Key amendments to the Security Of Payment Act NSW come into effect for all NSW building & construction contracts entered into on or after 21 October 2019

What does this mean for you?

It certainly is good news for all claimants, and especially subcontractors.

The key amendments are:

Payment Terms – the maximum time for payment of a subcontractor’s payment claim has been reduced from 30 business days to 20 business days

Endorsement of Payment Claims – all claims for payment under the Security Of Payment Act NSW must now be endorsed as claims made under the Act. The endorsement must read as follows:

“This is a payment claim made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999”

Reference Dates – the concept of reference dates has been removed from the Act. A claimant now has a statutory entitlement to make a claim for construction work and or related goods and services once a month for a period of up to 12 months after the work was last carried out but only one claim is allowed after a contract has been terminated.

Adjudication – a court may sever part(s) of an adjudicator’s determination if it is affected by jurisdictional error(s) and make an order to enforce the valid remainder of the determination. An adjudicator now has 10 business days from receiving the respondent’s adjudication response to mahe their determination. A claimant may withdraw their adjudication application at anytime prior to their adjudication determination.

Penalties – peanlties for prescribed offences under the Act have been significantly increased, and directors now bear personal liability. Authorised offices can now issue penalty notices.