Builders get paid NOW!!

f you perform construction work, or supply related goods and services under a construction contract, the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic) (Act) is designed to help you.

The Act, together with comparable legislation throughout Australia, makes it easier for you to get paid. Your construction contract need not be the usual volume with hundreds of pages. Rather, it could even be an exchange of emails or text messages.

The Act supplements your rights beyond those contained in your construction contract. One notable right is the quick payment regime that it imposes for payment (progress) claims. Such a claim could take the form of your tax invoice for interim work.

For example, you serve your payment claim on your customer. If your payment claim complies with the Act, your customer has a maximum of 10 business days thereafter to provide a payment schedule. If they do not, they become liable to pay you the amount of your payment claim, on the date due. This resolution is far quicker than traditional litigation.

To significantly increase the pressure on your customer for full and prompt payment, your payment claim must comply with the Act. One requirement, in Victoria, is that your payment claim uses the following key words: “This is a payment claim made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2002 (Vic)”.