Priority of Claims against Retainage

What if you have more claims filed against the retainage you are withholding on a public works construction project than than the amount of retainage you have on hand?

By definition, retainage, under RCW 60.28, is a trust fund for the protection of the Washington State Department of Revenue and subcontractors, suppliers, and workers. Although it is not explicitly described in state law, if you read RCW 60.28 carefully, you'll find that the following is the priority order of claimants:

1. Workers for payment of prevailing wages
   
2. State Department of Revenue for unpaid taxes on the project
   
3. Subcontractors, suppliers, and materialmen
   
4. Other taxes due (including the Department of Revenue for unpaid taxes on other projects
   
5. The Owner
   

There are a host of other issues to consider as well in sorting through how to handle claims, including whether the claim is a "live" claim (filed and renewed within prescribed time frames), whether a "pre-claim" notice was filed by suppliers, and whether there are conflicting claims from parties in any of the categories above (i.e., multiple claims for other taxes due), etc.