Practical completion certificate, signed and kept
Practical completion is the date the works are certified complete enough to hand over, and under JCT it starts the clock on retention release, the rectification period and the end of liquidated damages. Send the certificate as a link; the contract administrator or client opens it on their phone, approves and signs, and the dated record is kept with the job.
What is a practical completion certificate and who issues it?
Practical completion is the point at which the works are complete for all practical purposes, with only minor items outstanding that do not stop the client taking possession. Under JCT the certificate is issued by the contract administrator, the architect or the employer’s agent depending on the form; it's their judgement, not the contractor’s, and the contract doesn't define the phrase, which is why it's argued over.
The certificate triggers a set of consequences at once: the client takes possession and takes on the insurance, liquidated damages stop accruing, half the retention is released, and the rectification period begins, commonly six or twelve months. The contractor’s duty changes from building to coming back for notified defects.
On a domestic job with no administrator, the equivalent is the client’s written acceptance that the work is done, and it carries the same weight for the final payment.
What should the certificate record?
The certificate is short, but the date on it is one of the most consequential dates on the project. Everything that follows is counted from it, so the record of when it was signed and by whom has to be beyond argument.
Where minor items remain, a snagging list is usually appended, so the certificate and the list should be kept together.
- The project, the contract and the section of the works it covers, if completion is in sections
- The date practical completion was achieved
- The list of outstanding items appended, with the time allowed to complete them
- The date the rectification period will end
- The name and signature of the person certifying, and the date of signature
What goes wrong when practical completion isn't signed and dated?
Because so much hangs on the date, both sides have a reason to argue about it. The contractor wants the earlier date to stop damages and release retention; the client wants the later one. Without a signed certificate with a date on it, the argument is about what was said at a site meeting, and it's fought at the final account with the money already withheld.
The retention alone can be a meaningful share of a small firm’s margin. Collecting it depends on a certificate the contract administrator has actually issued, and chasing an administrator who has moved on to another job is its own unpaid task.
A certificate signed on the day of the final inspection, with the snag list attached and the date on it, closes most of that. Where the administrator is signing from another site, the page has to reach them where they are.
How do I get the certificate signed with Portal Worx?
You upload the practical completion certificate, with the snag list appended, as a PDF to the job in Portal Worx and send the contract administrator or client a link by email. They open it on their phone. No account, nothing to install and nothing to learn.
They can leave a note on the page, ask a question, approve or decline. If you asked for it, they must enter a one-time code emailed to them before signing, which shows whoever signed had control of that inbox at that moment. They draw their signature and submit.
If the certificate isn't signed after the inspection, you chase from the same screen. If the appended list changes, a new version supersedes the old one, and the old one stays on the record.
What does the signed record hold?
The record is dated and signed, pinned to the exact file the signer saw with its SHA-256 fingerprint, so the certificate and the snag list that was attached to it can be shown to be the ones approved. The approval, the notes and every version are kept with the job.
When the retention is due or a defect is notified in month eleven, the date is on a signed record, not in an email thread. A simple electronic signature is admissible evidence in the UK under the Electronic Communications Act 2000, with the weight decided by the court on the record around it.
Where doesn't this fit?
Portal Worx doesn't decide whether the works are practically complete and doesn't draft the certificate; the contract administrator does. One person signs one request, so where the form needs the administrator and the employer, each gets a request. The file must be a PDF, an image or plain text.
It doesn't verify identity: the code proves control of an inbox. The page the signer opens is on our domain, not yours.
Common questions
- Can the contract administrator sign it from another site?
- Yes. The link is an email, opened on a phone. They read the certificate and the appended list, sign and submit without an account.
- What if they won't sign because items are outstanding?
- They can decline with a note, or mark the area of the list they object to. You update the list, send a new version, and both versions stay on the record with their dates.
- Does a signed electronic certificate start the rectification period?
- What starts the period is the certificate the contract provides for, issued by the person it names. A signed electronic copy is admissible evidence of when it was issued; whether it's the certificate is a matter of your contract.
- Is there a per-document charge?
- No. Requests and links are unlimited on every plan, from £29 a month.
- Does the client have to log in to anything?
- No. No account, no app, no password. An email address and a phone.
Related
What else Portal Worx does
This page covers one part of it. Behind every request for sign-off is the job it belongs to: projects holding your documents and site photos, with a folder or a file shareable by link to someone with no account; versions with history and an approval pinned to each; reports built on site and exported as a PDF with your logo; threaded messaging; a year-long activity trail; and AI that catches you up on where a job stands without ever seeing more than you can.
See everything it does, or check the plans. Unlimited users and unlimited requests on all of them.
Get the date signed on the day.
Upload the certificate with the snag list attached, send the link, and have it signed on the administrator’s phone after the inspection. 14 days free, no card, unlimited requests on every plan.