The subcontract questions subbies actually ask
Plain answers, the market position on each clause, and live data from real Australian subcontracts. No legal jargon, no gatekeeping. When you're ready to see where your own contract stands, the scanner reads it free in about two minutes.
Scan a subcontract freeGetting paid
What are normal payment terms in an Australian subcontract?
What payment terms are normal in an Australian subcontract, the market median from real contracts, and the statutory caps in QLD, NSW, VIC and WA that override it.
Is a pay-when-paid clause legal in Australia?
Pay-when-paid clauses are void in every Australian state and territory. What the clause looks like, why it fails, and what it says about the whole contract.
The builder isn't paying me. What can I actually do?
What a subcontractor can do when a builder won't pay: payment claims, payment schedules, adjudication and suspension under Security of Payment law, by state.
What happens if the builder ignores my payment claim?
Miss the statutory window for a payment schedule and the builder owes the full claimed amount, with its defences barred at adjudication. The windows, by state.
Can I suspend work if I'm not being paid?
When an Australian subcontractor can lawfully suspend work for non-payment, the notice steps that make it safe, and the mistakes that turn it into repudiation.
How does adjudication actually work?
Adjudication step by step for Australian subcontractors: payment claim, payment schedule, application windows, and a binding decision in weeks, not months.
What makes a progress claim one that actually gets paid?
How Australian subcontractors serve progress claims that hold up: the work and the amount, monthly claim rights, proper service, and why validity is everything.
The builder's payment schedule came back short. What now?
What a payment schedule is, what it must say when the builder pays less than you claimed, the deadline in each state, and what to do when it comes back short.
Liquidated damages
What's a reasonable liquidated damages rate in a subcontract?
What a reasonable liquidated damages rate looks like in an Australian subcontract: the $1,500 to $2,500/day band, the 5 to 10% cap, and the live market median.
Are uncapped liquidated damages normal in Australian subcontracts?
How common uncapped liquidated damages are in Australian subcontracts (live data), why the missing cap is the real risk, and the position to negotiate to.
Time bars & EOT
What is a time bar in a subcontract, and when does it kill the claim?
What a time bar is, how a notice requirement differs from an absolute bar that kills the claim, and how common absolute bars are in Australian subcontracts.
How many days to notify an EOT claim is normal?
How many days' notice for an extension of time claim is normal in Australian subcontracts, how short EOT windows feed liquidated damages, and what to negotiate.
Clauses to watch
Can the builder back-charge me or set off money without notice?
Can a builder deduct back-charges from your payment without notice? What set-off clauses allow, how common no-notice set-off is, and the market position.
How much retention is normal on an Australian subcontract?
Normal retention on Australian subcontracts: the 5% combined market cap, the live median from real contracts, release at practical completion, and trust rules.
What does termination for convenience mean in my subcontract?
What a termination for convenience clause lets the builder do, how common it is in Australian subcontracts, and the exit payment that makes it fair.
Do variations need to be in writing for me to get paid?
Do variations need to be in writing to get paid? What subcontract variation clauses require, the Victorian adjudication trap, and how to protect the claim.
Bank guarantees on a subcontract: what should I check?
Bank guarantees vs cash retention on Australian subcontracts: the 5% combined security cap, when the builder can call a guarantee, and the return triggers.
What does the defects liability period actually oblige me to do?
What a defects liability period obliges a subcontractor to do, the 12-month norm, restarting DLP traps, and how the DLP controls when retention comes back.
What is the difference between a prime cost item and a provisional sum?
PC items and provisional sums explained for subcontractors: what each covers, how the adjustment works, and the margin, omission and valuation traps.
What should I check in the indemnity clause of a subcontract?
How subcontract indemnities get drafted wider than your fault and your insurance, the consequential loss exclusion to ask for, and four changes that fix it.
Basics
What should I check before signing a subcontract?
The five clauses that do the financial damage in Australian subcontracts: payment terms, LD caps, time bars, set-off and retention, and the market position.
What is the Security of Payment Act?
