PROJECT ON HOLD: WHAT TO DO.
A project put on hold creates immediate financial exposure: demobilization cost, standby commitments, escalated remobilization cost when it restarts, and the working capital hit of lost revenue through the suspension. Most subcontractors manage this reactively. Here's how to manage it deliberately and protect your financial position from day one of the suspension.
A hold isn't a pause on your cost. Rentals keep invoicing, suppliers keep shipping what you already ordered, and supervision keeps drawing salary through the wind-down. Then the restart brings a second mobilization you never priced into the bid. The part most subs miss is the legal timing, because the lien window runs off your last furnishing date. A six month hold can burn your filing rights on invoices that were earned and unpaid before the stop order came. Managing it deliberately means the notice, the cost record, and the collection move all happen in the first week of the hold.
WHAT IT MEANS.
A project suspension is a directed stop to the work before completion, and it leaves you carrying demobilization cost, standby commitments, and a lien clock that keeps running while no revenue comes in.
A suspension is different from a slow job, and it's different from a termination. The work stops on somebody else's decision, your revenue stops with it, and almost none of your cost stops at all. Everything you can recover from a suspension depends on two things you control in the first days: the written notice you send and the cost record you build while the wind-down is happening.
WHAT THE HOLD TAKES FROM YOU.
Demobilization and remobilization cost is unpriced
When a project suspends, moving equipment off site and storing it, then mobilizing again when the project restarts, costs real money. Most subcontracts don't explicitly price demobilization and remobilization for a mid-project suspension. Without a written claim for these costs at the time of the suspension, recovering them later is difficult.
Standby commitments stay on the clock during the hold
Your commitments don't pause when the project does. Material orders in progress, equipment rentals, and long-lead items already procured keep running against you. Material suppliers don't always allow cancellation or storage at no cost, and equipment rental companies keep billing. Those costs pile up through the suspension and they need to be documented and claimed.
Your lien rights are running out during the hold
If the project is on hold and you have unpaid invoices, your lien filing window runs from your last furnishing date, not from whenever the project might restart. Waiting for the project to resume before addressing collection means your lien rights may expire during the hold. The clock doesn't care that the job is idle.
WHAT HAPPENS IN THE FIRST WEEK.
The moment a project is formally suspended, written notice goes to the GC. It identifies all outstanding invoices due for payment, all pending change orders needing resolution before the suspension, all demobilization and standby cost you're incurring, and a statement reserving all rights to additional compensation for suspension-related cost. That goes out on day one, not after you've finished assessing the situation.
Every cost you take on as a result of the suspension gets documented as it occurs. That covers equipment move-off cost, storage cost, material restocking or storage fees, subcontractor suspension cost, and extended supervision through the wind-down. SPM tracks suspension-related cost in ControlQore under a dedicated cost code for clients managing an active suspension, which builds the record a suspension cost claim runs on.
If the project goes on hold with unpaid invoices outstanding, don't wait for the restart to work collections. Preliminary notices and lien filings proceed whether the project is active or suspended, and SPM refers that work to an outside lien and collections service billed separately from the SPM monthly fee. Your lien window runs from last furnishing, so the filing decision gets made before the window closes rather than after.
THE OUTPUTS, NAMED.
FLAT MONTHLY FEE. NO SURPRISES.
Three tiers, priced by your trailing twelve month revenue. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No hourly billing, no payroll, and no add-ons.
| Last 12 months revenue | Monthly fee |
|---|---|
| Up to $1M | $1,900 to $2,900 |
| $1M to $3.5M | $2,600 to $3,900 |
| $3.5M to $6.5M | $3,800 to $5,700 |
| $6.5M to $9.5M | $5,100 to $7,100 |
| $9.5M to $12.5M | $6,100 to $8,500 |
| $12.5M to $15.5M | $7,400 to $11,000 |
| $15.5M to $18.5M | $9,400 to $13,500 |
| $18.5M+ | Quoted individually |
Range reflects the three tiers below. Which one you're in depends on how much of the work you want off your desk. No payroll. No hidden line items.
You stop guessing.
You get the CFO work. Job costing built against the way you estimate, a 13 week cash forecast, monthly WIP, and a meeting every month that ends in decisions rather than a report.
Your bookkeeper keeps doing the books.
You stop touching the books.
Everything in Core, and we run the bookkeeping and the controllership as well. Nobody in your office is answering coding questions or chasing a reconciliation at month end.
We do the books. No payroll.
Every job shows its margin while it's still running.
Everything in Executive, plus the job costing and WIP platform set up, loaded with your cost codes, and managed for you every month. You never have to learn it.
We do the job costing.
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