Claimant (Security of Payment)

In the Security of Payment system, the claimant is the party who serves a payment claim: the builder, subcontractor, or supplier seeking payment for construction work or related goods and services. If the claim is unpaid or short-paid, the claimant is the party who can apply for adjudication. The other side is the respondent, who must reply with a payment schedule.

Under each state’s Security of Payment Act the right to claim and adjudicate sits with the person who carried out the work. The claimant serves a payment claim; if the respondent fails to pay the due date amount, or serves a schedule for less, the claimant can take the matter to adjudication. The legislation is deliberately weighted to keep money moving down the contracting chain to the people who did the work, so the claimant’s procedural rights are strong, but they are time-limited.

For a builder the practical point is to know which hat you are wearing:

• As a subcontractor you are almost always the claimant. Serve a compliant payment claim, watch the response, and act within the (short) adjudication window if you are short-paid.
• As a head contractor you can be a claimant (claiming up the chain to the principal) and a respondent (responding to your own subbies) at the same time, on different claims.

Either way, missing the statutory steps is how a strong entitlement turns into a slow contract-debt recovery instead of a fast SoP result.

Also known as: Payment claimant.

Category: Contracts / Security of Payment.

Related

• Security of Payment (NSW)
• Payment claim

See also

• Payment schedule
• Due date for payment
• Adjudication process

References

• Security of Payment (NSW) (Chalkline) (verified 2026-06-01)

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Last updated: 2026-06-01. Verified: 2026-06-01. Quarterly review for currency.