Security of Payment Deadlines by State
When a payment schedule is due, how long payment can take, and how long you have to apply for adjudication, for builders and subcontractors in every state and territory.
How to get this live in your business
In short
- The answer
- A payment claim is your written request for a progress payment. A payment schedule is the other side’s written reply saying what it will pay and why. Miss the reply window and the full claim can become payable. The windows differ by state and are counted in business days, not calendar days.
- Reply window
- 10 business days in NSW, VIC, TAS and the ACT. 15 in QLD, WA and SA. The NT has no payment schedule at all.
- Easy to miss
- Most states still require the claim to say it is made under the Act. QLD and the NT do not. VIC changed its rules on 15 April 2026.
- What this is not
- Legal advice. It is a dated reading of each Act. Your contract can shorten some of these windows.
Checked on 30 September 2026. Not legal advice.
Every figure below was read from the current version of each Act on the official legislation site on 30 September 2026. Legislation changes, and several of these Acts have changed in the last two years. Transitional rules can keep an older version running for older contracts. Confirm against the Act and your contract, and speak to your advisor before you rely on a date.
The work was done, the claim went in, and the reply window closed while the pack sat in somebody’s drafts. Or the claim went out without the one sentence the Act requires, and the other side knew it. Security of payment protects the person who gets the paperwork and the dates right. This page is the dates.
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1. The Deadlines, State by State
BD means business days as each Act defines them (section 3 covers the Christmas exclusions). The NT counts working days. “Or earlier if the contract says” means the contract can shorten the window but not stretch it. Section numbers refer to the Act in the first column.
“No schedule” in the adjudication column is the path where the respondent never replied: most states make you give notice and a second chance before you can apply.
| State | Act | Payment schedule due | Maximum payment terms | Window to apply for adjudication | Notable quirk |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 | 10 BD after the claim is served, or earlier if the contract says (s 14(4)) | Head contract: 15 BD. Subcontract: 20 BD. A later contract date has no effect (s 11(1A), (1B), (8)). Exempt residential: contract, or 10 BD if silent | Schedule less than claimed: 10 BD after receiving it. Scheduled amount unpaid: 20 BD after due date. No schedule: notice within 20 BD of due date, 5 BD second chance, then 10 BD (s 17) | Claim must state it is made under the Act. Head contractor must attach a supporting statement. Claims run from the last day of each named month (s 13) |
| VIC | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 | 10 BD after the claim is served, or earlier if the contract says (s 15(4)) | One cap for head contracts and subcontracts: 20 BD after the claim is served (s 12(1B)). Silent contract: 10 BD after the earliest day a claim may be served | Schedule less than claimed: 10 BD after receiving it. Scheduled amount unpaid: 10 BD after due date. No schedule: notice within 10 BD of due date, 5 BD second chance, then 5 BD (s 18) | Reformed 15 April 2026. Claim must state it is made under the Act (s 14(2)(e)). December work has its own claim dates (s 14A(2)) |
| QLD | Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 | 15 BD after the claim is given, or earlier if the contract says (s 76) | Commercial building contract: 15 BD. Subcontract or construction management trade contract: 25 BD (QBCC Act s 67W and s 67U, per the notes to s 73). Silent contract: 10 BD | Schedule less than claimed: 30 BD after receiving it. Scheduled amount unpaid: 20 BD after due date. No schedule and unpaid: 30 BD after the later of the due date and the last day for a schedule (s 79) | No requirement to state the claim is made under the Act. A document headed ‘invoice’ counts as requesting payment (s 68(3)). No notice step before adjudication. Head contractor supporting statement (s 75(6)) |
| WA | Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 | Before the earlier of the contract time and 15 BD after the claim is made (s 25) | Principal to head contractor: 20 BD. To a subcontractor: 25 BD. Earlier if the contract says (s 20). Home building work: contract, or 10 BD if silent | 20 BD after first becoming entitled to apply (s 28(4)). No schedule: notice within 20 BD of due date and a 5 BD second chance first (s 28(2)) | Claim must state it is made under the Act and describe items and quantities (s 24). Applies to contracts entered on or after 1 August 2022 |
