The payment schedule and its state clock
A payment schedule is the reply a respondent serves to a payment claim. It fixes what will be paid, and the time to serve it changes the moment you cross a state border.
QScope Team · 6 May 2026 · 7 min read
Australia has no single federal payment statute. Each state runs its own Security of Payment Act, and the East Coast model works the same way everywhere: the claimant serves a payment claim, the respondent replies with a payment schedule, and if the schedule certifies less than claimed it must say why. The mechanics rhyme. The deadlines do not.
What the schedule must do
A payment schedule identifies the payment claim it answers, states the amount the respondent proposes to pay, and where that is less than claimed, states the reasons for withholding. A schedule that gives no reasons cannot introduce those reasons later at adjudication, so vague schedules cost the respondent later.
The windows by state
All periods below are counted in business days. Weekends and public holidays do not count, so a stated number of days is always longer than the same number on a calendar.
- New South Wales (SOP Act 1999). Payment schedule within ten business days of the payment claim. Payment within fifteen business days for a principal paying a head contractor, and twenty business days for a head contractor paying a subcontractor.
- Victoria (Act 2002, as reformed from 15 April 2026). Payment schedule within ten business days. Payment capped at twenty business days.
- Queensland (BIF Act 2017). Payment schedule within fifteen business days. Payment due in ten business days by default, with statutory caps of fifteen and twenty-five business days.
- Western Australia (SOP Act 2021). An East Coast model Act. Payment schedule within fifteen business days, with payment terms of twenty and twenty-five business days.
Miss the schedule and the claim stands
The common thread is the consequence of silence. If the respondent serves no payment schedule inside the window and pays nothing, the claimant is generally entitled to the full claimed amount as a debt, and can move to adjudication or recover it in court. The schedule is not paperwork. It is the difference between paying what you think is right and paying what was claimed.
Why the state has to be a field, not a habit
A contractor working across the eastern seaboard cannot carry one deadline in their head. Ten business days in Victoria and fifteen in Queensland look similar until a Queensland claim is answered on a New South Wales rhythm and the schedule lands late. Fix the governing Act to the job, count from the service date, and let the software hold the difference.
QScope stores the governing state on each job and counts every schedule and payment deadline in business days from the service date, so the right window applies automatically.