By Greg Allan, tradesman and creator of Data First Coaching
What law protects subcontractors in South Australia?
The Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 gives anyone who carries out construction work or supplies related goods and services in South Australia a statutory right to progress payments. It sets deadlines for the builder to respond, gives you adjudication, and lets you suspend work when you are not paid. The Small Business Commission SA publishes the official guidance.
South Australia has not followed the eastern states' reforms. A 2021 reform Bill lapsed in February 2022, so the Act still uses reference dates. Two recent changes do not affect a private subcontract:
- 2025: an exemption regulation removes much of the Act from Crown contracts worth more than $4 million.
- 2026: replacement regulations were made when the 2011 regulations expired on 1 September 2026.
Am I covered if I work for a builder on a house?
Yes. The Act does not apply to a contract for residential building work on premises that the person the work is done for lives in or proposes to live in. That exclusion catches the builder's contract with the homeowner, not your subcontract with the builder. The SA Law Handbook confirms that subcontractors keep their right to claim against the main contractor on domestic jobs.
Hold the licence your work requires under the Building Work Contractors Act 1995. Doing work without it creates its own problems in any payment dispute.
How do I make a valid payment claim in South Australia?
A payment claim under s 13 must identify the work, state the amount claimed, and state that it is made under the Act. Use this wording: "This is a payment claim made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (SA)." You can serve one claim for each reference date, which is the date set by your contract or, if there is none, the last day of each month.
When and how often you can claim:
- One claim per reference date. An amount claimed before and still unpaid can be included again.
- Time limit: within the period in your contract, or 6 months after you last did work.
- Serve it in a way you can prove, by email to the address in the contract.
What must the builder do, and by when?
If the builder will pay less than you claimed, they must give you a payment schedule within the time in the contract or 15 business days after receiving your claim, whichever is earlier (s 14). The schedule must state the amount they will pay and their reasons for paying less. If no schedule arrives, the builder becomes liable for the full claimed amount on the due date (s 14(4)).
Two rules on timing:
- Due date: the date in your contract, or the default period the Act sets if the contract says nothing. Unlike NSW, Victoria, Queensland and WA, South Australia does not set a maximum payment term, so a long term in your contract can stand. Read the payment term before you sign.
- Pay when paid clauses have no effect. The builder cannot hold your money because the client has not paid them.
What can I do if the builder still does not pay?
You choose between adjudication and court. If there is no schedule and no payment, you can sue for the full amount as a debt (s 15) or apply for adjudication through an authorised nominating authority. The adjudicator usually decides within 10 business days, and the decision can be filed in court and enforced as a judgment.
Adjudication deadlines under s 17:
- Schedule for less than you claimed: apply within 15 business days after you receive it.
- Schedule given but the amount not paid: apply within 20 business days after the due date.
- No schedule at all: first give the builder notice of your intention to apply within 20 business days after the due date, giving them 5 business days to provide a schedule. Then apply promptly in the short window s 17 allows after those 5 days.
How it runs from there:
- The builder can respond only if they served a schedule in time, and cannot add reasons that were not in it.
- The adjudicator decides within 10 business days, unless the parties agree to more time.
- If the builder still does not pay, file the adjudication certificate in court as a judgment debt.
Can I stop work until I am paid?
Yes. If a claimed, scheduled or adjudicated amount is not paid by the due date, the Act lets you suspend work after giving the builder written notice of your intention to suspend. Give at least 2 business days notice, state that it is given under the Act, and stay off the job until you are paid. A lawful suspension is protected.
Never simply stop turning up. Stopping without the notice can be treated as abandoning the contract.
What extra protections apply in South Australia?
South Australia has no statutory trust for retention money or project funds on private work, so the payment process is the main protection. It does have a mandatory, low cost dispute resolution code for the building industry, overseen by the Small Business Commissioner, which covers subcontractor payment disputes and carries penalties for businesses that ignore it.
- Building and Construction Industry Dispute Resolution Code: set by regulations under the Fair Trading Act 1987, in force since 5 December 2017.
- Business days exclude weekends, public holidays and 27 to 31 December, and any statewide building industry shutdown.
What should I do today if I have not been paid?
Work the steps in order and keep a dated record of each one. South Australia still runs on reference dates, so the most common mistake is serving a claim on the wrong day, or serving two for one reference date.
- Check your contract for a reference date and a payment term.
- Serve a payment claim on or after the reference date, by email, with the work itemised, the amount, and the statement that it is made under the Act.
- Diary the schedule deadline (15 business days) and the due date.
- If the due date passes unpaid, serve written notice of intention to suspend.
- Apply for adjudication inside the window that applies to you, or sue for the debt.
- For large or disputed amounts, have a South Australian construction lawyer check the paperwork before you lodge.
The businesses that rarely end up here run it as a system rather than a fight: every progress claim carries the statutory wording, and an AI agent tracks each claim's reference date and deadlines so nothing is served early and nothing is missed.
Where is this in the legislation?
- Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (SA): s 13 (payment claims), s 14 (payment schedules), s 15 (recovery as a debt), s 17 to s 21 (adjudication), and the provisions on due dates, pay when paid, suspension and enforcement.
- Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Regulations 2026 (SA)
- Small Business Commission SA: Security of Payment Act
- Small Business Commission SA: how to make a claim
- Small Business Commission SA: reviews and updates of the Act
- Small Business Commission SA: Building and Construction Industry Dispute Resolution Code
- SA Law Handbook: building disputes
This is general information about the law as at 16 October 2026, not legal advice. Deadlines depend on your contract and the facts, so get advice from a South Australian construction lawyer before relying on it for a large or disputed claim.
