If you've done the work and the invoice hasn't been paid, the Security of Payment Act gives you a fast legal pathway to recover it — often in weeks, not years. Kreisson makes it simple. Strict time limits apply.
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The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) gives anyone who carries out construction work — or supplies related goods and services — a statutory right to progress payments and a fast track to enforce it.
You serve a payment claim on the party who owes you. It identifies the work, states the amount, and references the Act.
The other side has 10 business days to reply with a payment schedule. If they don't, they generally can't dispute the amount later.
If unpaid by the due date (15 business days for head contractors, 20 for subcontractors, unless the contract says sooner), you can act.
An independent adjudicator decides quickly. A determination is enforceable as a debt — so you get paid.
Answer a few quick questions about your job and see your position, the deadline that applies to you, and your next step — in about two minutes. Free.
Security of Payment is powerful because it's fast — but that speed cuts both ways. Miss a window and you can lose the right. These are the headline NSW timeframes.
A payment claim must be served within 12 months after the construction work was last carried out, unless the contract allows a longer period. Serve outside this period and the entitlement under the Act is lost.
s 13(4) · SOP Act (NSW)After you serve the claim, the other side does one of three things — and each opens a different deadline for you.
They admit part of the claim, but not all of it. Your move: apply for adjudication — within 10 business days of receiving that payment schedule. This is the shortest window in the Act, and the one most commonly missed.
s 17(3)(c) · SOP Act (NSW)They accept the amount (or part of it), but the due date passes with no payment. Your move: apply for adjudication — within 20 business days after that due date.
s 17(3)(d) · SOP Act (NSW)No payment schedule, no payment. Your move, in two steps: first give notice of your intention to adjudicate — within 20 business days after the due date. The respondent then gets a final 5 business days to provide a schedule; if they still don't, you lodge the application within the next 10 business days. The critical bar is that 20-day notice — miss it and the adjudication pathway closes.
s 17(2) & s 17(3)(e) · SOP Act (NSW)The respondent's 10 business days to provide a payment schedule (s 14(4)) and the due date for payment (s 11) are the respondent's obligations, not your deadlines — but they fix when your windows above open and close, so the date of service and the due date on your facts must be established precisely.
Counting "business days": a business day excludes weekends, public and bank holidays, and the period 27–31 December (s 4). Claims served near year end are a recurring source of miscalculated windows.
These timeframes are a general guide only. Some can be varied by your contract, and the exact deadline in your matter depends on the facts. A wrong assumption can cost you the claim — get it checked before you act.
Right to a progress payment. A person who carries out construction work, or supplies related goods and services, under a construction contract is entitled to progress payments. ss 8–10
Serving the payment claim. The claim must identify the work, state the claimed amount, and state that it is made under the Act; it is generally served within 12 months of last carrying out the work. s 13
Payment schedule. The respondent must reply within 10 business days. If it doesn't, it becomes liable for the full claimed amount. s 14
Due date for payment. For contracts other than exempt residential construction contracts, a progress payment is due 15 business days after the claim for a head contractor, or 20 business days for a subcontractor, unless the contract provides an earlier date (s 11(1A)–(1B)). For owner-occupier and other exempt residential construction contracts, payment falls due 10 business days after the claim unless the contract provides otherwise (s 11(1C)). s 11
Adjudication windows. Schedule given but disputed: 10 business days from receiving the schedule (s 17(3)(c)). Schedule given but unpaid: 20 business days from the due date (s 17(3)(d)). No schedule: serve a s 17(2) notice within 20 business days of the due date, allow them 5 business days, then lodge within the next 10 business days (s 17(3)(e)). s 17(2), (3)
Recovery and leverage. You may instead recover the amount as a debt in court (ss 15–16), suspend work on 2 business days' notice (s 27), and serve a payment withholding request on a principal contractor up the chain (s 26A).
