Signing for a stage does not sign away everything after it
Why — act while you have leverage
Some agreements make a stage completion certificate extinguish all future claims about that work. You sign to release a payment and lose the right to raise a defect that only appears months later.
What to look at
- What the certificate says beyond "this stage is complete"
- Any release of future claims attached to a progress payment
- The defect liability period surviving each certificate
How to check it yourself
Read what the stage certificate says you are agreeing to. It should confirm the work is done for payment purposes, and nothing more. Look for wording like "full and final", "no further claims" or "absolves the contractor" attached to a routine progress certificate. Ask for it to be limited to payment, with the defect liability period left intact.
Where this comes from: Kolo review of Kerala construction quotations and agreements (established trade practice)
More construction agreement checks before you sign
- Agreement check passed
- Contractor background verified
- Site handover checklist agreed
- Worker-welfare rules applicability checked
- GST treatment understood before signing
- The payment schedule keeps money back until the end
- The agreement does not contradict itself
- GST is stated, and you know who pays it
- You know who you are contracting with
- Price escalation has a limit you can calculate
- Foundation extras cannot be open-ended
- Curing is the contractor's job, in writing
- The arbitrator is not chosen by the contractor alone
- There is a warranty, and it has a length
- Worker safety stays with the contractor
- There is a way to settle a dispute short of court
- Cancellation terms are not written by one side
- Nobody else builds your house without you knowing
- No blank spaces, no missing dates
- Money goes to the company, not to a person
- You can ask where the money went
- Delay has a consequence for both sides
- The quotation is attached to the agreement
- Force majeure is not a blanket excuse
The whole stage: Construction agreement checks before you sign