| SA | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 | 15 BD after the claim is served, or earlier if the contract says (s 14(4)) | No cap in the Act. Silent contract: 15 BD after the claim (s 11(1)) | Schedule less than claimed: 15 BD after receiving it. Scheduled amount unpaid: 20 BD after due date. No schedule: notice within 20 BD of due date, 5 BD second chance, then 15 BD (s 17) | Claim must state it is made under the Act (s 13(2)(c)). Still the 2009 text: the 2021 amendment Bill lapsed. Reference dates still apply |
| TAS | Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 | 10 BD after the claim is served, or earlier if the contract says. 20 BD for a home owner who is not a building practitioner (s 19) | No cap in the Act. Silent contract: the same 10 BD (or 20 BD) day (s 15) | Schedule less than claimed: 10 BD after receiving it. Scheduled amount unpaid: 20 BD after due date. No schedule: notice within 20 BD of due date, 5 BD second chance, then 10 BD (s 21) | Claim must state it is made under the Act and identify the work in enough detail to assess it (s 17(2)) |
| ACT | Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009 | 10 BD after the claim is given, or earlier if the contract says (s 16(4)) | Payable on the earlier of 15 BD after the claim and the contract date, so 15 BD is the ceiling (s 13(1)) | Schedule less than claimed: 10 BD after receiving it. Scheduled amount unpaid: 20 BD after due date. No schedule: notice within 20 BD of due date, 5 BD second chance, then 10 BD (s 19) | Claim must state it is made under the Act (s 15(2)(c)). One claim per calendar month, from the last day of the month (s 15(4), (6)) |
| NT | Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 | No statutory schedule. If the contract is silent: notice of dispute within 10 working days, or pay in full within 20 working days (Sch 1 cl 6) | A term requiring payment more than 30 working days after the claim is read down to 30 working days (s 13) | 65 working days after the payment dispute arises (s 28) | Works on a ‘payment dispute’ rather than a payment schedule (s 8). Counts working days. No statement that the claim is made under the Act is required |
The table covers standard claims. QLD gives longer adjudication response and decision times for a “complex payment claim” (over $750,000), but the claimant’s application windows above are the same.
2. State Notes
Only where a table cell could not hold it.
NSW: supporting statement and a label change on the way
A head contractor must not serve a payment claim on the principal without a supporting statement, in the approved form, declaring that all subcontractors have been paid what is due (s 13(7) and (9)). The Fair Trading and Building Legislation Amendment Act 2026 No 28 renames ‘business day’ to ‘working day’ with the same days excluded. It had not commenced on the checked date.
VIC: the 15 April 2026 reform
The Building Legislation Amendment (Fairer Payments on Jobsites and Other Matters) Act 2025 added the 20 business day cap, the 22 December to 10 January exclusion and a monthly claim right. It also repealed the excluded amounts and claimable variations regime. Work done 1 to 21 December can be claimed from 22 December. Work done 22 to 31 December can be claimed from 31 January (s 14A(2)). The new Part 3 rules do not apply to a claim served before 15 April 2026. The Act still does not apply to a domestic building contract with an owner who is not in the business of building.
QLD: where the payment caps live
The BIF Act sets the due date as the contract date, or 10 business days if the contract is silent. The caps are in the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991, which the notes to s 73 cite: 15 business days for a commercial building contract and 25 business days for a subcontract or construction management trade contract. A claim for a final payment has its own time limits (s 75(3)).
WA: older contracts run on the old Act
The 2021 Act’s claim procedure commenced on 1 August 2022. The Construction Contracts Act 2004, renamed the Construction Contracts (Former Provisions) Act 2004, still governs contracts entered into before then. A claim to a homeowner for home building work above the threshold must include a homeowner’s notice (s 24(2)). A payment claim can be an invoice (s 24(3)).
SA: new Regulations, same Act
A 2021 Bill to overhaul the SA Act (including a 25 business day cap and a longer Christmas exclusion) was introduced and lapsed. None of it is law. The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Regulations 2026 operate from 1 September 2026 and exempt some Crown contracts over $4,000,000 from parts of the Act.
NT: a different model
The NT Act implies terms into a contract that has no written term on the matter, and any party can apply for adjudication once a payment dispute arises: a claim is rejected or disputed, or is not paid in full when due. The 30 working day ceiling in s 13 applies whatever the contract says. A high value construction contract can use its own dispute process instead (s 10A).
