2023 Nevada Revised Statutes › Chapter 338 - Public Works › NRS 338.515 - Time for making payments; amounts paid; amounts withheld as retainage; rate of interest paid on amounts withheld; powers of Labor Commissioner when worker is owed wages.

1. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 338.525, a public body and its officers or agents awarding a contract for a public work shall pay or cause to be paid to a contractor the progress payments due under the contract within 30 days after the date the public body receives the progress bill or within a shorter period if the provisions of the contract so provide. Ninety-five percent of the amount of any progress payment must be paid and 5 percent withheld as retainage until 50 percent of the work required by the contract has been performed.
2. After 50 percent of the work required by the contract has been performed, the public body may pay to the contractor:
(a) Any of the remaining progress payments without withholding additional retainage; and
(b) Any amount of any retainage that was withheld from progress payments pursuant to subsection 1,
if, in the opinion of the public body, satisfactory progress is being made in the work.
3. After determining in accordance with subsection 2 whether satisfactory progress is being made in the work, the public body may pay to the contractor an amount of any retainage that was withheld from progress payments pursuant to subsection 1 if:
(a) A subcontractor has performed a portion of the work;
(b) The contractor has determined that satisfactory progress is being made in the work under the subcontract with the subcontractor pursuant to NRS 338.555;
(c) The public body determines that the portion of the work has been completed in compliance with all applicable plans and specifications;
(d) The subcontractor submits to the contractor:
(1) A release of the subcontractor’s claim for a mechanic’s lien for the portion of the work; and
(2) From each of the subcontractor’s subcontractors and suppliers who performed work or provided material for the portion of the work, a release of his or her claim for a mechanic’s lien for the portion of the work; and
(e) The amount of the retainage which the public body pays is in proportion to the portion of the work which the subcontractor has performed.
4. If, after determining in accordance with subsection 2 whether satisfactory progress is being made in the work, the public body continues to withhold retainage from remaining progress payments:
(a) If the public body does not withhold any amount pursuant to NRS 338.525:
(1) The public body may not withhold more than 2.5 percent of the amount of any progress payment; and
(2) Before withholding any amount pursuant to subparagraph (1), the public body must pay to the contractor 50 percent of the amount of any retainage that was withheld from progress payments pursuant to subsection 1; or
(b) If the public body withholds any amount pursuant to NRS 338.525:
(1) The public body may not withhold more than 5 percent of the amount of any progress payment; and
(2) The public body may continue to retain the amount of any retainage that was withheld from progress payments pursuant to subsection 1.
5. Except as otherwise provided in NRS 338.525, a public body shall identify in the contract and pay or cause to be paid to a contractor the actual cost of the supplies, materials and equipment that:
(a) Are identified in the contract;
(b) Have been delivered and stored at a location, and in the time and manner, specified in a contract by the contractor or a subcontractor or supplier for use in a public work; and
(c) Are in short supply or were specially made for the public work,
within 30 days after the public body receives a progress bill from the contractor for those supplies, materials or equipment.
6. A public body shall pay or cause to be paid to the contractor at the end of each quarter interest for the quarter on any amount withheld by the public body pursuant to NRS 338.400 to 338.645, inclusive, at a rate equal to the rate quoted by at least three insured banks, credit unions, savings and loan associations or savings banks in this State as the highest rate paid on a certificate of deposit whose duration is approximately 90 days on the first day of the quarter. If the amount due to a contractor pursuant to this subsection for any quarter is less than $500, the public body may hold the interest until:
(a) The end of a subsequent quarter after which the amount of interest due is $500 or more;
(b) The end of the fourth consecutive quarter for which no interest has been paid to the contractor; or
(c) The amount withheld under the contract is due pursuant to NRS 338.520,
whichever occurs first.
7. If the Labor Commissioner has reason to believe that a worker is owed wages by a contractor or subcontractor, the Labor Commissioner may require the public body to withhold from any payment due the contractor under this section and pay the Labor Commissioner instead, an amount equal to the amount the Labor Commissioner believes the contractor owes to the worker. This amount must be paid by the Labor Commissioner to the worker if the matter is resolved in the worker’s favor; otherwise it must be returned to the public body for payment to the contractor.
(Added to NRS by 1973, 1159; A 1977, 1035; 1981, 552; 1983, 1591; 1985, 491; 1999, 1992; 2003, 799, 2448; 2007, 2512; 2011, 1619; 2015, 2621, 2628)