Can I suspend work if I'm not being paid?
Yes. Security of Payment legislation gives you a statutory right to suspend work when amounts due under the Act aren't paid, exercised by giving the required written notice first (in NSW, for example, two business days' notice). Done by the book, suspension is protected: it isn't a breach, and it's often the single move that gets a stalled payment moving. Done without the statutory mechanics, downing tools can be repudiation, the most expensive mistake in the book.
Why lawful suspension works
A subcontractor on site is a subcontractor who can be strung along: the work keeps arriving regardless of the money. Suspension reverses the pressure: suddenly the program, the trades behind you, and the head contract's own dates are exposed, and the cheapest way out for the builder is usually paying the debt that triggered it. The Acts protect you while suspended in defined ways, and the entitlement typically continues until payment is made.
The protection is conditional on the mechanics: an amount actually due under the Act (an unscheduled claim past its date, a scheduled amount unpaid, an adjudicated amount), the statutory written notice served properly, and the notice period expired before tools go down. Each state's Act words the trigger and the notice differently, so confirm your state's mechanics before acting, not after.
The mistakes that convert leverage into liability
Suspending over a merely disputed invoice rather than a statutory debt. Suspending on a phone call instead of the written notice. Walking off before the notice period runs. Confusing the contract's suspension clause (usually the builder's tool) with the Act's suspension right (yours). Any of these turns 'protected statutory suspension' into 'abandonment' in the builder's next letter, and hands them the termination clause. The sequence is everything: claim, schedule window, notice, then suspension.
Know where your contract stands
Adjudicate Pro: what an adjudicator would likely award under your state's Act, and whether to apply.
Assess my payment dispute freeCommon questions
Can the builder terminate me for suspending?
Not lawfully, if the suspension is a valid exercise of the statutory right. The Acts protect it, and the entitlement to suspend is precisely the leverage parliament intended you to have. The danger is a defective suspension: wrong trigger, wrong notice, wrong timing. Verify the mechanics for your state before you rely on them.
Do I get paid for the suspension period?
The Acts deal with suspension consequences in defined ways (including protections around loss caused by a valid suspension in several states), and your EOT clause matters too. Document the suspension period's costs as you would any delay: the paper trail decides what's recoverable.
Suspending work for non-payment, by state
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General information for Australian subcontractors, not legal advice. Statutory deadlines and details vary by state and change over time; verify them before relying on them. Written by Mat Kennedy at The Construction Contracts Co.