The BIF Act — Queensland’s Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 — is the law subbies, head contractors and suppliers use to get paid on time for construction work. It is the Queensland equivalent of NSW’s Security of Payment Act, and it replaced the old BCIPA in 2018. The core mechanism is a three-step chain: the claimant serves a payment claim, the respondent answers with a payment schedule within 15 business days, and either side can take a dispute to adjudication.

If you’re a Queensland subbie reading this on a phone because a builder hasn’t paid you, skip the history. The BIF Act gives you a fast, statutory way to recover money. It works, but it punishes mistakes — miss a deadline by a day and your claim is dead.

This guide walks the chain end to end, then answers the four questions people actually search. The downloadable QLD templates at the end reflect current BIF Act requirements. Don’t use NSW templates with a Queensland label; the Acts differ.

What the BIF Act actually does

The Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 commenced in March 2018 and replaced two older statutes — the Building and Construction Industry Payments Act 2004 (BCIPA) and the Subcontractors’ Charges Act 1974. Any guide still talking about “BCIPA” is out of date.

The Act does three jobs: it guarantees a statutory right to progress payments even when the contract is silent; it sets a fixed timetable that overrides longer payment terms the contract tries to impose; and it bans “pay when paid” clauses outright. It also runs Project Trust Accounts on larger projects — a Queensland-only mechanic worth its own section below.

The timeframes — know these cold

These differ from NSW. Do not assume the NSW numbers apply.

“Business day” under the BIF Act excludes weekends, public holidays, and the period between 22 December and 10 January each year. The QBCC publishes the holiday-period rules each November — check them before you serve anything in December. Contracts can shorten the 15-day response window but can’t lengthen it. The QBCC Act also caps payment due dates at 25 business days for subcontracts and 15 for commercial building contracts; anything longer is void and the default 10 business days applies.

Step 1: Serve a valid payment claim

Most claims fail on technical grounds, not merit. A valid BIF Act payment claim must:

• Identify the construction work or related goods and services the claim is for.
• State the amount claimed (the “claimed amount”).
• Request payment of that amount. Using the word “invoice” on the document is taken to be a request for payment under s68(3).
• Be served on or after a reference date — typically the date set out in the contract, or the last day of each month if the contract is silent.

Get those four things right and the claim stands up. Vague descriptions, missing amounts, or claims served outside the 6-month window are the most common reasons claims get thrown out at adjudication.

Step 2: The payment schedule (head contractors, this is you)

If you’re on the receiving end of a payment claim and you don’t intend to pay it in full by the due date, you have two options: pay it, or serve a payment schedule within 15 business days. There is no third option. Ignoring a claim is not a strategy — it’s an offence and it costs you the right to defend.

A valid payment schedule must:

• Identify the payment claim it responds to.
• State the amount you propose to pay (the “scheduled amount”), which can be zero.
• If the scheduled amount is less than the claimed amount, give reasons — in enough detail that the claimant understands the real issues in dispute.

Withholding payment without a schedule, or scheduling an amount you don’t then pay, hands the claimant a direct path to judgment under s78.

Step 3: Adjudication if it isn’t paid

If the schedule isn’t served, the scheduled amount isn’t paid, or you disagree with the amount scheduled, lodge an adjudication application with the QBCC. The QBCC refers it to an adjudicator within 4 business days. Decisions usually land within 10 business days of the response (longer for complex claims over $750,000).

Adjudication is interim, not final — it keeps cash moving while bigger contractual disputes wait for court. For most subbies, it’s the end of the road: you get paid and you move on.

Project Trust Accounts — the QLD-only safety net

Queensland has something NSW doesn’t: mandatory trust accounts on certain projects, holding money for subbies in a ring-fenced account managed by the head contractor.

PTAs currently apply to:

• Queensland Government and Hospital and Health Service contracts valued at $1 million or more.
• Private sector, local government, statutory authority and government-owned corporation contracts valued at $10 million or more.

The lower thresholds ($3 million from March 2025, $1 million from October 2025) were paused indefinitely by Proclamation on 31 January 2025. The Queensland Productivity Commission is reviewing the framework. Until that review lands, the $1M / $10M thresholds are what counts.

If you’re a subbie on a PTA project, you have an extra layer of protection: money owing to you must be paid out of the trust account, not the head contractor’s general operating funds. If they go under, the trust money is protected.

What disqualifies a claim

Some claims never make it past the gate. Check yourself against this list before serving:

• Unlicensed work. Under s42 of the QBCC Act, if you weren’t licensed for the work being claimed, you may not be entitled to claim payment at all.
• Outside the 6-month window. Payment claims served more than 6 months after the work was last done are dead on arrival (s75(2)).
• Two claims, one reference date. One claim per reference date. You can roll forward unpaid amounts, but you can’t double-dip.
• Service via link only. Dropbox links and download URLs have been knocked back by the Queensland courts. Email the documents as attachments — don’t link to them.

