Claiming is active and gets done
An owner who finds a defect is motivated, and acts. That half of the arrangement works reliably.
WHY RETENTION GOES MISSING
One side has to act. The other does not.
The arrangement is simple and everyone would describe it the same way. Funds held, defects claimable, remainder returned. The asymmetry is in who has to do something.
Releasing is passive and does not
Nobody is motivated to initiate a payment that costs them money and gains them nothing, so it waits for a diligent person who may not exist.
Staff turnover finishes it
The people who knew about the retention have both moved on. The contractor's finance team is chasing a company where nobody remembers the project.
Chasing costs the next contract
A contractor who pursues an owner too firmly does not get invited to the following tender, which is a real cost and a well understood one.
If you are owed retention, or holding it.
The useful thing is specific: how much you are carrying, how old, and what happened when you asked.
agung.nugroho@retensikembali.site
Balikpapan, Kalimantan Timur