Guide · Security of payment · TAS
Security of payment in Tasmania
Tasmania follows the East Coast model with two local quirks: homeowners get 20 business days to respond instead of 10, and the due date for payment is defined by cross-reference to the schedule deadline rather than its own day count. Residential work is covered, with no owner-occupier carve-out.
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (Tas) · adjudication via nominating authorities, authorised by the Security of Payments Official
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 Tasmania?
Anyone entitled, or claiming to be entitled, to a progress payment for construction work or related goods and services under a construction contract (ss 12, 17(1)): subcontractors, head contractors, suppliers and consultants. Unusually, residential work is covered too. Tasmania has no owner-occupier carve-out; a homeowner respondent just gets longer to respond.
- Loan, guarantee and insurance contracts with financial institutions are outside the Act, as are employees (s 7(5) to (8)).
- Where the respondent owns the residential structure the claim relates to and is not a building practitioner, the payment schedule period stretches from 10 to 20 business days (s 19(3)).
When can I serve a payment claim in Tasmania?
On and from each reference date: the date your contract fixes or, if it is silent, the last day of each month in which you carried out work (s 4). The claim can be served within the period the contract allows or 12 months after you last carried out work, whichever is later (s 17(6)).
The claim must identify the work, state the claimed amount, and state that it is made under the Act (s 17(2)(f)). The endorsement is mandatory in Tasmania; an unendorsed invoice does not start the clock.
How long do I have to serve a payment schedule in Tasmania?
Ten business days after the claim is served in the ordinary case, or 20 business days where the claim relates to a residential structure you own and you are not a building practitioner (s 19(3)). If your contract sets a shorter payment period, the schedule is due before that period ends (s 19(2)). Miss it and you are liable for the full claimed amount.
When is a progress payment due under the Tasmanian Act?
On the date your contract provides. If the contract is silent, the payment becomes due and payable before the expiry of the "applicable day" determined under s 19(3), which is 10 business days after the claim, or 20 for a homeowner respondent (s 15(2)). Tasmania is the only state that defines the due date by cross-reference to the schedule deadline.
When can I apply for adjudication in Tasmania?
Within 10 business days after receiving a payment schedule that offers less than you claimed (s 21(3)(a)), or 20 business days after the due date if a scheduled amount is not paid (s 21(3)(b)). 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 (s 21(4)).
- Applications go to a nominating authority, which refers the matter to a qualified adjudicator (s 22(1)).
- The adjudicator must determine the application within 10 business days of receiving the adjudication response, or the equivalent trigger date (s 24(1)(a)).
What catches people out under the TAS Act?
- The homeowner limb: a respondent who owns the residential structure and is not a building practitioner gets 20 business days to schedule, not 10 (s 19(3)). Claimants who diarise 10 days against a homeowner move too early.
- The due date for payment is defined through s 19(3) rather than a stand-alone day count (s 15(2)), so a change to the schedule deadline changes the due date with it.
- The claim must state it is made under the Act (s 17(2)(f)). Tasmania kept the endorsement requirement NSW abolished.
- Nominating authorities are authorised by the Security of Payments Official (s 31(2)), not a registrar or minister, so guidance published for other states does not name the right office here.
- A "business day" excludes 27 to 31 December and Tasmanian statutory holidays (s 4A), so end-of-year claims run slower than the calendar suggests.
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Open the deadline calculatorFrequently asked questions
How long do I have to serve a payment schedule in Tasmania?
Ten business days after the payment claim is served, or 20 business days if you own the residential structure the claim relates to and are not a building practitioner (s 19(3)). A shorter contractual payment period brings the deadline forward (s 19(2)).
Does the Tasmanian Act cover work for homeowners?
Yes. Tasmania has no owner-occupier exclusion, so you can serve a payment claim on a homeowner. The trade-off is that a homeowner respondent who is not a building practitioner gets 20 business days to respond instead of 10 (s 19(3)).
Does a Tasmanian 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 (Tas) (s 17(2)(f)). Without the endorsement the document is not a payment claim and the response clock never starts.
How long after finishing work can I serve a payment claim in Tasmania?
Within the period your contract allows or 12 months after you last carried out the work, whichever is later (s 17(6)).
When can I go to adjudication in Tasmania?
Within 10 business days of receiving a schedule that offers less than you claimed, within 20 business days of the due date if a scheduled amount goes unpaid, or, where no schedule arrived, after notifying your intention within 20 business days of the due date and allowing 5 business days for a late schedule (s 21).
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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