALIM's experience, contractors routinely leave between 3% and 8% of contract value on the table during close-out. On a QAR 100 million project, that is QAR 3 to 8 million — money that was earned but never recovered.
Retention release is the most common failure. Most contracts provide for retention release in two stages — half at substantial completion and the balance at the end of the defects liability period. In practice, many contractors fail to formally apply for release, miss the contractual deadlines, or accept delays without pushing back.
Final account submission is the second. A properly prepared final account captures every entitlement — variations, claims, daywork, provisional sum adjustments, and cost escalation — valued and documented to the contractual standard. A poorly prepared final account leaves money behind.
Outstanding claims are the third. Claims that were notified but never fully particularised. Claims that were submitted but never followed up. Claims that were rejected but never challenged. At close-out, these abandoned entitlements represent real money that was spent but never recovered.
At CALIM, we treat close-out as a commercial exercise, not an administrative one. We prepare final accounts that capture full entitlement, pursue retention releases on schedule, and resolve outstanding claims before the project team disperses and the institutional memory is lost.
Tejal Naik
Senior Contract Administrator
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