Key facts
- The Act covers written construction and supply contracts, for private and public projects
- A payment response is due within the contract period, capped at 21 days, or 14 days if the contract is silent
- "Pay when paid" clauses are void under the Act
- You have 7 days to apply for adjudication once the right arises
- An unpaid determination can be enforced as a court judgment
What the Security of Payment Act does
The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act came into force on 1 April 2005. It gives anyone who has carried out construction work, or supplied related goods or services, under a written contract a statutory right to progress payment. It applies to private and public sector projects, and it works even where the contract has no clause on progress payment.
Main contractors claiming from owners, subcontractors claiming from main contractors, subcontractors further down the chain, consultants, suppliers and plant and equipment hirers can all claim. Clauses that say you are paid only when, or only if, the party above you is paid are void under the Act.
When the Act does not help
- Work done on a verbal agreement. The Act applies only to written contracts, or the written part of a contract.
- Renovation of a home where no Building Plan submission is needed under the Building Control Act, such as most HDB renovation work. Subcontractors and suppliers on that job cannot claim under the Act either.
- Goods supplied for trading. A pure supply contract with no installation on site is covered only if it names the project or site, and the buyer is carrying out construction work there.
- Claims made more than 30 months after the work was last carried out or the goods last supplied, as a general rule.
- Cases where one party is insolvent, where some provisions do not apply. Take legal advice.
Payment claims and payment responses
Serve your payment claim in writing by the date the contract sets. If the contract is silent, you may serve one claim a month, by the last day of each month after the month the contract was made. Identify the contract, state the amount, and attach the details and calculations behind it. You may carry an unpaid amount from an earlier claim into the next one. Final payment claims after completion are covered too.
| Step | Construction contract | Supply contract |
|---|---|---|
| Payment response | By the contract date, no later than 21 days after the claim date. 14 days if the contract is silent | Not required. Any reason for withholding must be given in writing by the payment due date |
| Dispute settlement period | 7 days after the payment response was due. No adjudication during this time | Not applicable |
| Payment due | By the contract date, no later than 35 days after the response was due or the tax invoice date. 14 days if the contract is silent | By the contract date, no later than 60 days after the claim was served. 30 days if the contract is silent |
BCA counts these as calendar days, excluding official public holidays. A payment response must state the amount the other side proposes to pay, "nil" if nothing, with reasons for anything withheld. Reasons left out of the response are generally disregarded later in adjudication, which is why the response matters so much.
How adjudication works
- Serve a notice of intentionBefore applying, notify the respondent in writing that you intend to apply for adjudication, with the project, contract, amounts and nature of the dispute.
- Apply within 7 daysLodge the application with the Singapore Mediation Centre within 7 days after the payment due date, or after the dispute settlement period ends. Miss this window and you lose adjudication for that claim, though you can include the unpaid amount in your next claim.
- Adjudicator appointedThe Singapore Mediation Centre appoints an adjudicator within 7 days. The respondent has 7 days to lodge an adjudication response.
- DeterminationWithin 7 days where the respondent gave no payment response and no adjudication response, or failed to pay an amount you accepted. Within 14 days in other cases.
- PaymentThe respondent must pay the adjudicated amount within 7 days after the determination is served, unless the adjudicator sets a later date.
The application fee charged by the Singapore Mediation Centre is capped by regulation at $600, and adjudicator fees are capped too. The adjudicator decides how these costs are shared.
What a determination does
A determination is binding until the dispute is finally decided by a court or tribunal, or settled by agreement. Either side may ask for a review only where the gap between the amounts is at least S$100,000. If the respondent still does not pay, you can:
- Apply to court for permission to enforce the determination as a judgment debt. See how judgments are enforced.
- Suspend work or supply, after notifying the respondent, copying the principal and owner, and waiting at least 7 days. You must resume within 3 days of being paid in full.
- Exercise a lien over unfixed goods you supplied that have not been paid for, under the same notice rule.
- Be paid directly by the principal, who may choose to pay you and recover the sum from the respondent.
When to chase through a collector first
Adjudication is built for disputes about how much is owed. Many unpaid contractors face a different problem: the amount is agreed, but the money does not come. A collector can help when:
- The debtor accepts the amount but keeps promising and not paying.
- The work falls outside the Act, such as HDB renovation or a verbal job.
- The adjudication window for a claim has passed and you want payment now rather than waiting for the next claim cycle.
- You hold a determination or judgment and want the debtor pushed to pay before you spend more on enforcement.
Where Speedy helps, and where it does not
Speedy Debt Collection is a debt collection company, not a law firm. We cannot file an adjudication application, act for you in adjudication or court, or give legal advice on your contract. What we do is send a firm letter of demand, follow up by call, message and visit, and negotiate full payment or an instalment plan with the main contractor or developer. Our debt recovery service works on a success based commission: no recovery, no fee. If the debtor company looks like it is failing, read about company debtors and liquidation early.