Your rights can't be contracted out. "Pay when paid" provisions are void and the Act overrides terms that try to exclude it. ss 12, 34
Owner-occupier residential work. Since 1 March 2021 the Act also applies to owner-occupier residential contracts — a builder can serve a payment claim on a homeowner. For these contracts, payment falls due 10 business days after the claim unless the contract provides otherwise. Contracts entered into before 1 March 2021 remain subject to the former exemption. s 11(1C)
Residential builders take note. Since 20 August 2024 there is no entitlement to a progress payment if you do not hold the licence required under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW), or if the required home building compensation insurance was not in force for the work. s 8(2)
General information about the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), not legal advice. Timeframes can be affected by your contract — confirm your position before acting.
Kreisson acts for claimants at each stage of the Security of Payment process: assessment, claim preparation, adjudication, and enforcement.
We advise whether the Act applies to your contract and work, identify the time limits that apply on your facts, and confirm that licensing and insurance requirements under the Home Building Act 1989 (NSW) do not affect your entitlement before any step is taken.
We prepare or review payment claims for compliance with section 13 of the Act — content, timing, method of service and, for head contractors, the required supporting statement. A non-compliant claim can invalidate the recovery process that follows.
The Act provides alternative routes to recover an unpaid amount: adjudication, or proceedings to recover the amount as a statutory debt. A claimant must generally elect between them, and each differs in speed, cost and risk. We advise on the appropriate pathway before any step is taken.
We prepare and lodge the adjudication application and submissions. Neither party has a general right to further submissions after lodgment, and the respondent is confined to the reasons stated in its payment schedule — the application must therefore address those reasons and establish the valuation of the work in full at the outset. We manage the process through to determination.
Where an adjudicated amount is not paid, we obtain an adjudication certificate and file it as a judgment, then advise on enforcement, including garnishee orders, statutory demands where appropriate, payment withholding requests under section 26A, and debt certificates under the Contractors Debts Act 1997 (NSW).
Where a respondent applies to set aside a judgment or seeks judicial review of a determination, we act for the claimant in resisting the challenge. On an application to set aside, the respondent cannot cross-claim or raise defences under the contract, and must pay the unpaid portion of the adjudicated amount into court.
If you have been served with a payment claim, different obligations and time limits apply — see our respondent page.
Almost anyone who carries out construction work, or supplies related goods and services, under a construction contract in NSW — head contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and many consultants. Since 1 March 2021 the Act also applies to owner-occupier residential contracts, so a builder can serve a payment claim on a homeowner (for these, payment falls due 10 business days after the claim unless the contract says otherwise — s 11(1C)); contracts entered into before 1 March 2021 remain under the former exemption. One important limit: since 20 August 2024, a residential builder has no entitlement without the required Home Building Act licence and insurance (s 8(2)). We can confirm in minutes whether you're covered.
A valid payment claim must identify the construction work (or goods and services) it relates to, state the claimed amount, and be served on the right party at the right time. Technical defects are the most common reason a claim is thrown out — which is why having it reviewed before you serve is worth far more than it costs.
If they don't issue a payment schedule within 10 business days and don't pay, you can either recover the amount as a debt in court or apply for adjudication. There's a required notice step first, so the sequence and timing matter. Talk to us before the clock runs down.
Adjudication is designed to be quick — a determination commonly lands within around four to six weeks of applying, far faster than litigation. Costs depend on the size and complexity of the claim. We'll give you a clear estimate up front in your free assessment.
No. The Act overrides contract terms that try to contract out of it, and "pay when paid" provisions are void. Even if your contract is silent or one-sided on payment, your statutory rights stand.
Different situation, tighter clock. If you're the one being claimed against, you generally have just 10 business days to issue a payment schedule, or you can become liable for the full amount. We have a dedicated page for that — see "I'm being chased for money"
For over 20 years, Kreisson has acted exclusively in Australian commercial construction law — advising builders, contractors and subcontractors on payment, disputes and recovery. This is how we make that expertise fast and accessible when you're owed money.
Every day you wait is a day closer to a deadline. Start your free, no-obligation assessment now — it takes two minutes.
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