QLD GUIDE
Time bars and notices in subcontracts: what Queensland subcontractors should track
A valid claim can be lost because a notice went in a day late or in the wrong form. This guide explains how time bars usually work in subcontracts, which notices matter most, and a simple way to track them on a live job.
Items marked verify refer to legislation or regulator guidance that changes over time. Check the linked official source before relying on them.
Ask any experienced project manager about a claim that should have been paid but wasn't, and the story often ends the same way: "we didn't give notice in time." The work was real, the delay was real, and the cost was real. But the subcontract said notice within five business days, in writing, to the named representative, and an email to the site supervisor two weeks later did not count.
Time bars are clauses that say if you do not give a particular notice within a particular period, you lose the right to claim. They are common in Australian subcontracts and courts have often enforced them. This guide is general information for Queensland subcontractors, including industrial electrical and HV/LV contractors. It is not legal advice. Where a point relies on legislation it is marked verify, so check the current source and your own contract.
How time bars usually work
A typical notice clause has four parts. Miss any one of them and you are exposed.
- The trigger. What starts the clock: the event itself, or when you became aware (or ought reasonably to have become aware) of it. "Ought reasonably" is harder to argue later.
- The period. Often expressed in business days or calendar days. Common periods are short: 2, 5, 7 or 10 days for an initial notice, and longer for the detailed claim.
- The form and content. In writing, referencing the clause, describing the event, the likely impact on time and cost, and sometimes a statement that it is a notice under that clause.
- The recipient and method. The named representative, a specific address or a project platform. Many contracts say site instructions and meeting minutes are not notices.
Many clauses then say that if you fail to comply, the head contractor is not liable for the claim. That is the time bar.
The notices that matter most
1. Extension of time
Delay notices are usually the tightest. You may need an initial notice soon after you become aware of a delay, then a detailed claim with the cause, the period and your program analysis. On a project with liquidated damages, missing an EOT notice can mean you lose time and pay LDs. Read the EOT clause alongside the delay and LD risk in our pre-bid red-flag checklist.
2. Variations and directions
If you are directed to do something you consider extra to scope, many contracts require a written notice before you start, or within a few days of the direction. Some go further: "no variation will be paid unless directed in writing." Verbal site directions are where most variation money is lost.
3. Latent conditions and access
Unexpected ground conditions, existing services, asbestos or late site access often carry their own notice regime. On brownfield industrial sites, discovering an undocumented existing cable or a live service is a classic latent conditions event.
4. Delay costs and disruption
Some contracts separate the right to more time from the right to more money, each with its own notice. Getting the EOT does not always get you paid for standing time or extended preliminaries.
5. General claims and final claims
Look for a "notice of claim" clause that covers anything not dealt with elsewhere, and a final payment claim clause that says anything not included is released. Missing the final claim window can wipe out every unresolved item at once.
HV/LV and industrial electrical events to watch
Electrical packages have a set of recurring triggers that should go straight onto the notice register:
- Cancelled or moved outages and switching windows set by the asset owner or network operator.
- Late design information, protection settings or single-line diagram revisions.
- Equipment delivery slippage on transformers, switchboards and RMUs supplied by others.
- Changes to testing, witness or commissioning requirements, or repeat tests caused by others.
- Access restrictions, permit delays or site shutdowns that stop your crew working.
Electrical safety obligations under the Electrical Safety Act 2002 verify are not something you trade away to protect a program, so if a direction would compromise safe work, record it, raise it, and follow the Electrical Safety Office verify guidance and your own procedures.
Business days, holidays and the Christmas shutdown
Many notice periods are in business days, so the calendar matters. Check how the contract defines a business day. Queensland public holidays vary and some are regional; the Queensland Government lists them on its public holidays page verify.
The BIF Act verify also has its own definition of business day for its statutory timeframes, which excludes a period over Christmas and New Year. Your contract's definition may be different, and a contractual notice clock can keep running when the statutory one stops. Do not assume a shutdown pauses your contract notices.
Contract notices versus statutory payment claims
A contractual notice of delay or variation is not the same as a payment claim under the BIF Act verify. The payment claim process has its own timeframes; for example, a respondent must give a payment schedule within the period in the contract or 15 business days after the claim is given, whichever ends first verify. If you do not get a schedule, or you disagree with it, adjudication may be available; the QBCC explains the commercial payment dispute options verify.
Both systems run at once. A good habit is to give the contract notice when the event happens, and to include the resulting amount in your next payment claim. Our BIF Act payment claims checklist covers the claim side.
A simple notice register
You do not need software for this. A shared spreadsheet with one row per event works, provided someone owns it and it is reviewed weekly. Suggested columns:
- Event description, date it happened and date you became aware.
- Contract clause and notice type (EOT, variation, latent condition, delay cost, other).
- Notice period and the due date, calculated in the contract's day type.
- Recipient and method required by the contract.
- Date sent, reference number and a link to the sent copy.
- Detailed claim due date and status.
- Outcome: accepted, rejected, disputed or included in payment claim.
Two rules make the register work. First, when in doubt, send the notice. A short holding notice costs little; a missed one can cost the whole claim. Second, keep notices factual and calm. Describe the event, the likely impact and the clause. Leave arguments for later.
Before you sign: check the clocks
The best time to deal with time bars is at tender. If a notice period is unrealistically short, such as two business days for an initial EOT notice, qualify it in your offer and ask for a longer period or wording that a failure to give notice only reduces the claim to the extent the head contractor was prejudiced. Our pre-bid red-flag checklist has more on what to qualify.
And if prequalification is where you get stuck first, the free scorecard below shows where your paperwork is thin in about 15 minutes.