The Contracts menu can be accessed via the left sidebar, where a "Contracts" option is listed. This displays a list of all contracts in your workspace.
Creating a Contract
To create a new contract, click the "Create Contract" button at the top right of the contracts menu.
The create contract form is grouped into sections. All fields marked with a red asterisk are required. Once you have entered the required information, click Create Contract to submit, or Save Draft to come back to it later.
Important: All monetary fields on the contract form are entered exclusive of sales tax (GST/VAT). Look for the "excl" badge next to a field to confirm.
Form Sections
The contract creation form contains the following sections, in order:
Company — the company under which the contract is being created (your business, the party that retention is being withheld from).
Contract Details — project name, job number, site address, jurisdiction, start month, and description of works. Includes an optional Contract Overrides panel for adjusting jurisdiction-specific claiming durations.
Contractor Details — the contractor, one or more contractor contacts, and any linked retention trust account or security.
Financials — the base contract value, the retention method that sets the maximum retention allowed, how contract variations affect retention, the PC/Defects retention release split, and the practical completion and defects end dates.
Additional Notes — free-text internal notes about the contract.
Contract Subscribers — workspace members who will receive notifications about activity on this contract.
Contract value and variations: the value you enter when creating a contract is its base contract value. A brand-new contract has no variations yet, so its base value and its effective value are the same. Once the contract exists you can add variations — additions or omissions — from the contract's Variations tab, and each one adjusts the effective contract value that retention is calculated from. See Contract Variations for more.
Field Reference
Field Reference
The table below describes every field on the contract creation form. Fields appear in the order they do on the form.
Field | Description |
Company | The company under which the contract is created. The selected company sets the default jurisdiction and currency. A preview of the selected company is shown below the field. |
Project Name | A short name that identifies the project (e.g. "Project Alpha"). |
Job Number | Optional. An internal reference for the contract, such as a job code from your accounting system. Visible only to your workspace. |
Site Address | The physical address of the project site. Supports address autocomplete. |
Jurisdiction | The legal jurisdiction governing the contract. For Australian workspaces this is the state or territory. For New Zealand and UK workspaces this is filled in automatically. The selected jurisdiction determines which contract overrides are available. |
Job Start Month | The month and year the works under the contract commenced. Used to calculate claiming windows. |
Description of Works | A brief plain-text description of the scope of works. Auto-fills from Project Name as you type, until you edit it manually. |
Contract Overrides | Optional. Expand the panel to override default claim windows, payment schedule response windows, and other jurisdiction-specific durations. Use with caution — overrides affect Retention Track's managed claiming process. The available overrides depend on the selected jurisdiction; UK contracts have no available overrides. |
Contractor | The contractor that withholds retention against this contract (typically the head or main contractor). Select from existing contractors, or click "Add Contractor" to create a new contractor inline (requires permission). |
Contractor Contacts | One or more people at the contractor who will receive notifications about claims and other contract activity. At least one contact must be selected; multiple contacts can be selected via the checkbox list. |
Retention Trust Account or Security | Optional. Links the contract to a retention trust account or other security registered against the contractor. Only available in regions where securities are supported (Australia and New Zealand). |
Currency | Set automatically from your workspace region and cannot be changed from the contract form. |
Base Contract Value (excl) | The starting contract sum, entered exclusive of sales tax (GST/VAT). This is the value before any variations. As you add contract variations later, they are added to or subtracted from this base to give the contract's effective value, which is what retention is calculated from. |
Retention Method | How the maximum retention allowed is worked out — the most retention that can be withheld over the life of the contract. Choose one of: Fixed, a set maximum amount (exclusive of sales tax); Percentage of contract value, a percentage applied to the contract's effective value; or Tiered, different rates applied across dollar bands of the contract value, with the final band open-ended. Retention Track calculates the maximum for you and never claims more than it. See Retention Methods for more. |
Variation Retention | How contract variations affect the maximum retention allowed. You can include variations in the same calculation as the base value (combined), give variations their own separate retention method, or exclude variations from retention entirely. When you add an individual variation you can also choose whether it counts towards retention. See Contract Variations for more. |
PC Retention Release % | The percentage of total withheld retention released at Practical Completion. The remainder is held until the Defects End Date. Defaults to 50% — i.e. half released at practical completion, half at the end of the defects liability period. |
Practical Completion Date | The date the works are expected to reach practical completion. The PC portion of retention is claimable from this date. Changing this date automatically advances the Defects End Date by 12 months — until you edit the Defects End Date manually. |
Defects End Date | The date the defects liability period ends. The final portion of retention is claimable from this date. |
Notes | Optional. Free-text internal notes about the contract. Searchable from the contracts list. Not shared with the contractor. |
Subscribers | Workspace members who will receive email notifications about activity on this contract. Workspace owners are automatically subscribed and cannot be unsubscribed. Other members of the selected company can be opted in by ticking their checkbox. |
Saving and creating the contract
When you have entered all required information, click Create Contract at the bottom of the form to create the contract and move to its registration step. You can alternatively click Save Draft at any time to save your progress and come back to the contract later. Drafts appear in the main contracts list and are clearly marked as drafts.
