Scheduled amount: what the respondent commits to pay

TL;DR

The scheduled amount is the dollar figure a respondent (owner, developer, or head contractor) states they propose to pay in a written payment schedule after receiving a progress claim. If that figure is less than the claimed amount, the claimant can apply for adjudication. If no payment schedule is served at all, the full claimed amount becomes a statutory debt immediately due. The two windows that define everything: in NSW the respondent has 10 business days to serve a schedule; in QLD, 15 business days. Miss the window and the full claim falls due, no argument left.

What the scheduled amount is

When a builder, subcontractor, or supplier serves a progress claim under a Security of Payment Act, the other party (the respondent) has a short window to respond in writing. That written response is the payment schedule. The core obligation inside the schedule is to state the scheduled amount: how much the respondent proposes to pay.

The scheduled amount can be:

The full claimed amount (the respondent accepts and will pay in full)
A reduced amount (the respondent disputes part of the claim and states why)
Nil (the respondent proposes to pay nothing and gives reasons)

The scheduled amount is not a payment. It is a commitment, stated in writing, to a specific figure. The actual payment falls due on the statutory due date, which runs separately.

Why the exact figure matters: once the respondent states a scheduled amount, that number becomes the floor for adjudication. The claimant’s adjudication right is to seek the difference between the claimed amount and the scheduled amount. A respondent who schedules nil is handing the claimant a full adjudication path for the entire claim.

What must go in the schedule alongside the scheduled amount

Under NSW SOP Act s 14 (verified 2026-06-11, Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW)), a valid payment schedule must:

Identify the payment claim it responds to
State the scheduled amount the respondent proposes to pay (which may be nil)
Include reasons for any amount withheld

The third requirement is the one that bites: reasons not stated in the payment schedule cannot be raised later in adjudication. If the respondent wants to say the work was defective, the stage wasn’t complete, a variation was not authorised, or there is a set-off for damages, every single one of those grounds must appear in the schedule. Raise a new ground in the adjudication response and the adjudicator must disregard it (verified 2026-06-11, NSW Government, Responding to a payment claim).

This rule is sometimes called the NSW “reasons lock-in” principle. It was designed to stop respondents inventing defences late in the process, after the claimant has committed to adjudication costs and timelines. The practical effect: a respondent who serves a thin payment schedule with vague reasons is giving the claimant a strong adjudication position before the process even starts.

Deadlines for serving the payment schedule

Every SOP Act sets a hard deadline. Miss it and the full claimed amount falls due:

State / Territory	Deadline to serve schedule	Governing Act
NSW	10 business days from receiving the claim (or contractual deadline if earlier)	SOPA 1999 (NSW) s 14
QLD	15 business days from receiving the claim (or contractual deadline if earlier)	BIF Act 2017 (QLD) s 69
SA	15 business days from receiving the claim (or contractual deadline if earlier)	SOPA 2009 (SA) s 15
VIC	As per contract or 15 business days (post-April 2026 reforms)	SOPA 2002 (VIC) as amended
WA	As per contract or 15 business days	SOPA 2021 (WA)

For subcontractors on NSW owner-occupier residential work, the deadline is 5 business days (verified 2026-06-11, NSW Government, Responding to a payment claim).

Business days exclude Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays, and in NSW also 27 to 31 December. Time counts from the day after service, not the service day itself (verified 2026-06-11, Contracts Specialist, Adjudication Timeframes NSW).

What happens when the scheduled amount is less than the claimed amount

When the scheduled amount falls short of the claimed amount, the claimant has a right to apply for adjudication. The adjudicator’s job is to determine what amount, if any, is properly payable. The adjudicated amount can be anywhere between nil and the full claimed amount.

Application window in NSW (s 17): the claimant has 10 business days from receiving the payment schedule to lodge an adjudication application with an Authorised Nominating Authority (ANA) (verified 2026-06-11, NSW Government, Applying for adjudication).

Application window in QLD: the claimant has 30 business days from receiving the schedule (verified 2026-06-11, QBCC, Payment protection laws).

Missing these windows is fatal for that reference period. The claim is not lost permanently, but the right to adjudicate it is gone.

