When is a payment claim notice due under the Construction Contracts Act 2013?
Under Ireland's Construction Contracts Act 2013, a payment claim notice must reach the other party within 5 days after the payment claim date. If the other party contests it, its response is due within 21 days after that date. Where the Act's Schedule applies, payment is due within 30 days.
The claim, the response and the payment
The notice, the response and the payment all run from the payment claim date, not from the day the claim is sent. The notice is due within 5 days, a contested claim gets its response within 21 days, and where the Schedule applies payment is due within 30 days. If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the next day that is not one is in time (s 10(3)).
| Duty | Window and section | If missed |
|---|---|---|
| Make a payment claim on the payment claim dates the contract sets, or every 30 days where the Schedule applies | 30 dayss 3(2)-(4); Sch para 1, 2 | no penalty statedDisputes |
| Deliver a payment claim notice within 5 days after each payment claim date | 5 dayss 4(1), 10(3) | the claim is barredDisputes |
| Make every payment claim notice state the amount claimed (even if zero), the period, stage or activity it covers, its subject matter and the basis of calculation | none sets 4(2) | the claim is barredDisputes |
| Receive a response within 21 days after the payment claim date if the other party contests the amount claimed | 21 dayss 4(3)(a), 10(3) | no penalty statedDisputes |
| Make a response state the amount proposed, the reasons for the difference and how the amount was calculated, with particulars of any set-off claim | none sets 4(3)(a)(i)-(iii), 4(4) | no penalty statedDisputes |
| Be paid no later than 30 days after the payment claim date where the Schedule applies | 30 dayss 3(3), 3(4), 4(3)(b); Sch para 3 | no penalty statedDisputes |
| Do not rely on a term that makes payment, or its timing, conditional on payment by someone outside the contract | none sets 3(5), 3(6) | no penalty statedDisputes |
| Give at least 7 days written notice, stating the grounds, before suspending work for non-payment | 7 dayss 5(1)-(4) | no penalty statedDisputes |
What the library notes on each duty
Quoted a whole sentence at a time from the library's note on each row.
Make a payment claim on the payment claim dates the contract sets, or every 30 days where the Schedule applies
s 3(2)-(4); Sch para 1, 2 · 30 days · no penalty stated
- The contract must set the payment claim dates and the period from each to the payment due date (s 3(2)).
- Where a main contract does not, the Schedule fills the gap (s 3(3)); a subcontract gets the Schedule unless its own terms are more favourable to the party doing the work (s 3(4)).
- Schedule dates: 30 days after the contract commences, then every 30 days to substantial completion, then 30 days after final completion; for work expected to last less than 45 consecutive days, one claim date 14 days after completion.
- No consequence is stated for the cadence itself.
Deliver a payment claim notice within 5 days after each payment claim date
s 4(1), 10(3) · 5 days · the claim is barred
- Section 4 applies only where the notice reaches the other party, or the person the contract names, not later than 5 days after the payment claim date.
- A notice delivered later does not extinguish the contractual claim, but the other party is then under no s 4 duty to respond with its proposed amount and reasons; mapped to barred on that basis (judgment call).
Make every payment claim notice state the amount claimed (even if zero), the period, stage or activity it covers, its subject matter and the basis of calculation
s 4(2) · none set · the claim is barred
- A notice missing any of the four items is not a payment claim notice as s 4(2) defines one, so the s 4(3) duty to respond does not arise; mapped to barred, as the other jurisdictions' claim content rows are.
Receive a response within 21 days after the payment claim date if the other party contests the amount claimed
s 4(3)(a), 10(3) · 21 days · no penalty stated
- The Act's equivalent of a payment schedule.
- If the last day falls on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday, the next day that is not one is in time (s 10(3)).
Make a response state the amount proposed, the reasons for the difference and how the amount was calculated, with particulars of any set-off claim
s 4(3)(a)(i)-(iii), 4(4) · none set · no penalty stated
- Where the difference comes from a claim for loss or damage from an alleged breach by the party doing the work, or any other claim against it, the response must also say when the loss was incurred or the claim arose, its particulars, and the portion of the difference each accounts for (s 4(4)).
- The Act states no consequence for a response that omits these.
Be paid no later than 30 days after the payment claim date where the Schedule applies
s 3(3), 3(4), 4(3)(b); Sch para 3 · 30 days · no penalty stated
- Applies to a main contract silent on the period, and to a subcontract unless its own terms are more favourable to the party doing the work, which makes 30 days the longest period a subcontract can set.
- Where the other party contests the claim and it is not settled by the due date, it must pay at least the amount its response proposed on that day (s 4(3)(b)).
Do not rely on a term that makes payment, or its timing, conditional on payment by someone outside the contract
s 3(5), 3(6) · none set · no penalty stated
- A pay when paid term is ineffective, except after the third party's insolvency event listed in s 3(6) (winding up, receivership, examinership, bankruptcy adjudication, or the equivalent under EU insolvency law).
Give at least 7 days written notice, stating the grounds, before suspending work for non-payment
s 5(1)-(4) · 7 days · no penalty stated
- Available where an amount is not paid in full by its due date.
- The notice may be delivered no earlier than the day after the due date and at least 7 days before the suspension starts.
- Work may not be suspended after the amount is paid, or after either party serves a notice of intention to refer the payment dispute to adjudication (s 5(3)).
- A justified suspension is disregarded in computing the contract's time limits (s 5(4)); an unjustified one leaves the party that suspended open to a damages claim (s 5(7)).
If the claim is not paid
Either party can refer the dispute to adjudication at any time. Whether the Act covers the contract at all is on which contracts.
What this page is, and is not
It is the section text this library holds for Ireland's Construction Contracts Act 2013 (Ireland) and Safety, Health and Welfare at Work (Construction) Regulations 2013 (Ireland), with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Act, the Regulations and the contract you signed.
Demiton does not yet track Irish projects. These pages set out the duties; the product does not run these checks on an Irish job today.
No library of law is complete, and Demiton never says this one is. An obligation the library does not hold, and you did not add, is not protected. You can add your own to any job.