If you have been served under the Security of Payment Act and do not respond in time, you may become liable to pay the full claimed amount and lose the right to dispute it. The priority is to serve a compliant payment schedule within the time limit.
Send us the payment claim. A Kreisson construction lawyer will review your position and the deadline, and call you back.
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Under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) the process is fast and each step carries a strict deadline. The most significant consequences follow from missing the first one.
A claimant serves a payment claim. The period to respond runs from the day it is received.
Within 10 business days you serve a payment schedule stating what you will pay and the reasons for any shortfall. This fixes your position for any later adjudication.
Pay the scheduled amount by the due date, or the claimant may apply for adjudication. If it does, you respond — but only on the reasons already stated in your schedule.
An adjudicator determines the amount payable. It must be paid within 5 business days, or enforcement and suspension of work may follow.
For a respondent, missing a deadline generally means becoming liable to pay. These are the headline NSW timeframes.
The most important deadline. Within 10 business days of being served (or sooner if the contract requires). If it is missed, you may become liable for the full claimed amount.
s 14(4) · SOP Act (NSW)Payment is due 15 business days after the claim where you are the head contractor, or 20 where the claimant is your subcontractor, unless the contract sets an earlier date. For exempt residential construction contracts, it is 10 business days after the claim (s 11(1C)).
s 11 · SOP Act (NSW)If the claim goes to adjudication, the response is due 5 business days after receiving the application, or 2 business days after notice of the adjudicator's acceptance — whichever is later.
s 20(1) · SOP Act (NSW)An adjudication response can only be lodged if a payment schedule was served. Without one, there is no right to lodge a response.
s 20(2A) · SOP Act (NSW)An adjudication response cannot include any reason for withholding payment that was not stated in the payment schedule. The schedule must be complete from the outset.
s 20(2B) · SOP Act (NSW)An adjudicated amount must be paid within 5 business days of the determination (or the due date, whichever is later), or the claimant may enforce it and suspend work.
s 23 · SOP Act (NSW)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. Missing a deadline generally means becoming liable to pay — confirm your position before acting.
Payment schedule. A payment schedule must be served within 10 business days of being served (or sooner if the contract requires). It must identify the payment claim, state the amount proposed to be paid, and — if that is less than claimed — the reasons, including any reasons for withholding. s 14
Failing to schedule. If that window is missed, the respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount on the due date, and cannot lodge an adjudication response. ss 14(4), 20(2A)
Due date for payment. Payment is due 15 business days after the claim where the respondent is the head contractor, or 20 business days where the claimant is a subcontractor, unless the contract sets an earlier date. For exempt residential construction contracts it is 10 business days after the claim. s 11
Second-chance notice. If the schedule was missed, a claimant's s 17(2) notice provides a final 5 business days to provide one. s 17(2)
Adjudication response. Where a schedule was served, the response is due 5 business days after receiving the application, or 2 business days after notice of the adjudicator's acceptance, whichever is later — and it cannot raise any reason for withholding that was not in the payment schedule. ss 20(1), 20(2B)
Paying a determination. An adjudicated amount must be paid within 5 business days of the determination, or the due date, whichever is later — or the claimant may obtain an adjudication certificate, enforce it as a judgment, and suspend work. ss 23, 25, 27
Validity is worth checking. A claim may fail if it was not served in time, does not concern construction work under the Act, or the contract is excluded — for example an owner-occupier residential contract entered into before 1 March 2021. Owner-occupier contracts entered into on or after that date are covered by the Act. ss 5–7, 13
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's construction lawyers act on Security of Payment matters from both sides. For a respondent, the work is to fix the position correctly and within time.
We act promptly to prepare and serve a compliant payment schedule within the 10-business-day period.
We set out the amount proposed and every reason for withholding, because reasons not included cannot be raised later at adjudication.
If the matter proceeds, we prepare and lodge the adjudication response within the applicable time limit.
We review whether the payment claim is valid — served in time, for construction work under the Act, and not under an excluded contract.
We identify amounts that may be legitimately withheld — defects, incomplete work, delay and liquidated damages.
We advise on payment of any adjudicated amount and on the consequences of non-payment — certificates, enforcement and suspension.
If you are chasing payment rather than responding to a claim, different rights and time limits apply — see our claimant page.
The priority is to serve a valid payment schedule within 10 business days, stating what you will pay and the reasons for any shortfall. Provide the claim to us so the exact deadline can be confirmed and a compliant schedule prepared in time.
This has significant consequences. If a payment schedule is not served in time, you generally become liable to pay the whole claimed amount and lose the right to lodge an adjudication response. If a claimant serves a s 17(2) notice, a final 5-business-day window to provide a schedule may apply, and you should provide one within that period.
Yes, but every reason must be set out in the payment schedule — defects, incomplete work, delay, back-charges and set-offs. An adjudication response cannot introduce reasons that were not in the schedule, so the schedule must be complete from the outset.
Not always. A claim may fail on validity — for example if it was not served in time, does not relate to construction work under the Act, or the contract is excluded (for example, an owner-occupier residential contract entered into before 1 March 2021; owner-occupier contracts entered into on or after that date are covered). These jurisdictional points are worth checking first.
An independent adjudicator determines the amount payable, generally within about 10 business days of the response. If a determination is made, the adjudicated amount must be paid within 5 business days. A complete, timely schedule and response are the main protections.
Then you are a claimant. See our claimant page for the recovery pathway and the applicable time limits.
For over 20 years, Kreisson has acted exclusively in Australian commercial construction law — on both sides of Security of Payment disputes, including advising respondents on payment schedules, adjudication responses and enforcement.
A payment schedule must generally be served within 10 business days. Send us the claim to have your position reviewed.
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