Resources · Queensland
Security of payment timeframes in Queensland: a dated reference
In Queensland, a respondent has 15 business days to give a payment schedule. Payment falls due 10 business days after the claim if the contract is silent, capped at 15 business days for commercial building contracts and 25 for subcontracts. Adjudication applications run 20 or 30 business days depending on what came back.
- Reviewed
- Jurisdiction
- Queensland, Australia
- Reading time
- 5 min
- For
- Anyone tracking a claim, a schedule or an adjudication deadline in Queensland
This is the whole regime as a table, current as at 5 August 2026. Timeframes come from the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) except the payment-due caps, which sit in the Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld). Your contract can shorten some of these. It cannot lengthen the ones marked as caps.
The timeframes
| Step | Who acts | Time allowed | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Give a progress payment claim | Claimant | The longer of the period under the contract, or 6 months after the work was last carried out | BIF Act s 75 |
| Give a final payment claim | Claimant | The longest of: the contract period; 28 days after the last defects liability period ends; 6 months after all work is complete; 6 months after the last related goods and services | BIF Act s 75 |
| Give a payment schedule | Respondent | The earlier of the contract period, or 15 business days after the claim is given | BIF Act s 76 |
| Progress payment falls due — contract silent | Respondent | 10 business days after the claim is given | BIF Act s 73 |
| Progress payment falls due — commercial building contract (cap) | Respondent | Maximum 15 business days after the claim. A longer term is void. | QBCC Act s 67U |
| Progress payment falls due — subcontract (cap) | Respondent | Maximum 25 business days after the claim. A longer term is void. | QBCC Act s 67W |
| Adjudication — schedule was for less than claimed | Claimant | 30 business days after the payment schedule is given | BIF Act s 79 |
| Adjudication — no schedule given and not paid in full | Claimant | 30 business days after the later of the due date, or the last day a schedule could have been given | BIF Act s 79 |
| Adjudication — schedule given but scheduled amount not paid | Claimant | 20 business days after the due date for payment | BIF Act s 79 |
| Adjudication response — standard claim | Respondent | 10 business days after receiving the application | BIF Act s 82 |
| Adjudication response — complex claim | Respondent | 15 business days after receiving the application | BIF Act s 82 |
| Adjudication response — no payment schedule was given | Respondent | None. A respondent who gave no payment schedule may not give an adjudication response. | BIF Act s 82 |
Source: BIF Act ss 73, 75, 76, 79, 82; Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld) ss 67U, 67W
Why there are three adjudication windows
The window you are in depends on what the respondent did, not on what you claimed. Getting this wrong is fatal — an application made outside the window cannot be heard, however good the underlying claim is.
- 1.They scheduled less than you claimed. You are disputing the amount. 30 business days, running from the day the schedule was given — not from the due date for payment.
- 2.They gave a schedule and then did not pay the scheduled amount. You are not disputing anything; they agreed the number and did not pay it. 20 business days from the due date.
- 3.They gave nothing at all. 30 business days from the later of the due date for payment, or the last day on which a schedule could have been given.
What your contract can and cannot change
| Timeframe | Can the contract change it? |
|---|---|
| Payment schedule deadline | It can require a schedule sooner than 15 business days. It cannot allow longer. |
| Due date for payment | It can require payment sooner. A term allowing longer than the QBCC Act cap is void, and the statutory position applies instead. |
| Payment claim window | It can give you longer than six months. It cannot cut the six months short. |
| Adjudication windows | No. These are statutory and cannot be contracted out of. |
Source: Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld) ss 67U, 67W; BIF Act ch 3
Sources
- Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld) — Queensland Legislationprimary source
- Queensland Building and Construction Commission Act 1991 (Qld), ss 67U & 67W — Queensland Legislationprimary source
- QBCC — Adjudication and security of paymentprimary source
- Merlo Law — Adjudication in Queensland: guide to the BIF Act
- EstimateOne — BIF Act QLD: the subbie's guide to getting paid
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