Construction Lawyers Brisbane is pleased to release the new Ultimate Guide to Security of Payments QLD. The main purpose of the Security Of Payments SOP Act is to help contractors working in the building & construction industry in being paid for the work they do.
Any contractor (the Claimant under the SOP Act) has a statutory right in Queensland to receive regular progress payments. A Contractor only needs to turn a regular ‘progress claim’ into a ‘payment claim’ for it to be covered by the SOP Act.
Security of Payments Act
A payment claim is sent to the person responsible to make the payment 10 business days after the end of a calendar month, typically as a request for payment for the construction works completed in the preceding month.
From this point onwards, ‘the clock starts ticking’ for the prompt resolution of any dispute in relation to the payment claim; so that under the SOP Act, the person responsible to make the payment (the Respondent) has 15 business days to respond to a ‘payment claim’ with a ‘payment schedule’.
Adjudication & Claims
If the respondent provides a payment schedule within the required timeframe, and the amount is less than the amount requested in the payment claim, the claimant has the right to apply for adjudication to the Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC). An application for adjudication must be done within 20 business days of receipt of the payment schedule.
Once the application for adjudication is lodged with the QBCC registry, the QBCC will appoint an adjudicator within 4 business days. Many disputes focus unnecessarily on vague jurisdictional challenges for what are in essence disputes over the scope of the works, quality, or delay. Unlike personal injury or family law, the Queensland Law Society does not regulate who can be called a ‘Construction Lawyer’. Some Lawyers who never set foot on a construction site freely adopt the moniker.
About Us
Wouldn't you want to talk about your project's construction-legal-commercial issues with someone who really understands them?, someone who has MEP and F trade qualifications and acted as Design Engineer, Engineering Manager, Project Manager, QS, Planner, studied law and is now a Registered Solicitor and Adjudicator under the SOP Act in Queensland?, someone who spent 20 of his formative years with Leighton Contractors (now CIMIC/ CPB) and has over 30 years of first-hand experience in the development of many of Australia's iconic projects in building, mining, oil and gas, rail and metro, communications and renewable energy projects before becoming a real ‘Construction lawyer’?
