Procedure

Payment Claim A valid Payment Claim will:

• Identify the works or services to which the progress payment relates.
• Be served within 12 months after the work was carried out.
• Indicate the amount of the progress payment.
• State that the Claim is made under the Act.

Our service is to prepare a valid Payment Claim under the Act on your behalf. Once we have reviewed your invoices, we will prepare a Payment Claim and serve it on the Respondent ( Head Contractor/Owner/Developer) on your behalf. The Respondent then has 10 business days to respond.

Payment Schedule

The Respondent must reply to your Payment Claim in the form of a written Payment Schedule within 10 business days. If the amount offered is less than the amount claimed then all reasons for this difference must be given in the Payment Schedule. If you disagree with these reasons then the next step is an Adjudication Application. However, if the Respondent does not respond with a Schedule within the required time, the whole amount of the claim becomes payable. The Respondent is then served with a further s.17(2) Notice which allows the Respondent another 5 days to pay the full amount. In the event that no schedule is received and no amount is paid you are then entitled to go to adjudication and the Respondent is precluded from lodging a adjudication response. If you receive a Payment Schedule for less than the claimed amount you are also entitled to go to adjudication. The Act is there to ensure prompt payment to those entitled to same.

Our service is to review and advise you on any Payment Schedules received and to prepare and file an Adjudication Application with an Authorised Nominating Authority (ANA) on your behalf with the highest chance of receiving a successful Determination.

Adjudication Application

This must be prepared and filed with an Authorised Nominating Authority (ANA) within 10 days of the Payment Schedule being received. Our service is to establish whether the Respondent's reasons for not paying you are valid. If the reasons are assessed to be invalid we will prepare and file an Adjudication Application on your behalf so as to recover the outstanding debt.

Adjudication

After an Adjudicator has been appointed and all the relevant documentation has been received by the Adjudicator, the Adjudicator will assess the information before them. They may choose to hold a conference between the parties, carry out an inspection or request further documentation.

Our service is to provide the Adjudicator with further submissions and documentation on your behalf if requested.

Determination

The Adjudicator will make a determination usually within 10 business days after the Adjudication Application was accepted. The Adjudicator's determination will state the amount that the Respondent must pay you ( or not pay you ) together with the reasons for the decision.

Receiving your Payment

The determination will specify a date for payment, which is usually within 5 days of the Adjudicator's decision being released.

Cost of Adjudication

Generally the ANA will require that the cost of the adjudication be paid for before the adjudication be paid for before the Adjudicator's determination is released. This amount is usually paid for by the Claimant and then recovered from the Respondent post the determination.

Enforcement

From time to time the Respondent may not pay as directed by the Adjudicator. Our service is to apply to the ANA for an Adjudication Certificate on your behalf. The certificate covers the total of the determination plus any ANA costs paid by the Claimant. Our service is to prepare the relevant court documents so the certificate can be filed at the appropriate court as a Judgement/Order. Further documents are then prepared and served on the Respondent to ensure prompt payment of the money due to you.