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How long does the builder have to respond to your payment claim?

Under the Security of Payment Acts, a respondent must serve a payment schedule within 10 business days of your claim in NSW, VIC, TAS and the ACT, and within 15 business days in QLD, SA and WA — silence makes the full claimed amount a debt due. The NT runs a different model with a 90-day adjudication window. Pick your state and your claim date to see your timeline.

Where is the work?

The statutory windows, state by state

QLD
Payment schedule due within 15 business days of the claim. Payment terms in QLD subcontracts are capped at 25 business days — a longer contractual term is not enforceable on that point. Since 2020 a QLD payment claim no longer needs to state it's made under the Act — an ordinary claim that identifies the work and amount can carry statutory consequences.
NSW
Payment schedule due within 10 business days of the claim. A head contractor must pay a subcontractor within 20 business days of the payment claim, whatever the contract says.
VIC
Payment schedule due within 10 business days of the claim. Victoria's Act was substantially reformed from 15 April 2026: the old excluded-amounts regime is abolished, and damages and disputed variations can now generally be pursued at adjudication for all claims served from that date. Pre-reform guidance — including 'you can't adjudicate variations in VIC' — may be badly out of date.
WA
Payment schedule due within 15 business days of the claim. Payment terms for subcontractors are capped at 25 business days under the 2021 Act. The 2021 Act applies to contracts entered into from 1 August 2022. Older contracts sit under the Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA) — a completely different regime with a 90-business-day window from the payment dispute arising. Always check the contract date first.
SA
Payment schedule due within 15 business days of the claim.
TAS
Payment schedule due within 10 business days of the claim.
ACT
Payment schedule due within 10 business days of the claim. ACT jurisdiction follows the contract rather than the territory's borders — cross-border Canberra-region disputes need care about which Act applies.
NT
West Coast model — no schedule exchange. Adjudication within 90 days of the payment dispute arising. The NT runs the West Coast model — there is no payment claim / payment schedule exchange. The 90-day window is generous but strict: a dispute older than that is usually confined to contractual remedies or court.

Common questions

How long does a builder have to respond to a payment claim?

On the East Coast Security of Payment model, the respondent must serve a payment schedule within 10 business days of the claim in NSW, VIC, TAS and the ACT, and within 15 business days in QLD, SA and WA — or any shorter period the contract sets. The NT runs a different model with no schedule exchange.

What happens if the builder doesn't respond at all?

Silence within the statutory window makes the full claimed amount a debt due, and bars the respondent from raising reasons against it at adjudication — one of the strongest positions a subcontractor can hold. Verify the exact deadline (public holidays extend business-day counts) before acting on it.

How are business days counted under the Security of Payment Acts?

Business days exclude weekends and public holidays, and the Acts also exclude certain end-of-year periods. That's why this checker labels every computed date as the earliest possible — the real deadline can only be later. Verify the exact date under your state's Act before relying on it.

How long do I have to apply for adjudication?

It depends on the state and the trigger — typically around 10 business days from receiving a disputing payment schedule on the NSW-style Acts, generally 30 business days for a standard QLD application, and 90 days from the payment dispute arising in the NT (90 business days under WA's pre-2022 Act). The windows are short and strict, which is why checking your position early matters.

Keep reading

General information, not legal advice. Computed dates are the earliest possible (weekends excluded only); public holidays, the Acts' end-of-year exclusions and contract terms can change real deadlines — verify before acting. Nothing you enter here is uploaded or stored. Built by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.