Timing by jurisdiction

Security of Payment legislation is state by state. The structure is broadly shared (serve a claim, get a schedule back within a window, be paid by a statutory date) but almost every number in it differs, and so do some of the rules underneath.

Your contract carries a single jurisdiction, and that value drives every deadline the platform counts for you. The tables below are what it is counting, with one exception noted in the cards that carry it.

How to read a citation

"s 14(4)(b)(ii)" is a section, subsection and paragraph of the Act named at the top of that jurisdiction's card. Every deadline the platform counts comes from the consolidated Acts its own deadline engine is built from, and is checked against that engine automatically. If the two ever disagreed, the platform would fail to build rather than publish a number it does not itself use. One figure here is the exception, and it is marked on the cards that carry it: the further chance to give a payment schedule. That window opens only if the claimant serves a notice of intention to apply for adjudication, which happens off the platform, so the Act's rule is stated here without a clock behind it.

General information, not legal advice

These are the statutory defaults. Your contract can vary some of them (always in the direction of a shorter schedule window, sometimes in the direction of a longer claiming period) and none of this is advice about your situation. Where a deadline matters, check the Act and take advice.

Western Australia

Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA)

Payment schedule due: 15 business days s 25(1)(b)
Payment due: 25 business days s 20(1)(b)

Claim can be served from: On or after the last day of the month the claim covers. s 23(2)
And no later than: Within 6 months after the work the claim relates to was last carried out. s 23(4)(b)
Releasing retention: A claim for the final payment runs to the later of 28 days after the defects liability period ends and 6 months after all the work was completed. s 23(5)(b) to (d)
If no schedule arrives: The respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount on the due date. You may then recover it as a debt in court or apply for adjudication, but not both. ss 26, 27(2)
A further chance to schedule: 5 business days s 28(2) Only where the respondent gave no payment schedule at all. The claimant must give written notice of their intention to apply for adjudication within 20 business days after the due date for payment, and the window runs from the respondent’s receipt of that notice. It does not move the due date for the progress payment (s 28(3)).The platform states this window. It does not count it, because the notice that starts it happens off the platform.

New South Wales

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW)

Payment schedule due: 10 business days s 14(4)(b)(ii)
Payment due: 20 business days s 11(1B)(a)

Claim can be served from: On and from the last day of the named month the claim covers, or the earlier date your contract sets. s 13(1A) to (1B)
And no later than: Within 12 months after the work the claim relates to was last carried out. s 13(4)(b)
If no schedule arrives: The respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount on the due date, and you may recover it as a debt. ss 14(4), 15
A further chance to schedule: 5 business days s 17(2)(b) Only where the respondent gave no payment schedule and did not pay. The claimant must serve written notice of their intention to apply for adjudication within the 20 business days immediately following the due date for payment, and the window runs from the respondent’s receipt of that notice.The platform states this window. It does not count it, because the notice that starts it happens off the platform.

Victoria

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic)

Payment schedule due: 10 business days s 15(4)(b)(ii)
Payment due: 20 business days s 12(1B)

Claim can be served from: On and from the last day of the month the claim covers. Two Victorian quirks: a claim served early is treated as served on the first day it could have been, so serving early never shortens the response clock; and work carried out between 22 and 31 December can only be claimed on and from 31 January. ss 14A(2)(b), 14A(5)(c)
And no later than: Up to the day before the date 6 months after practical completion. s 14C(b)
Releasing retention: Retention is released by a separate instrument: a performance security claim. It may be served from whichever comes first of 20 business days after the defects liability period ends and the day your contract nominates, and it closes on the last day of the month following the month that defects liability period ends. ss 17B(1), 17C(b)
If no schedule arrives: The respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount on the due date, and you may recover it as a debt. ss 15(4), 16
A further chance to schedule: 5 business days ss 18(2), 18(2A) Only where the respondent served no payment schedule and paid or released nothing by the due date. Victoria gives the claimant a shorter run at it than the other states: notice of their intention to apply for adjudication must be served within 10 business days after the due date, and the window runs from the respondent’s receipt of that notice. The same step applies to a performance security claim (s 18A(2)).The platform states this window. It does not count it, because the notice that starts it happens off the platform.