What the Security of Payment Act does for Australian subcontractors: payment rights, payment schedules, rapid adjudication, and how the rules differ by state.
How much does a subcontract review cost in Australia?
What a subcontract review costs in Australia: lawyer review pricing, when it's worth it, and the free AI scan that triages every contract in about two minutes first.
How do I search the QBCC adjudication decisions register for a builder?
How to search the QBCC adjudication decisions register by builder name, free and without an account, what each decision shows, and the three numbers to read before you price.
End of job
What is a deed of release, and should I sign one to get paid?
What a deed of release does at final payment or retention release, the wording that ends your open claims, and how to narrow it with a carve-out before signing.
The builder won't release my retention. What can I do?
Retention not released after PC or the defects period? Check the trigger and paperwork, know the trust rules in NSW, QLD and WA, and put the builder on notice.
What is practical completion, and why does the date matter so much?
What practical completion means for a subcontractor: the retention, LD and defects clocks that hang off it, and drafting that takes the date out of your hands.
When the job goes wrong
My subcontract is being novated. What does that mean, and should I agree?
What novation means when a builder or project changes hands, how it differs from assignment, and what to check before you sign a deed of novation.
What is repudiation, and can walking off site cost me the contract?
What repudiation means in an Australian subcontract, why a subbie who stops work over non-payment can end up in breach, and the lawful suspension route instead.
Adjudication outcomes
Can the builder deduct liquidated damages from my payment claim at adjudication?
Can the builder deduct liquidated damages from your payment claim? What an adjudicator checks: the schedule, the clause, the dates, the notice and the cap.
Can the builder back-charge me? What an adjudicator makes them prove
Builder back-charges and set-off against your claim: what must be in the payment schedule, what the adjudicator makes the builder prove.
Will an adjudicator award my unpaid variations?
Getting paid for variations at adjudication: proof of the direction, the variation notice clause, valuation, and the time bar that sinks most variation claims.
Retention not released: can I adjudicate to get it back?
Retention money not released by the builder: how a subcontractor uses a payment claim and adjudication to get retention back, and what the adjudicator checks.
Will an adjudicator award my EOT claim and delay costs?
Extension of time claims and delay costs at adjudication: when a subcontractor can recover delay costs, the EOT notice, the proof, and Victoria's 2026 reform.
Checking a builder
How do I check out a builder in Queensland before I work for them? QBCC licence search and beyond
How to check out a builder in Queensland: the QBCC licence search, then the adjudication register, court files and ASIC notices. Free, about ten minutes.
How do I check out a builder in NSW before I work for them?
How to check out a builder in NSW: the Service NSW licence check, then court lists, ASIC notices and judgments. Free, about ten minutes, before you price.
How do I check out a builder in Victoria before I work for them?
How to check out a builder in Victoria: the practitioner registration search and disciplinary history, then ASIC notices, the Federal Court and AustLII. Free.
How do I check out a builder in WA before I work for them?
How to check out a builder in WA: the Building and Energy registration search, then ASIC and the courts, plus the contract date that decides your rights.
How do I check out a builder in South Australia before I work for them?
How to check out a builder in South Australia: the Consumer and Business Services licence search, then ASIC notices, the Federal Court and AustLII. Free.
What are the signs a builder is going broke?
Warning signs a builder is going broke, seen from a builder's contracts desk: short payment schedules, late pay, held retention, new security, trades leaving.
My builder has gone into administration or liquidation. What do I do today?
Builder gone into administration or liquidation? What a subcontractor does on day one: secure materials, lodge the proof of debt, understand the creditor queue.
Tools
Subcontract review: lawyer, free scan, or both?
An honest comparison: what a construction lawyer does, what the free AI scan does and does not do, and when you need which. With a state-by-state review checklist.
Security of Payment Deadline Checker
Pick your state and enter your payment claim date. See when the payment schedule is due, what silence means, and your adjudication window. Free, runs in your browser.
State-by-state payment law
Every state and territory runs its own Security of Payment Act. The state guides cover the statute, the deadlines and the local traps:
General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.