The pieces of the close
| Piece | Content |
|---|---|
| General measurement | What was really executed, item by item, under the contract's rules; checked against the cumulative certificates |
| Change orders and new rates | Consolidation of the register: everything approved incorporated, everything pending resolved |
| Price revision | If the contract provides for it, applied with its formula and indices to the corresponding periods |
| Penalties and compensations | Delays, defects, damage: applied per the contract or expressly resolved |
| Retentions and guarantees | The release regime activated in line with acceptance and warranty periods |
| Cross-claims | What each party considers outstanding, resolved or formally channelled |
The result is the final account: the works' definitive amount against what was certified, with the balance in favour of whichever party it corresponds to. The balance is determined item by item rather than as a global difference.
The general measurement: the technical heart
In unit-rate contracts, the general measurement is the ultimate verification: walking the finished works with the contract's bill of quantities and measuring execution under the same rules. If the certificates really measured cumulatively, the general measurement confirms with minor deviations; if they certified in twelfths, the general measurement is the moment the whole accumulated gap surfaces at once, without proportionate retentions or negotiating levers. That is the structural reason certification discipline is paid for here.
Concealed work is settled with the file built at the time (joint measurements before covering, photographic record): what was not documented then can no longer be measured, only negotiated. That is why a joint measurement before covering costs minutes and saves months.
The clean-close method
Three practices shorten final accounts. Settle continuously: change orders, new rates and claims are resolved as they arise; the final account consolidates closed files instead of opening them all at once. Separate the technical from the negotiated: the general measurement and valuations at contract prices are closed first as facts; interpretation differences are then negotiated on that common base, and the discussion's perimeter shrinks drastically. A complete closing document: final account, reciprocal waivers on what is resolved and the guarantee regime, signed by those who can commit the parties.
The essentials
The final account reconciles general measurement, changes, revisions and claims into one final figure. Its hardness is the inverse photograph of the monitoring: certificates that measured, changes documented in real time and claims handled continuously produce closes in weeks; postponed management produces closes in years. The best final-account advice is given in the works' first month.
Note: usual practices in Spain in 2026; deadlines, guarantees and the settlement procedure are those of the contract and, in public works, of the applicable rules.