QLD GUIDE
Short-paid on a payment schedule? A Queensland subcontractor's response plan
When a payment schedule comes in lower than your claim, the clock is already running. This plan sets out what to do in the first day, the first week and before the adjudication window closes, without turning every short payment into a dispute.
Items marked verify refer to legislation or regulator guidance that changes over time. Check the linked official source before relying on them.
Short payments are routine on most projects. Some are fair, some are mistakes, and some are a test of whether you'll push back. The danger isn't the short payment itself; it's letting the time limits under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 verify run out while you wait for a better conversation. Our BIF Act payment claims checklist covers making a valid claim. This guide picks up when the schedule arrives and it's short.
First, know which situation you're in
The options and time limits depend on what the head contractor did. QBCC guidance on responding to a payment claim verify and its guide to security of payment verify describe the rules. In summary, as understood in October 2026:
- A payment schedule for less than you claimed. You can accept it, negotiate, or apply for adjudication of the difference. QBCC guidance gives 30 business days after you receive the schedule to apply verify.
- A schedule, but the scheduled amount isn't paid by the due date. You can apply for adjudication within 20 business days after the due date verify, recover the unpaid scheduled amount as a debt, or give notice of your intention to suspend work verify.
- No schedule at all, and no payment. The head contractor may become liable for the full claimed amount. Different steps and time limits apply, including a 30-business-day window that runs from the later of the due date and the last day for a schedule verify.
Business days under the BIF Act exclude weekends, Queensland public holidays and 22 December to 10 January. QBCC's security of payment guide explains how business days are counted verify. Check the Queensland public holiday list for the year. A schedule received on 18 December has a very different deadline from one received on 18 November.
Day 1: reconcile line by line
Don't respond to the total. Put the claim and the schedule side by side and compare every line.
| Line | Claimed | Scheduled | Their reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contract works – LV reticulation | $148,000 | $136,500 | "Progress assessed at 85%" |
| VAR-02 SCADA re-termination | $38,600 | $0 | "Rates not agreed" |
| VAR-04 Asbestos pit delay | $24,200 | $0 | "No notice given" |
Copy their reason word for word, then tag each line by type (see the four piles below). Under the BIF Act a respondent generally can't raise new reasons in adjudication that weren't in its payment schedule verify, so the reasons stated now are the ones that matter later.
Sort the reasons into four piles
- Measurement: disagreement on quantity or percent complete. Usually fixed with evidence: marked-up drawings, test sheets, photos, a joint walk.
- Valuation: the item is accepted but the rate or amount isn't. Point to the subcontract schedule of rates or your build-up.
- Entitlement: "no direction", "no notice", "out of time", "not a variation". These turn on the contract and your records. They're the ones most likely to need adjudication or advice.
- Set-off and back-charges: deductions for defects, delay damages, other trades' costs or retention. Check whether the subcontract permits the deduction and whether it's been substantiated.
Also check for simple errors: arithmetic, a missed approved variation, retention taken twice, or a previous payment counted twice. Raise errors separately and quickly; they are the easiest money to recover.
Week 1: respond in writing
Send a short, factual letter. It should say which items you accept, which you dispute and why, with document references, and when you expect the scheduled amount to be paid. Offer a meeting on the disputed items. Keep the tone neutral. The letter is the record an adjudicator or a lawyer may read later, and it often settles measurement and valuation items without going further.
State that the letter doesn't waive your rights under the subcontract or the BIF Act. Don't threaten adjudication you haven't decided on, and don't agree to "roll" disputed amounts into a future claim without thinking about the time limits.
Before the window closes: decide on adjudication
Put the last day for an adjudication application in your register on the day the schedule arrives. Then set a decision date well before it, so you have time to prepare. Adjudication applications take real work: the claim, the schedule, the contract, and evidence for every disputed item.
Questions to answer by the decision date:
- How much is genuinely disputed, after errors are fixed and accepted items are paid?
- Are the disputed items mainly measurement and valuation, where your evidence is strong, or entitlement, where the contract wording decides?
- What will the application cost in time and fees, against the amount at stake? QBCC lists the adjudication application process verify.
- What happens to the relationship, and to future work with this head contractor?
- Has a reasonable offer been made in writing?
If you decide not to apply, record why. If you decide to apply, get advice early. The application must be made within the time limit and in the required form verify.
If the scheduled amount isn't paid
A short schedule is one thing. Not paying even the scheduled amount by the due date is another. Check the due date first: payment is due under the subcontract, subject to the BIF Act maximum for subcontracts, or under the default period if the contract is silent verify. If the due date has passed, write the same day noting that the scheduled amount is overdue. Then consider the options QBCC describes, including adjudication within 20 business days after the due date and suspension of work after the required notice verify. Suspension has consequences for the programme and the relationship, so get advice before you do it.
Fix the next claim
Every short payment is feedback on your claim format. Before the next reference date:
- Attach the evidence the assessor cut you on last time, without being asked.
- Split variations into approved, submitted and disputed lines, with the same numbering as your register.
- Agree progress percentages on site before you claim them, where you can.
- Keep claiming disputed items you still say are payable, rather than dropping them quietly. Get advice if you're unsure whether to re-claim an item that was the subject of a previous adjudication verify.
Example: a switchroom subcontract
A fictional electrical subcontractor on a water treatment plant switchroom upgrade claims $486,300 on 1 October. The schedule, received on 15 October, proposes $412,000. The $74,300 difference is a disputed SCADA variation and a delay claim scheduled at nil for "no notice". The subcontractor accepts nothing on the delay item because its register shows the delay notice was sent on time, with the email attached. It writes on 17 October, disputing both items with references. By the 6 November due date, even the $412,000 hasn't been paid. The 20-business-day window for an adjudication application now runs from the due date, and the register flags the claim red the next morning verify. Without a register, that change of situation is easy to miss.
A simple tracker
For each claim, record the reference date, the date the claim was given, the schedule due date, the date the schedule was received, the scheduled amount, the payment due date, the amount and date paid, and the last day for adjudication. Flag any claim where the shortfall is open or the due date has passed. That one row per claim is enough to make sure no window closes unnoticed.
This guide is general information only, not legal advice. Adjudication and suspension have strict requirements and the BIF Act is amended from time to time. Check every item marked verify against the current Act and QBCC guidance, and get legal advice before you apply for adjudication or suspend work.