Default payment notice for construction
The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act (also known as the Construction Act) include provisions to ensure that payments are made promptly throughout the supply chain.
These provisions include:
- The right to be paid in interim, periodic or stage payments.
- The right to suspend (or part suspend) performance for non-payment and to claim costs and expenses incurred and extension of time resulting from the suspension.
- Pay when certified clauses are not allowed, and the release of retention cannot be prevented by conditions within another contract.
In addition, there are specific provisions in relation to the procedures for making payments.
- The client must issue a payment notice within five days of the date for payment, even if no amount is due. Alternatively, if the contract allows, the contractor may make an application for payment, which is treated as if it is the payment notice.
- The client must issue a pay less notice if they intend to pay less than the amount set out in the payment notice, setting out the basis for its calculation.
- The notified sum is payable by the final date for payment.
- If the client (or specified person) fails to issue a payment notice, the contractor may issue a default payment notice. The final date for payment is extended by the period between when the client should have issued a payment notice and when the contractor issued the default payment notice. If the client does not issue a pay less notice, they must pay the amount in the default payment notice.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Cash flow.
- Construction supply chain payment charter.
- Due date.
- Extension of time.
- Fair payment practices.
- Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act.
- Interim certificate.
- Pay less notice.
- Payment notice.
- Remedies for late payment.
- Retention.
- Scheme for construction contracts.
- Withholding notice.
[edit] External references
Featured articles and news
Guidance notes to prepare for April ERA changes
From the Electrical Contractors' Association Employee Relations team.
Significant changes to be seen from the new ERA in 2026 and 2027, starting on 6 April 2026.
First aid in the modern workplace with St John Ambulance.
Ireland's National Residential Retrofit Plan
Staged initiatives introduced step by step.
Solar panels, pitched roofs and risk of fire spread
60% increase in solar panel fires prompts tests and installation warnings.
Modernising heat networks with Heat interface unit
Why HIUs hold the key to efficiency upgrades.
Reflecting on the work of the CIOB Academy
Looking back on 2025 and where it's going next.
Procurement in construction: Knowledge hub
Brief, overview, key articles and over 1000 more covering procurement.
Sir John Betjeman’s love of Victorian church architecture.
Exchange for Change for UK deposit return scheme
The UK Deposit Management Organisation established to deliver Deposit Return Scheme unveils trading name.
A guide to integrating heat pumps
As the Future Homes Standard approaches Future Homes Hub publishes hints and tips for Architects and Architectural Technologists.
BSR as a standalone body; statements, key roles, context
Statements from key figures in key and changing roles.
ECA launches Welsh Election Manifesto
ECA calls on political parties at 100 day milestone to the Senedd elections.
Resident engagement as the key to successful retrofits
Retrofit is about people, not just buildings, from early starts to beyond handover.
Plastic, recycling and its symbol
Student competition winning, M.C.Esher inspired Möbius strip design symbolising continuity within a finite entity.
Do you take the lead in a circular construction economy?
Help us develop and expand this wiki as a resource for academia and industry alike.
Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce
Risks of undermining UK’s energy transition due to lack of electrotechnical industry representation, says ECA.
Cost Optimal Domestic Electrification CODE
Modelling retrofits only on costs that directly impact the consumer: upfront cost of equipment, energy costs and maintenance costs.
























Comments
If a contractor issues an application, but the payee does not issue a payment notice, then the contractor also does not issue a default notice.Would the application automatically become the default notice?