Security of Payment QLD — A Subcontractor's Plain-English Guide
By Cal Crane — founder, TradeControl; Operations Manager, Barzen Projects
General information only — not legal advice.
In Queensland a written document that identifies the work, states the amount and requests payment can be a payment claim — no endorsement needed. The respondent has up to 15 business days to give a payment schedule, payment defaults to 10 business days, and adjudication runs on 20- and 30-business-day windows.
The Act
Queensland's regime lives in the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) — the BIF Act — in force, current as at 28 April 2026. Two Queensland quirks matter to subcontractors: maximum payment terms sit in a different Act (the QBCC Act), and the BIF Act also houses the project and retention trust regime covered in our retention money guide.
Serving a payment claim
The Act provides (s 75) that a payment claim may be given within the longer of the period set by the contract or 6 months after the construction work was last carried out. A final claim may be given within the longest of the contract period, 28 days after the end of the last defects liability period, or 6 months after completion of all the work.
If the contract is silent on reference dates, the reference date is the last day of the month in which work was first carried out (s 67).
No endorsement is needed. The Act provides (s 68(1)) that a written document identifying the work, stating the amount and requesting payment qualifies as a payment claim — QBCC guidance confirms an invoice can qualify. That cuts both ways: your own invoice can start the statutory clock, and so can a document you did not think of as a "claim" when you received it.
The payment schedule
The Act requires (s 76) a payment schedule within 15 business days after the claim is given, or any earlier time the contract requires. Failing to pay when no schedule has been given carries a penalty of up to 100 penalty units (QBCC).
When payment falls due
The BIF Act default (s 73(1)(b)) is 10 business days after the claim if the contract is silent. The caps on how long a contract can stretch payment sit in the QBCC Act:
- Subcontracts: provisions making payment due later than 25 business days are void (QBCC Act s 67U).
- Commercial building (head) contracts: provisions later than 15 business days are void (QBCC Act s 67W).
Adjudication
Queensland has no notice-of-intention prerequisite for adjudication — the 5-business-day warning notice in s 99 applies to court proceedings, not adjudication. The application windows (s 79(2)) are:
- No schedule, or a deficient one: 30 business days after the later of the due date or the last day the schedule could have been given (s 79(2)(b)).
- Scheduled amount not paid: 20 business days after the due date.
- Schedule for less than the claim: 30 business days after receiving the schedule.
The registrar refers the application to an adjudicator within 4 business days (QBCC). The adjudicator must decide within 10 business days after the response date for a standard claim, or 15 business days for a complex claim — one over $750,000 — (s 85(1)), extendable by agreement (s 86). Payment of an adjudicated amount is due within 5 business days (QBCC).
Business days are not calendar days
Every timeframe above runs in business days. The Act (sch 2) defines a business day as a day that is not a Saturday or Sunday, not a public, special or bank holiday in the relevant place, and not 22–24 December, 27–31 December or 2–10 January. Queensland is the only one of the four states whose holiday test is tied to the relevant place, and its Christmas exclusion comes in three separate blocks — count carefully across the summer break.
Key timeframes at a glance
| Step | Timeframe | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Give payment claim | Longer of contract period or 6 months after work last carried out; final claim — longest of contract period / 28 days after end of last defects liability period / 6 months after completion | s 75 |
| Payment schedule | 15 business days after claim given (or earlier contract time) | s 76 |
| Payment due (contract silent) | 10 business days after claim | s 73(1)(b) |
| Maximum payment terms — subcontract | Terms beyond 25 business days void | QBCC Act s 67U |
| Maximum payment terms — commercial head contract | Terms beyond 15 business days void | QBCC Act s 67W |
| Adjudication — no or deficient schedule | 30 business days after later of due date / last day schedule could be given | s 79(2)(b) |
| Adjudication — scheduled amount unpaid | 20 business days after due date | s 79(2) |
| Adjudication — schedule less than claim | 30 business days after receiving schedule | s 79(2) |
| Adjudicator's decision | 10 business days (standard) / 15 business days (complex, over $750,000) after the response date | s 85(1) |
The paperwork that wins these arguments
The paperwork that wins these arguments is made on the day, not assembled the night before an adjudication application. Signed day dockets, logged site issues, completed site forms and scope queries answered against your actual SOW are the records a payment claim stands on. TradeControl's Day Dockets, Site Issues, Site Forms and SOW scope queries build that record as the work happens — see the full feature set.
Related
- Security of Payment NSW guide
- Security of Payment VIC guide
- Security of Payment WA guide
- Retention money — when and how to claim it back
- Payment claim date calculator
- Day labour docket template
- Variation notice template
Sources
- Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld): legislation.qld.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-2017-043
- QBCC — Respond to a payment request: qbcc.qld.gov.au/running-your-business/getting-paid/respond-payment-request
If a payment is genuinely in dispute or a deadline has already passed, speak to a construction lawyer before you act — the timeframes above are strict and the right move depends on your contract and your facts.
TradeControl provides commercial support tools only. It does not provide legal advice.