Substantial Completion

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) defines substantial completion as:

“The stage in the progress of the work when the work or designated portion thereof is sufficiently complete in accordance with the contract documents so that the owner can occupy or use the work or a portion thereof for its intended use.”

For your purposes, substantial completion is the point at which the project is almost complete, with the only remaining items being those associated with the punch list.

Most construction contracts mention substantial completion and sometimes contractors like to think that this is actual completion.

At this point, the majority of the monies are paid and the remaining amount should be a bit more than the amount of retention.

If your project is at substantial completion you need to start looking at the project and thinking about the punch list.