What happens when no payment schedule is served

Failing to serve a payment schedule within the deadline is a worse outcome for the respondent than serving a low schedule. The consequences:

The full claimed amount becomes immediately due and payable as a statutory debt
In most states, the respondent loses the right to dispute any part of the amount in adjudication
In QLD, a separate offence penalty of up to 100 penalty units ($16,690 at the current rate of $166.90, effective 1 July 2025) applies for failing to pay the scheduled amount by the due date (verified 2026-06-11, QBCC, Payment protection laws)

In NSW, if no schedule is served and the full amount is not paid by the due date, the claimant must serve a notice of intention to apply for adjudication within 20 business days of the due date. The respondent then gets 5 business days to provide a late schedule. If no schedule arrives, the claimant has 10 further business days to lodge. Missing the 20-business-day notice window is the most common way NSW adjudication rights are lost when no schedule was served (verified 2026-06-11, NSW Government, Applying for adjudication).

Builder read: as respondent

When you receive a progress claim from a subcontractor or supplier, the scheduled amount decision is a commercial and legal act in one. Practical rules:

Never miss the deadline. Even if you are disputing the full amount, serve a schedule for nil with reasons. A nil schedule preserves your right to argue in adjudication. No schedule means no argument.
Every reason for withholding goes in. If the rough-in has defects, the stage is incomplete, a variation was not authorised, or you are claiming a set-off, document all of it in the schedule. New reasons cannot be added later.
Estimate the deduction accurately. Courts and adjudicators have found that a respondent who serves a deliberately low scheduled amount may face adverse cost orders if the full amount is eventually awarded.
Include quantum, not just labels. Stating “the work is defective” without an estimated dollar value for rectification weakens your schedule. The more specific the reasons and amounts, the better the schedule holds up under scrutiny.

Builder read: as claimant

When you serve a progress claim and the respondent returns a payment schedule showing a scheduled amount below your claim, that schedule is actually useful evidence:

The gap between your claimed amount and the scheduled amount is the adjudication target.
Reasons the respondent did not include in the schedule cannot be raised in their adjudication response. A schedule with thin reasons is a weak adjudication defence.
Set a calendar reminder the day the schedule arrives. The 10-business-day application window in NSW (30 in QLD) starts from that day. Missing it loses the right to adjudicate that reference period.
A nil schedule means the respondent is on the record saying they propose to pay nothing. That is a strong starting position for an adjudication application, provided the payment claim itself is valid.

QLD naming note

Queensland’s BIF Act 2017 uses the same term: “payment schedule” and “scheduled amount.” The key differences from NSW are the 15-business-day response window (not 10) and the 30-business-day adjudication application window (not 10). The reasons lock-in rule and the nil-schedule consequence both apply in QLD (verified 2026-06-11, Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (QLD) s 69).

What can go wrong

Schedule served late: the deadline passes without a schedule, the full claim falls due, and the respondent has lost the ability to contest it in adjudication. Common on owner-builder and small principal projects where no one is managing contract administration.
Reasons too vague to hold up: “work not complete” without specifying which work or estimating the cost is unlikely to survive adjudication. Adjudicators assess the merits of each stated reason; a vague reason gives the claimant room to argue it has no substance.
New defence raised in adjudication response: the respondent’s lawyer introduces a set-off or damages claim that was not in the schedule. The adjudicator disregards it. The respondent has effectively wasted the adjudication response and the legal fees that went with it.
Claimant missing the application window: the claimant receives a low schedule, does nothing for 11 business days, and the adjudication right for that reference period is gone. The only recourse is to serve a fresh claim on the next reference date, which may be weeks away.
Scheduled amount paid but contested in court: the respondent pays the scheduled amount and then brings a court claim for the excess. That is permitted. The SOP Act is an interim mechanism; either party can litigate the final position after adjudication or after the scheduled amount is paid.

References

Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999 (NSW) s 14 (verified 2026-06-11)
NSW Government, Responding to a payment claim under Security of Payment (verified 2026-06-11)
NSW Government, Applying for adjudication under Security of Payment (verified 2026-06-11)
Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) Act 2017 (QLD) s 69 (verified 2026-06-11)
QBCC, Payment protection laws (verified 2026-06-11)
Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2009 (SA) s 15 (verified 2026-06-11)
Contracts Specialist, Adjudication Timeframes NSW (verified 2026-06-11)