Payment schedule
A payment schedule is the builder's formal response to a payment claim, stating what they will pay and every reason for paying less - served within a statutory window of 10 to 15 business days depending on the state.
The schedule is load-bearing in both directions. For the builder: reasons left out of the schedule generally cannot be raised later at adjudication. For you: a schedule for less than you claimed is the trigger for taking the gap to an adjudicator, inside a strict window.
No schedule at all, inside the window, makes the full claimed amount a debt due in most states - one of the strongest positions a subcontractor can hold.
Why it matters to subbies
Read every schedule the day it lands and diarise the adjudication window immediately - in some states it is around ten business days from receipt.
Keep reading
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.