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Free calculator · NSW Security of Payment Act

Sent a payment claim? See every deadline that follows.

Most claims say they’re made under the Security of Payment Act. Far fewer are followed through to payment. Once your claim is received, the Act sets a timetable: when they must reply, when you must be paid, and how long you have to apply for adjudication. Answer the questions below and you’ll see every date.

Written by , construction lawyer, Phontos Legal

Work out your deadlines

Answer seven questions (eight if they’ve replied). Dates are counted in business days as the Act defines them (s 4): no weekends, NSW public holidays or 27–31 December — or, where it applies, days as your contract defines them.

Received a claim instead? Work out your reply deadline →

What this fills in

Pick one and the two contract questions below are filled from that form’s own terms. Check your copy against them — special conditions change these, and an amended clause beats the printed one.

What makes a claim a payment claim →

What counts as goods or services

Goods or services means plant and materials, including hire — and labour, design, surveying, engineering and advisory services (s 6).

What must a payment schedule contain? →

Add your figures — the answer then uses your real numbers (optional)

The claimed amount is what your payment claim asked for (s 13). The scheduled amount is what their payment schedule proposes to pay (s 14).

How to find out

This decides your deadlines, and there is no safe way to guess it. If you don’t know, ask the head contractor — or check whether home warranty insurance was taken out, which only happens on residential work.

Where to look in your contract

Look for the clause that says when the money must be paid — BC Major cl 14: within 5 business days of receiving the claim. BC4 cl 20: the Schedule 2 item 4(d) period, or 5 days if none is stated. Special Conditions: these may vary the printed terms. If your contract runs payment from a certificate rather than from the claim, add the certifying time to the payment time.

Where to look in your contract

Not every contract has one. Look for a clause requiring them to dispute, assess or certify within a set time — BC Major cl 14 gives 5 business days to notify disagreement with reasons, while BC4 has no such period. Check the Special Conditions. Commercial forms use a superintendent’s or architect’s certificate. The Act asks what the contract requires, not what it calls it. If yours says nothing of the kind, answer No — and only a period shorter than 10 business days changes the answer.

    Before you rely on this

    When is payment due?

    Whichever comes first: the date in your contract, or the Act’s date. Under the Act, payment is due:

    • to a head contractor claiming from the principal: 15 business days after the claim was received (s 11(1A));
    • to a subcontractor or supplier: 20 business days after the claim was received (s 11(1B)).

    A contract term that sets a later date has no effect (s 11(8)).

    Homes the owner lives in are different

    For anyone working on a home the owner lives in or will live in — the builder and every subcontractor under them — the contract decides, or it’s 10 business days after the claim if the contract doesn’t say (s 11(1C)). There’s no limit: a 45-day contract term stands on a house.

    Contracts can set an earlier date, and the standard home building contracts do — but they count days differently: the Building Commission NSW forms say 5 business days, HIA New Dwellings says 5 working days, and Master Builders BC4 says 5 banking days (or the period at Schedule 2 item 4(d)).

    How long do they have to reply?

    10 business days, or a shorter period in the contract, whichever ends first (s 14(4)). A contract can’t give them more time. If they don’t send a payment schedule in time, they owe the full amount and can’t raise any defence about the work if you go to court (s 15(4)).

    How are business days counted?

    Business days under the Act leave out weekends, NSW public holidays and 27–31 December (s 4). That last one is often missed — it’s why a claim sent in mid-December has a reply date well into January. A period set by your contract is counted the way the contract defines a day.

    How long do I have to apply for adjudication?

    It depends on what came back:

    • A payment schedule for less than you claimed: 10 business days from the day you received it (s 17(3)(c)). This is the tightest deadline in the Act.
    • A scheduled amount they didn’t pay: 20 business days from the due date (s 17(3)(d)).
    • No payment schedule at all: first send a notice that you intend to apply, within 20 business days of the due date (s 17(2)(a)). They then get a second chance of 5 business days to send a schedule, and you have 10 business days to apply (s 17(3)(e)).

    How the deadlines fit together

    1. One line makes it a payment claim. Saying it’s made under the Act (s 13(2)(c)) turns an invoice into a payment claim. Once received, every deadline starts — whatever the contract says about payment.
    2. They must reply in writing, fast. A payment schedule within 10 business days (or the contract’s shorter period), saying what they’ll pay and every reason for paying less. Any reason they leave out, they lose.
    3. If they say nothing, they owe it all. No schedule in time and no payment by the due date means they owe the full amount, with no counter-claim and no defence about the work — and your right to stop work applies.
    4. Each option has a time limit. The adjudication windows are 10 or 20 business days depending on what came back, and once they close, they’re gone. Suing for the debt has no such deadline.

    The calculator’s timeline is these deadlines, worked out from your answers. “Between X and Y” means the date depends on a step you haven’t taken yet.