What a payment claim is
A payment claim is the document that starts the statutory payment process. It is how you, as claimant, formally ask the respondent to pay you for construction work done or related goods and services supplied under the contract s 13, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026). It is not a friendly reminder or a tax invoice by another name: it is a statutory instrument, and if it meets the Act’s requirements it puts the respondent on a strict clock. If it does not, it may be worth nothing — which is why the requirements below matter.
Requirements of a valid claim
To be a payment claim under the Act, the document must s 13, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026):
- be in writing;
- identify the construction work (or related goods and services) to which the claim relates, clearly enough that the respondent can understand what is being claimed;
- state the claimed amount — the amount the claimant says is payable; and
- carry any statement the Act requires a payment claim to include. Whether a specific “made under the Act” endorsement is required has changed across amendments, so this is one to verify against the current Act text before you serve.
Verify before serving: the precise content and endorsement requirements — and the exact time limits below — are set by the current Act and can be shortened by your contract. Getting the form wrong can invalidate the claim. TODO: counsel-verify claim content, endorsement wording, and all day-counts before go-live.
Reference dates
A payment claim is made on and from a reference date s 8, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026). The reference date is the date your contract sets for claiming — for example, the last day of each month — or, if the contract does not provide one, the date the Act supplies. It anchors the whole claim: the amount you can claim is the value of the work done up to it, and generally you get one payment claim per reference date s 13, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026). A later claim can bring forward an amount claimed but unpaid in an earlier one, but you cannot keep re-serving the same claim to restart the clock.
Timing limits
There is an outer limit on how long after the work you can claim. The Act allows a payment claim to be served within the period your contract sets, or within the period the Act allows after the construction work was last carried out — whichever gives you longer s 13, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026). Leave a claim too late and you lose the ability to make it under the Act. The safe practice is to claim from each reference date as it arrives rather than banking up work for one large late claim. Our Security of Payment hub links the deadline tools as they ship.
How to serve it, step by step
- Confirm your reference date. Identify the reference date the claim is made from — the date set by your contract, or supplied by the Act if the contract is silent. A payment claim is made on and from a reference date, and each reference date supports one claim.
- Value the work. Work out the claimed amount using the method in your contract, or — if the contract has none — the value of the construction work actually carried out and related goods and services supplied, valued under the Act.
- Prepare a compliant claim. Put it in writing. Identify the construction work (or related goods and services) the claim relates to, state the claimed amount, and include any statement the Act requires the claim to carry.
- Serve it on the respondent. Serve the claim on the party who owes the money, using a method the Act or your contract allows, and keep proof of when and how you served it. The response clock starts from service.
- Diarise the response deadline. From the date of service, record the date the respondent’s payment schedule is due and the date payment falls due. If no schedule arrives, you may be entitled to the full claimed amount.
Service is where careful claimants win and careless ones lose. Serve the claim by a method the Act or your contract permits, on the correct party, and keep evidence of when and how you served it s 31, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026). The respondent’s deadline to reply — and your right to the full amount if they stay silent — all run from the date of service s 14, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026), so the date you can prove is the date that counts.
What happens next
Once served, the ball is in the respondent’s court. They must reply with a payment schedule within the statutory time, stating what they will pay and why s 14, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) (as of 8 July 2026). If the schedule is for less than you claimed, or none arrives at all, that is the point where you decide whether to adjudicate — covered in the overview of the Act and the payment-schedule and adjudication guides as they ship. Either way, keep your served claim, your proof of service, and the deadline dates together — they are the spine of any recovery.