- Category: contract law, Contracts
Retention, Phases and Acceptance in Software Development
In construction, you pay in stages – and keep part back until it’s fully done.
Software should be no different.
But many forget to protect themselves legally.
That’s where phased delivery and retention clauses come in – tools to ensure software is delivered properly, fully, and reliably.
⚙️ What Is Retention?
Retention is a part of the fee held back until:
bugs are fixed,
final acceptance is signed,
or a warranty period ends.
Usually 10–30%.
Motivates developers to finish and support the product.
🧱 What Is Phased Acceptance?
Breaking the project into stages (e.g. design → MVP → v1.0 → rollout) allows:
quality checks,
staged payments,
early bug detection,
better communication.
Each phase has:
specific outputs,
review and approval,
payment only after formal acceptance.
📌 What to Include in the Contract?
Define clear project phases and their deliverables.
Outline how and when acceptance happens.
State retention % and release conditions.
Include penalties for delays.
Make billing conditional on formal acceptance.
❗ What If You Don’t?
Developer demands full payment despite missing features.
Client refuses to pay – without legal cause.
Endless disputes about scope.
Bugs discovered too late – and unpaid invoices remain.
🧱 Real Case
Client paid full price on “delivery”.
App turned out unstable, unfinished.
Developer ignored further calls.
→ Had there been retention, the client would’ve had leverage.
✅ Want to protect your software project?
📩 Get a proper software contract with phases and retention – from CZK 3,500. Quick consults from CZK 1,500 excl. VAT.
Contact a legal professional – I specialize in contract law.
Learn more here.
- Publikováno:
- Naposledy aktualizováno: 19/06/2025