Payment claim

A payment claim is a claim for payment made under security of payment legislation - unlike an invoice, it starts a statutory clock the builder must answer within a fixed window, with silence making the full amount a debt due in most states.

To be valid, a claim must identify the construction work, state the claimed amount, and be served on the right party within the time the Act and contract allow. In several states a claim no longer needs to state it is made under the Act, though including the endorsement remains standard practice.

Why it matters to subbies

The claim only protects you if it engages the Act - which is why the cover wording, the service method and the date all matter. Diarise the builder's response deadline the day you serve.

General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice - contract drafting and state legislation vary and change; your document and your state's Act govern. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.