3. How Business Days Are Counted
Every window on this page is counted in business days (working days in the NT). A business day is never a Saturday, a Sunday or a public holiday. Each Act then removes a block of days around Christmas, and the blocks are not the same. A claim served on 19 December can have a very different schedule date in Brisbane than in Sydney.
| State | Christmas period excluded | Note |
|---|---|---|
| NSW | 27 to 31 December | Plus weekends and public holidays (s 4(1)) |
| VIC | 22 December to 10 January | Added by the 2026 reform, for claims served from 15 April 2026 (s 4(1)) |
| QLD | 22 to 24 December, 27 to 31 December, 2 to 10 January | Public holidays count where the act is to be done (sch 2) |
| WA | 22 December to 10 January, inclusive | Plus weekends and public holidays (s 4(1)) |
| SA | 27 to 31 December | Also any day of a Statewide shutdown of the building and construction industry (s 4) |
| TAS | 27 to 31 December | Plus weekends and the statutory holidays listed (s 4A) |
| ACT | 27 to 31 December | The Legislation Act 2001 supplies the weekend and public holiday rule |
| NT | 25 December to 7 January | Working days, not business days. Public holidays count where the act is to be done (s 4) |
Public holidays are local
A public holiday in one state is a business day in another, and the QLD and NT Acts tie it to the place where the act is to be done. A national list is not enough: count against the state the claim is under.
When the count starts
Most windows run from when the claim is served or given, or from the due date. What counts as service (email, post, a portal) and whether the first day is counted come from the Act’s service provisions, the contract and the state’s interpretation legislation. Check them for your state rather than assuming.
The contract can only shorten
Where the table says ‘or earlier if the contract says’, the earlier of the two applies. Read the contract’s payment clause before you diarise the statutory window.
4. What This Means for a Pack Before It Goes Out
A claim can be right about the work and still fail on the paperwork. These are the security of payment checks that belong in the pack check, alongside purchase order numbers, rates and insurance. They follow the order in the Rejected Pack build standard.
Claim content
Does the claim carry what this state’s Act requires? The ‘made under this Act’ statement in NSW, VIC, WA, SA, TAS and the ACT. Enough detail to assess it. The supporting statement a head contractor must attach in NSW and QLD. The approved form, where one applies.
The claim date
Is this claim allowed today? Check the reference date or the end-of-month rule, the one-claim-per-month limit, the VIC December dates, and the last day a claim can still be made after the work stopped.
The response window
Which day does the schedule fall due? Count from the service date, in this state’s business days, with its Christmas block removed, and put the adjudication deadlines in the diary too.
Dates are checked and dated, not hard-coded
A tool that bakes these numbers into its code will be wrong the day a state changes them, as VIC did on 15 April 2026. Whatever checks your packs should read the window from a dated rule per state and show the date it was last checked next to the answer, the way this table does.
5. What Stays With a Person
A check can tell you that a claim is missing a statement or that a schedule is due on a certain day. It cannot tell you whether to chase, adjudicate, suspend work or settle. Those are commercial and legal calls, and they depend on the relationship, the contract and the money.
- Whether a payment schedule is valid, and what its reasons actually commit the other side to
- Whether to apply for adjudication, sue for the debt, or suspend work
- Valuing a disputed variation, and what goes in the claim at all
- Which version of the Act applies to an older contract under the transitional rules
- Anything with a lawyer’s name on the other side of it: get your own advisor
If you are also automating calls or messages to chase payment, the rules on disclosure, recording and messaging are in AI compliance for Australian businesses.
Before it gets statutory
Most stage invoices never need the Act. They need somebody to ring two days after the invoice goes out and ask for a payment date. Get Paid, $199 a month, makes that call against your Xero and writes the date back. It never serves, answers or chases anything under Security of Payment: that stays with you and your advisor.
6. Sources
Each Act was read in its current version on the official legislation site on 30 September 2026.
- NSW: Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 No 46 (current version from 20 August 2024)
- NSW: Fair Trading and Building Legislation Amendment Act 2026 No 28 (as made)
- VIC: Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (version 015, amendments as at 24 June 2026)
- QLD: Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017
- WA: Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (consolidation 00-e0-00, current from 1 February 2024)
- SA: Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (version 10.12.2011)
- SA: Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Regulations 2026
- TAS: Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (No. 86 of 2009)
- ACT: Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009 (A2009-50) (republication 14, effective 6 December 2025)
- NT: Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 (as in force at 25 May 2024)