---
title: "Check a New South Wales payment claim against the current Act before it is served"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/construction-and-infrastructure/prepare-and-check-a-progress-payment-claim-before-it-is-served/new-south-wales"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A11-SOP-NSW-1"
practice_area: "Construction & Infrastructure"
tier: "red"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["NSW"]
last_reviewed: "2026-09-23"
---

# Check a New South Wales payment claim against the current Act before it is served

> Extract the named month, the claimed amount, the contract payment date and any supporting-statement attachment into a checking list.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/construction-and-infrastructure/prepare-and-check-a-progress-payment-claim-before-it-is-served/new-south-wales  
Last reviewed: 2026-09-23

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Construction & Infrastructure](https://ailawframework.com/practice/construction-and-infrastructure.md) |
| Human involvement | Red: Lawyer writes; AI may check, clarify or collect data |
| How AI is used | Extract the named month, the claimed amount, the contract payment date and any supporting-statement attachment into a checking list. |
| What the lawyer must review | Confirm coverage, service timing and the section 11 class Approve the claim that is actually served Do not let the checking list decide those points |
| Written for | New South Wales |
| Applies to | [Prepare and check a progress-payment claim before it is served](https://ailawframework.com/practice/construction-and-infrastructure/prepare-and-check-a-progress-payment-claim-before-it-is-served.md) |

## Checking plan

**Lawyer-led judgement**

Section 13 sets what a payment claim must say and when it may be served. Section 11 sets the due date by class of contract. A government summary table is not a substitute for those sections.

- What the AI does: Extract the named month, the claimed amount, the contract payment date and any supporting-statement attachment into a checking list.
- What the lawyer does: Decide whether the Act applies, whether the claim may be served now, which section 11 class fixes the due date, and approve the claim that is served.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in the matter and this security-of-payment statute
- Basis: Read on 22 September 2026 from the NSW in-force Act, ACT Republication No 14 effective 6 December 2025, and the linked government pages. Confirm the instrument is still current.
- Why: The traffic light follows the consequence of serving a payment claim or payment schedule on the wrong date, or with the wrong contents.
- Restriction: The lawyer leads this decision. Assistance stays inside the preparation described for the task.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Open the current Act and section 7. Confirm this contract is one the Act applies to, including the stated exclusions for loans, guarantees, insurance, employees and work outside New South Wales. Read section 8(2) against Home Building Act 1989 sections 4 and 92 before treating a progress payment as available.
2. Apply section 13 to the service date: on and from the last day of the named month, an earlier date the contract sets for that month, or the date of termination. Keep the claim inside the later of the contract period and 12 months after the work was last carried out or the related goods and services were last supplied. Except as the contract provides, serve only one payment claim in a named month.
3. Check that the claim identifies the construction work or related goods and services, indicates the claimed amount, and states that it is made under the Act. If a head contractor is serving the principal, attach a supporting statement in the form the Secretary has approved, and open that form on the NSW Government page.
4. Classify the due date under section 11 before anyone relies on it. Principal to head contractor, other than an exempt residential construction contract: 15 business days after the claim, or an earlier contractual date. Payment to a subcontractor, other than an exempt residential construction contract: 20 business days after the claim, or an earlier contractual date. A later date has no effect for those two subsections. An exempt residential construction contract: the contractual date, or 10 business days after the claim if the contract is silent. Count a business day by the definition in section 4, which excludes Saturday, Sunday, a public holiday, and 27 to 31 December.

## Notes

- Suggested working checks from the linked public source. Read that source before you rely on the check. This is not a record that the check has been done.

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: New South Wales

**Deliverable**: A service checklist for one payment claim, with the section 13 contents and the section 11 due-date class marked by the lawyer.

**Inputs**

- The construction contract and the draft payment claim
- The supporting statement, if a head contractor is claiming from a principal
- The in-force Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW)
- The NSW Government making-a-payment-claim page

**Example**: A progress payment to a subcontractor, under a contract that is not an exempt residential construction contract, falls in section 11(1B): 20 business days after the payment claim, or an earlier date in the contract. The 15-business-day period in section 11(1A) is for a principal paying a head contractor.

**Stop and escalate when**

- The due date is taken from the NSW Government table that labels section 11(1C)(b) as payment by a head contractor to a subcontractor for residential work.
- The claim is timed from a reference date. Section 13, as read on 22 September 2026, uses the named month.
- A dollar threshold or an interest percentage is written in. Neither was printed in the Act or on the government pages read that day.

Checked 2026-09-22.

## Sources

- [Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW), in-force compilation](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/whole/html/inforce/current/act-1999-046) (checked 2026-09-22)
- [NSW Government: Making a payment claim](https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/compliance-and-regulation/security-of-payment/making-a-payment-claim) (checked 2026-09-22)
- [NSW Government: About Security of Payment for construction contractors](https://www.nsw.gov.au/housing-and-construction/compliance-and-regulation/security-of-payment/about) (checked 2026-09-22)

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*