Queensland

Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld)

Payment schedule due: 15 business days s 76(1)(b)
Payment due: 10 business days s 73(1)(b)

Claim can be served from: On or after the reference date: the day your contract nominates, defaulting to the last day of each month. s 67
And no later than: Within 6 months after the work the claim relates to was last carried out. s 75(2)(b)
Releasing retention: A claim for the final payment may be given up to 28 days after the last defects liability period ends. s 75(3)(b)
If no schedule arrives: The respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount and you may recover it as a debt. Queensland goes further than the other states: failing to respond is itself an offence, carrying up to 100 penalty units. ss 76, 77, 78

Australian Capital Territory

Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009 (ACT)

Payment schedule due: 10 business days s 16(4)(b)(ii)
Payment due: 15 business days s 13(1)

Claim can be served from: On or after the last day of the calendar month the claim covers. s 15
And no later than: Within 12 months after the work the claim relates to was last carried out. s 15(5)(b)
If no schedule arrives: The respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount on the due date, and you may recover it as a debt. ss 16(4), 17
A further chance to schedule: 5 business days s 19(2)(b) Only where the respondent gave no payment schedule and did not pay the claimed amount by the due date. The claimant must notify the respondent of their intention to apply for adjudication within the 20 business days immediately following the due date, and the window runs from the respondent’s receipt of that notice.The platform states this window. It does not count it, because the notice that starts it happens off the platform.

South Australia

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (SA)

Payment schedule due: 15 business days s 14(4)(b)(ii)
Payment due: 15 business days s 11(1)(b)

Claim can be served from: On and from the reference date: the day your contract nominates, defaulting to the last day of each named month. ss 4, 8
And no later than: Within 6 months after the work the claim relates to was last carried out. s 13(4)(b)
If no schedule arrives: The respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount on the due date, and you may recover it as a debt. One exception is unique to South Australia: on a Crown contract worth more than $4 million excluding GST, the no-schedule consequence and adjudication are unavailable against the Crown party, though your own subcontracts underneath are unaffected. ss 14(4), 15; Regulations r 7
A further chance to schedule: 5 business days s 17(2)(b) Only where the respondent gave no payment schedule and did not pay the claimed amount by the due date. The claimant must notify the respondent of their intention to apply for adjudication within the 20 business days immediately following the due date, and the window runs from the respondent’s receipt of that notice.The platform states this window. It does not count it, because the notice that starts it happens off the platform.

Tasmania

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (Tas)

Payment schedule due: 10 business days s 19(3)(b)
Payment due: 10 business days s 15(2)

Claim can be served from: On or after the reference date: the day your contract nominates, defaulting to the last day of each month in which you carried out work. s 4
And no later than: Within 12 months after the work the claim relates to was last carried out. s 17(6)(b)
If no schedule arrives: The respondent becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount on the due date. Tasmania collects the recourse in one place: debt recovery, adjudication and the right to serve a suspension notice all sit within the same section. s 19(2), (4) to (8)
A further chance to schedule: 5 business days s 21(4) Only where the respondent gave no payment schedule and did not pay. The claimant must notify the respondent within 20 business days after the due date both that they intend to apply for adjudication and that a payment schedule may still be provided. Tasmania alone counts the window from when that notice is given rather than from when it is received.The platform states this window. It does not count it, because the notice that starts it happens off the platform.

New Zealand

Construction Contracts Act 2002 (NZ)

Payment schedule due: 20 working days s 22(b)(ii)
Payment due: 20 working days s 18

Claim can be served from: At the end of the relevant period: monthly by default, ending on the last day of the month. ss 17(2), 20(1)
And no later than: No statutory longstop: the Act imposes no cap on how long after the work a claim may be served.
If no schedule arrives: The payer becomes liable to pay the full claimed amount, recoverable as a debt, and you gain the right to suspend work on notice. ss 22, 23

One contract, one jurisdiction

Cross-border projects still get one jurisdiction per contract (the one governing that contract) and an organisation on the platform operates in a single country. A business working both sides of the Tasman runs one organisation for Australia and one for New Zealand.