Late payment in construction in Cameroon

Where the money gets stuck

• Progress statements waiting weeks for approval. Until it is signed, the statement cannot be invoiced, and the payment clock does not start.
• Retention money, forgotten and never claimed. It is released months after the site closes, when the team is already elsewhere.
• Extra work done without a written order or amendment. When payment falls due, the client disputes it, and you have nothing to prove it.

The clauses that matter

• A signed monthly statement from the project owner or their representative, with an approval deadline written in the contract.
• The release date of each retention, entered in the tracker, with a reminder on that date.
• No extra work without a written, priced order. One line in the contract is enough: any extra work requires a signed written order before it starts.
• Proof of delivery: a signed acceptance report, with a deadline for written reservations.

The payment-terms template offers this wording, to adapt and have reviewed.

Worked example

Fictional example. A finishing-works company invoices 12,000,000 FCFA of progress statements per month. Its statements wait 20 days on average before approval, then are paid at 45 days: the money arrives 65 days after the work. If a 5-day approval deadline is written in the contract and respected, it gains 15 days, i.e. 12,000,000 ÷ 30 × 15 = 6,000,000 FCFA of cash freed.

On a 40,000,000 FCFA contract with 5% retention, 2,000,000 FCFA wait for final acceptance. A date in the tracker stops them from being forgotten.