Okla. Stat. tit. 19, § 19-8

This is the official text of Okla. Stat. tit. 19, § 19-8, part of Oklahoma’s Stat. tit. 19, — part of the compiled statutory law of Oklahoma, published by the state as "Stat. tit. 19,." Browse the sections below, each linked to its official government source.

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Public works contracts

Official statutory text

A. Any public works contract shall provide for partial payment

based upon work completed. The contract shall provide that up to

ten percent (10%) of all such partial payments made shall be

withheld as retainage. At any time the contractor has completed in

excess of fifty percent (50%) of the total contract amount, the

retainage shall be reduced to not less than five percent (5%) of the

amount earned to date if the owner or owner's duly authorized

representative has determined that satisfactory progress is being

made, and upon approval by the surety. The amount retained shall be

sufficient to ensure payment of:

1. Any taxes due the State of Oklahoma;

2. Personal property taxes or any municipal sales taxes due on

the contractor's equipment and supplies;

3. Any workers compensation coverage; and

4. Any amount due and owing to any subcontractor who furnished

any material or equipment to the contractor or performed any labor

as a subcontractor, or as an artisan or day laborer in the employ of

the contractor.

B. For purposes of this section a public works contract means a

contract between a county of this state and a contractor for the

construction, alteration, repair, improvement, moving, wrecking or

demolition of any highway, road, railroad, earthwork, building or

other structure, project, development or improvement, whether it be

in whole or in part. The provisions of this section shall not apply

to railroad companies operating in this state.

Status: in_force · Read it on the official government site

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About this page: Statute text is reproduced from official government publishers via the Open US Law dataset (Vaquill AI, snapshot v2026.08, CC BY 4.0). Primary legislative text like this is public domain under the government-edicts doctrine (Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). We link every section back to its official source so you can verify it independently.