Work out whether a Northern Territory payment dispute is still inside the 65 working…
MaintainedLast reviewed
Key facts
- Human involvement
- RedLawyer-led
- How AI is used
- Extract the payment-claim date, the contract payment clause, and the date of any dispute, rejection or non-payment into a dated table.
- What the lawyer must review
- Decide whether section 8 is met and whether the 65 working days are still open
- Approve any application that is served
- Do not let the dated table decide that the dispute has arisen
Rules that apply
The document starts from the task name. Change it if this piece of work is different.
The work product
Forum. Northern Territory
Produce. A note of the day the payment dispute arose under section 8, the first day under section 28(3), and the last day of the 65 working days, or a note that no application will be made.
Have ready. The construction contract, including any written provision about responding to a payment claim and any high-value dispute-resolution clause; The payment claim and the correspondence rejecting, disputing or not paying it; The Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004, as in force at 25 May 2024; The Northern Territory Government construction-dispute page.
Example of the limit. A payment claim is rejected on 1 September 2026. Section 8(a)(i) says a payment dispute arises if a payment claim has been made and has been rejected or wholly or partly disputed. Section 28(3) makes 2 September the first day of the 65 working days. Working days skip a Saturday, a Sunday, a public holiday in the place, and 25 December to 7 January. The government page also says 65 working days. Its later phrase “65 day time limit” is not used.
Stop and hand it back when
- A payment schedule of 10 or 15 business days is required because that is the Queensland, Western Australian or South Australian step. This Act uses a payment dispute and an application under section 28.
- The 10 working days and 20 working days in Schedule 1 are applied although the contract has a written provision about the same matter. Sections 19 and 20 imply those provisions only where the contract does not.
- The count starts on the day the dispute arose because the government page says “from the date”. Section 28(3) says the first day is the day after the payment dispute arises.
- A dollar amount is written for a high value construction contract. Section 4A says the amount is the amount prescribed by regulation, and the regulation was not read.
Sources for this task were checked on 2026-09-22.
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Supporting preparation only. Extract the payment-claim date, the contract payment clause, and the date of any dispute, rejection or non-payment into a dated table. Substantive advice, judgement and any restricted content remain with the responsible human. |
| Lawyer | Perform the substantive analysis and decisions. Independently check any permitted supporting work and approve the exact output for its intended use. |
Checklist
- Open the reprint as in force at 25 May 2024. Decide whether section 8 is met: rejection or dispute of a payment claim, non-payment when the claimed amount is due, unpaid retention, or unreturned security. Do not call the next document a payment schedule under another state Act.
- If the contract has no written provision about how to respond or by when to pay, read Schedule 1 clause 6: 10 working days for a notice of dispute and payment of the undisputed part, or 20 working days to pay the whole. If the contract has a written provision, do not replace it with those implied periods. Read section 13 before giving effect to a contractual period longer than 30 working days.
- Count 65 working days after the dispute arises. Make the first day the day after the dispute arises, under section 28(3). Use the section 4 working-day definition. Where an earlier application is taken to be dismissed, section 39(2)(b) gives 20 working days for a further application.
- Before assuming Part 3 applies, open section 4A, section 10A and the regulation that prescribes the high-value amount and the alternative dispute-resolution mechanism. Do not insert a dollar figure that was not read.
Sources
- Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 (NT), as in force at 25 May 2024, official Word text · 2026-09-22
- Northern Territory legislation: Construction Contracts (Security of Payments) Act 2004 · 2026-09-22
- Northern Territory Government: Get help to resolve a construction dispute · 2026-09-22
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.