If a payment schedule is not served within that time, the full amount of the claim becomes due and payable. The subcontractor may recover that amount through adjudication or court proceedings, and the contractor cannot raise a substantive defence.

There have also been changes to the adjudication process. A subcontractor now has 30 business days to lodge an adjudication application.

A contractor cannot raise new reasons in an adjudication response unless those reasons were included in the payment schedule. Failure to provide a payment schedule may also constitute an offence. The only exception is where the contractor pays the full claimed amount by the due date.

The Act also introduces a reference date following termination of a construction contract where one is not already provided. This allows a subcontractor to make a payment claim for work carried out up to the date of termination.

Payment claims made on or after 17 December 2018 are governed by the Building Industry Fairness Act, even if the construction contract was entered into before that date.