Time bar

A time bar is a contractual deadline for giving notice of a claim - miss it and, under the common absolute drafting, the claim is extinguished entirely, regardless of its merits or who caused the problem.

Time bars attach to the events that generate money and time claims: delays, variations, latent conditions. The window runs from when the event occurs (or when you became aware, or ought to have been aware) and can be startlingly short - builder templates commonly allow only a few business days.

The critical distinction is between notice as a requirement (late notice weakens the claim) and notice as a condition precedent or absolute bar (late notice kills it). The second is now the standard drafting in Australian subcontracts.

Why it matters to subbies

The defence is not legal - it is habitual: written notice the day anything changes, every time, so no window is ever missed. Negotiating the window to ten business days, drafted as a requirement rather than a bar, is the market-credible ask before signature.

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.