Work performed outside Queensland. The BIF Act only covers construction work carried out in Queensland.

FAQ

What is the BIF Act?

The BIF Act is the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld). It governs how progress payments are claimed, scheduled, disputed and recovered on Queensland construction projects. It applies to head contractors, subbies and suppliers, and overrides contract terms that try to stretch payment timeframes or block claims.

What is Section 75 of the BIF Act?

Section 75 is the rule for making a payment claim. It says a claim for a progress payment must be served within the longer of the contract period or 6 months from the day the work was last done. For final claims, the window extends to 28 days after the end of the last defects liability period, or 6 months after completion — whichever is longest. Miss the window and the claim is invalid.

What is Section 78 of the BIF Act?

Section 78 sets out what happens when a respondent doesn’t pay. If the respondent didn’t serve a payment schedule, the claimant can recover the full claimed amount as a debt in court. If a schedule was served but the scheduled amount isn’t paid by the due date, the claimant can recover that amount as a debt. Section 78 is also the gateway to suspending work under s98 or applying for adjudication.

What is Section 67 of the BIF Act?

Section 67 defines the “reference date” — the trigger that lets a claimant serve a payment claim. The reference date is whatever the contract specifies. If the contract is silent, the default is the last day of each month the work was carried out. You can only serve one payment claim per reference date, and you can’t serve a claim before the reference date has arrived.

Getting paid starts before the dispute

Most BIF Act adjudications trace back to a contract that was unclear from day one — vague scope, ambiguous payment terms, no reference date. Getting paid starts with the contract you tender into.

Want to see live tenders in QLD? Create a free account and get visibility into projects from the head contractors that pay on time.

BIF Act payment claim and payment schedule templates are in the appendix below. For NSW, see our Security of Payment Act NSW guide. If your dispute is over $25,000 or involves PTA enforcement, get specialist construction law advice — the BIF Act protects everyday claims, but PTA breach and large-quantum disputes warrant a lawyer.

Appendix: BIF Act templates

Two fillable templates aligned to current BIF Act requirements. Copy each block into your own document, fill in the blank lines, and serve. These are starting points — not legal advice. If the amount in dispute is over $25,000 or the project involves a Project Trust Account, get specialist advice before serving.

Important: serve the document as an attachment (PDF or Word). Don’t send a Dropbox link or download URL — Queensland courts have ruled that link-only service can be invalid.

Template 1: Payment Claim under the BIF Act

Use this to claim a progress payment. Must be served on or after a reference date, within 6 months of when the work was last carried out (s75 BIF Act). Final claims have a longer window — see s75(3).

Date of claim: ______________________________

Claimant (your business) Business name: ______________________________ ABN: ______________________________ Address: ______________________________ Contact: ______________________________

Respondent (the party you’re claiming from) Business name: ______________________________ ABN: ______________________________ Address: ______________________________ Contact: ______________________________

Construction contract: ______________________________ (contract reference / date / project name)

Reference date: ______________________________ (the contractual reference date this claim relates to, or the last day of the month if the contract is silent)

Description of work, goods and services claimed Identify the work in enough detail that the respondent can match it to the contract. Itemise where possible.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Amounts Claimed amount (excl. GST): $ __________________ GST: $ __________________ Total claimed amount (incl. GST): $ __________________ Less previous payments: $ __________________ Net amount payable: $ __________________

Statement This is a payment claim made under the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (Qld). Payment of the amount claimed is requested.

Signed Name: ______________________________ Position: ______________________________ Signature: ______________________________ Date: ______________________________

Template 2: Payment Schedule under the BIF Act

Use this to respond to a payment claim if you don’t intend to pay it in full. Must be given within 15 business days of receiving the claim, or the shorter contract period if any (s76 BIF Act). If the scheduled amount is less than the claimed amount, you must give reasons in enough detail that the claimant understands what’s in dispute.

Date of schedule: ______________________________

Respondent (you) Business name: ______________________________ ABN: ______________________________ Address: ______________________________ Contact: ______________________________

Claimant Business name: ______________________________ ABN: ______________________________ Address: ______________________________ Contact: ______________________________

Payment claim identified Claim reference: ______________________________ Date received: ______________________________ Claimed amount: $ __________________

Scheduled amount (the amount you propose to pay) $ __________________ (can be zero)

Reasons for withholding payment If the scheduled amount is less than the claimed amount, set out the reasons in enough detail that the claimant understands the issues in dispute. Reference each disputed item.

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________________

Due date for payment: ______________________________ (date set out in the contract, or 10 business days after the claim was given)

Signed Name: ______________________________ Position: ______________________________ Signature: ______________________________ Date: ______________________________