The payer's deadline
A payer who disputes a payment claim responds with a payment schedule: in writing, identifying the claim, and stating the amount they will pay. If that's less than claimed, it must say how they worked it out and why it's less.
Construction Contracts Act 2002, s21.The schedule has to reach you within the time the contract requires or, if the contract doesn't say, within 20 working days after the claim was served.
s22(b). Working days: s5 (weekends, public holidays, the anniversary day and 24 December to 5 January don't count).Work out the dates with the free deadline checker.
No schedule in time: the payer is liable for the claimed amount
If you served a payment claim and the payer didn't give you a payment schedule in time, the payer becomes liable to pay the claimed amount on the due date for payment.
s22.Not paid by the due date: your options under the Act
1. Recover it as a debt in court
If the payer then fails to pay the whole claimed amount by the due date, you may recover the unpaid part from them as a debt due, in any court, together with the actual and reasonable costs of recovery the court awards.
s23(1) and (2)(a). "Court" means the High Court, or the District Court where the amount is within its civil limit: s5, "court".The court must not give judgment for you unless it is satisfied that those circumstances exist: the claim was served, no schedule was given in time, and the amount wasn't paid by the due date. Keep proof of each.
s23(4).2. Give notice that you'll suspend work
You may serve notice on the payer that you intend to suspend work. The notice must state the grounds for the suspension and that it is given under the Act.
s23(2)(b) and (3).If the amount still isn't paid within 5 working days after the date of that notice, you have the right to suspend work. While you do, you are not in breach of the contract, are not liable for the payer's loss from the suspension, and are entitled to an extension of time (but not, by the Act alone, the costs of it). You keep your rights under the contract, and you may lift the suspension at any time. The right ends when the amount is paid in full.
s24A(1), (2) and (5).3. Refer the dispute to adjudication
Any party to a construction contract has the right to refer a dispute to adjudication, even if the same dispute is before a court. A disagreement about whether an amount is payable, or about the reasons given for not paying it, is an example of a dispute.
s25(1) and (2)(a).Form 1, which went with your claim, told the payer: "If you do not send a written payment schedule, the claimant can bring court proceedings against you or refer the matter to adjudication (or both)."
Construction Contracts Regulations 2003, Schedule 1, Form 1.More in our adjudication guide.
If they did send a schedule, but haven't paid it
If the payer gave a payment schedule in time and then doesn't pay the scheduled amount in full by the due date, the same options apply to the scheduled amount: recover the unpaid part as a debt due in any court, with costs, and serve notice of intention to suspend work.
s24(1) and (2); s24A(1)(a)(ii).Before you act
building.govt.nz says: "You should get advice from your lawyer before you begin an adjudication process."
building.govt.nz, "Other Construction Contracts Act 2002 requirements" (checked 1 Nov 2026).The payer's liability under s22 starts with a payment claim being served, and section 20 sets out what a payment claim must contain. If your claim was missing something, start with the payment claim guide.
s22(a) ("a payee serves a payment claim on a payer"); s20(2) to (4).Claim not paid?
Unpaid claim pack $295 (plus GST if applicable): a corrected claim, where the deadlines stand, and a next-steps sheet built from the Act. Invoiced after delivery, due on the 20th of the month after the invoice.