Meaning & use
completion date
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
The day on which a job, project, purchase or agreement is due to be finished or was actually finished.
Grammar: Usually takes the: the completion date is June 1; a new completion date means a changed one.
Patterns
- the completion date for something
- a completion date of [date]
The builders promised a completion date of early March, but the roof is still unfinished.
Please write the expected completion date on the form before you hand it in.
The completion date for the house sale was moved to Friday so the buyers could arrange their loan.
nouncountablelegalBritish
In property law, the day when ownership of a house or land officially passes from the seller to the buyer.
Grammar: Used mainly with property deals; often replaced by closing date in American English.
Patterns
- exchange contracts and set a completion date
On the completion date the solicitor transferred the money and we collected the keys.
Both parties agreed a completion date four weeks after contracts were exchanged.
If the seller misses the completion date, the buyer may be able to claim compensation.
Word forms
| plural | completion dates |
|---|
Common combinations
- target completion date
- Our target completion date is the end of the school year.
- set a completion date
- The council has not yet set a completion date for the bridge repairs.
- miss the completion date
- The contractor missed the completion date because of bad weather.
- expected completion date
- The expected completion date appears at the top of the schedule.
- push back the completion date
- Supply delays forced us to push back the completion date by a month.
Synonyms and how they differ
- deadline
- Deadline stresses the latest time something must be done, while completion date can simply be the day work is finished, early or on time.
- closing date
- Closing date is the usual American term for a property sale and can also mean the last day to apply for something, which completion date does not.
- finish date
- Finish date is plainer and more casual, and it is less likely to appear in formal contracts.
Opposites
Word family
- complete verb
- to finish something fully
- completion noun
- the act or state of being finished
- completed adjective
- finished, with nothing left to do
- completely adverb
- in every way, totally
Commonly confused: completion date or expiry date?
completion date vs expiry date
An expiry date is when something such as a passport or food stops being valid; a completion date is when a task or deal is finished.
Practice
The contract lists a ______ of 30 November, after which the apartment will be handed over to the new owner.
Choose one answer.
A completion date is when the work or sale is finished and the handover happens. A start date would mark the beginning, which does not fit 'after which'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “completion date”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.