Guide · Security of payment · ACT
Security of payment in the Australian Capital Territory
The ACT modernised its Act in March 2024: reference dates were replaced with a calendar-month claim right, and payment is now due no later than 15 business days after the claim regardless of what the contract says. The response deadline stays at 10 business days.
Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009 (ACT) · adjudication via authorised nominating authorities, authorised by the Minister
General information, not legal advice. Deadlines depend on your contract and the current Act, both of which change. Verify against the Act and your executed contract, or get advice, before relying on anything here.
Who can serve a payment claim in the ACT?
Anyone who carries out construction work, or supplies related goods and services, under a written or oral construction contract for work in the ACT (s 9(1)): subcontractors, head contractors, suppliers and consultants. The main exclusion is insurable residential building work where a resident owner is a party (s 9(2)(b)).
- The resident-owner exclusion covers work on a building the owner lives in or intends to live in, and expressly does not extend to owner-builders (s 9(7)).
- Employees, loan and insurance contracts with financial institutions, and work outside the ACT are excluded (s 9(2) to (4)).
- Drilling for oil or gas and extracting minerals, including tunnelling and boring for that purpose, is not construction work (s 7(1)(h)).
When can I serve a payment claim in the ACT?
The ACT abolished reference dates in March 2024. You can now give one payment claim on or after the last day of each calendar month in which you carried out work, or an earlier day if the contract provides one, or on termination (s 15(4), (6)). The outer limit is 12 months after the work was last carried out (s 15(5)).
The claim must identify the work, state the claimed amount, and state that it is made under the Act (s 15(2)(c)). The endorsement remains mandatory in the ACT.
How long do I have to serve a payment schedule in the ACT?
Ten business days after the payment claim is given, or the time your contract requires, whichever is earlier (s 16(4)). If you do not respond in time you become liable for the full claimed amount, which the claimant can recover as a debt or take to adjudication.
When is a progress payment due under the ACT Act?
On the earlier of 15 business days after the payment claim is given and the day payment falls due under the contract (s 13(1)). Since March 2024 this is a hard ceiling: a 30 day or 60 day contractual payment term cannot push payment past 15 business days. Unpaid amounts carry interest (s 13(2)) and a statutory lien arises over unfixed plant and materials (s 13(3)).
When can I apply for adjudication in the ACT?
Within 10 business days after receiving a payment schedule that offers less than you claimed (s 19(3)(b)), or 20 business days after the due date if a scheduled amount is not paid (s 19(3)(c)). If no schedule arrived, notify your intention within 20 business days after the due date, allow 5 business days for a late schedule, then apply within 10 business days (ss 19(2), 19(3)(d)).
- Applications go to an authorised nominating authority chosen by the claimant (s 19(1)); ANAs are authorised by the Minister (ss 30 to 33).
- The respondent’s adjudication response is due the later of 7 business days after receiving the application and 5 business days after notice of the adjudicator’s acceptance, and only if a schedule was served in time (s 22(1), (3)).
- The adjudicator must decide within 10 business days of the response arriving or falling due (s 23(3)), and the respondent must pay within 5 business days of the decision (s 25).
What catches people out under the ACT Act?
- The 15 business day payment ceiling (s 13(1)) overrides longer contract terms. Anyone still paying on 30 day contractual terms in the ACT is paying late under the Act.
- Reference dates are gone: since 11 March 2024 the claim right accrues on the last day of each calendar month (s 15(4)). Pre-2024 templates and advice mis-state the current regime.
- The adjudication response window is 7 and 5 business days (s 22(1)), not the 5 and 2 NSW uses. Cross-border teams get this wrong in both directions.
- Court review is deliberately narrow: s 43 limits setting decisions aside, with appeal to the Supreme Court on a question of law only by consent or leave.
- Adjudicators must have completed a relevant training course and cannot represent industry organisations (s 20), and a "business day" excludes 27 to 31 December (dictionary definition).
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Open the deadline calculatorFrequently asked questions
How long do I have to serve a payment schedule in the ACT?
Ten business days after the payment claim is given, or the time your contract requires, whichever is earlier (s 16(4)). Serving nothing makes you liable for the full claimed amount.
When is payment actually due in the ACT?
On the earlier of 15 business days after the claim is given and the contract due date (s 13(1)). Since the March 2024 reforms this is a ceiling the contract cannot extend, which makes the ACT one of the fastest-paying regimes in the country on paper.
Do reference dates still exist in the ACT?
No. Since 11 March 2024 a claimant can give one payment claim on or after the last day of each calendar month in which work was carried out, or earlier if the contract allows, or on termination (s 15(4), (6)). The outer limit is 12 months after the work (s 15(5)).
Does an ACT payment claim need to mention the Act?
Yes. The claim must state that it is made under the Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2009 (ACT) (s 15(2)(c)).
Does the ACT Act cover residential work?
Mostly. The exclusion is narrow: insurable residential building work under a contract with a resident owner, for a building they live in or intend to live in (s 9(2)(b)). Owner-builders are not resident owners (s 9(7)), and residential work for builders and developers is covered.
Primary sources
General information, not legal advice. Deadlines depend on your contract and the current Act, and amendments move them. Verify against the Act and your executed contract, or get advice, before relying on any date here.
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