When is a payment schedule due?
A payment schedule is the written answer to a payment claim: the amount the other side will pay and, if it is less than the claim, why. 7 of the 8 Security of Payment Acts give it between 10 and 15 business days from the claim. In 7 of the 8, a schedule that misses the window makes the full amount payable.
Every state's schedule window
Counted from the day the claim is served. The last column is when the money itself is due, which is a separate window.
| State | Schedule due after the claim | If it is late | Payment due |
|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 10 business dayss 14(4) | you are liable for the full amount | Be paid within 15 business days of a payment schedule (or of the claim if none is given) (head contract)s 11(1A)Be paid within 20 business days of a payment schedule (or of the claim if none is given) (subcontract)s 11(1B) |
| Queensland | 15 business dayss 76(1), s 77 | you are liable for the full amount | Be paid within 10 business days of a payment schedule (or of the claim if none is given)s 73(1)(b) |
| Victoria | 10 business dayss 15(4) | you are liable for the full amount | Be paid by the contract's due date, and never later than 20 business days after the claims 12(1), (1B) |
| Western Australia | 15 business dayss 25(1), s 26 | you are liable for the full amount | Be paid within 20 business days of a payment schedule (or of the claim if none is given) (head contract)s 20(1)Be paid within 25 business days of a payment schedule (or of the claim if none is given) (subcontract)s 20(1) |
| South Australia | 15 business dayss 14(4) | you are liable for the full amount | Be paid within 15 business days of the claim where the contract sets no dates 11(1)(b) |
| Tasmania | 10 business dayss 19(2), (3)(b) | you are liable for the full amount | Be paid within 10 business days of the claim where the contract sets no dates 15(2) |
| Australian Capital Territory | 10 business dayss 16(4) | you are liable for the full amount | Be paid within 15 business days of the claims 13(1) |
| Northern Territory | 10 working dayss 20, Sch 1 cl 6(2)(a) | a breach of contract | Be paid within 30 working days of the claim at the latests 13, Sch 1 cl 6(2)(b) |
Northern Territory has no payment schedule. Its Act asks for a notice of dispute instead: receive a notice of dispute, and payment of the undisputed part, within 10 working days of each claim (s 20, Sch 1 cl 6(2)(a)).
Counting it on a real date
Business days skip weekends, the state's public holidays and its Act's Christmas break, so the same 10 business days lands on different dates in different states. The deadline calculator counts it for you. If the schedule pays less than you claimed, the next window is the adjudication application.
What this page is, and is not
It is the section text this library holds for each state's Act, with the window and the consequence. It is not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the Act and the contract you signed.
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.