Adjudication application: NSW SOPA practical checklist

TL;DR

Once a payment claim is in and the respondent has either short-paid, served a deficient payment schedule, or gone silent, NSW Security of Payment Act 1999 section 17 lets you apply for adjudication. The application is a document package, not a form. This article is the on-the-day checklist for what to assemble, which windows to calendar, and how to avoid an ANA bounce or a jurisdictional challenge.

For the doctrine (what adjudication is, who decides, what happens after the determination), see adjudication under SOPA: the full process.

When the application applies

Section 17 gives you three pathways depending on what the respondent did (verified 2026-05-15, NSW Government, Applying for adjudication):

Scenario	s17 pathway	Application window
Respondent served a payment schedule below the claimed amount	s17(1)(a)(i)	10 business days after receiving the schedule
Respondent served a payment schedule, scheduled amount not paid by due date	s17(1)(a)(ii)	20 business days after the payment due date
Respondent served no schedule and did not pay	s17(1)(b)	Via the s17(2) notice procedure (below)

s17(2) notice procedure: serve written notice on the respondent of intention to apply within 20 business days of the due date. They get 5 business days to provide a schedule. If no schedule arrives in that window, you have 10 business days from the end of that 5-day period to lodge.

Missing any window extinguishes the right to adjudicate for that reference date period.

The day the payment schedule arrives

Open your calendar and set three reminders:

• Day 7 from receipt: prep the application package (3 business days of buffer).
• Day 9 from receipt: confirm lodgement with the ANA and service on the respondent.
• Day 10 from receipt: hard deadline. After this, the right to adjudicate this period is gone.

Business days exclude weekends, public holidays, and 27 to 31 December. Time counts from the day after service, not the service date itself.

What goes in the application package

The application must be in writing, lodged with the ANA within the window, served on the respondent at the same time, and accompanied by the ANA’s application fee. Required attachments (verified 2026-05-15, NSW Government, Applying for adjudication):

Document	Where it comes from	Common builder gotcha
Copy of the payment claim	Your records	Must include the statutory endorsement; reference date must be valid
Copy of the payment schedule (if served)	Respondent’s records	Use the version they served, not your summary of it
Copy of the contract	Signed contract or correspondence chain	If contract-by-email, attach the full chain, not just the latest message
Supporting submissions	Drafted by claimant	Your “why the scheduled amount should be more” argument with evidence
Records of work completed	Site records	Progress photos, variations, delivery dockets, signed practical completion certificates
Supporting statement (head contractors only)	Your records	Required under s13(7); declares all subcontractors have been paid
ANA application form	ANA’s website	Identifies parties, claim value, contract details
ANA application fee	Paid to the ANA	Varies by ANA and claim value; non-refundable if you withdraw

The application must also formally request the nomination of an adjudicator.

Choose an ANA and lodge

Seven Authorised Nominating Authorities are approved in NSW as at May 2026: Adjudicate Today, Australian Building & Construction Dispute Resolution Service, Australian Solutions Centre, Expert Adjudication, MBA NSW, Resolution Institute, and Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Dispute Resolution Service. Each has its own application form, application fee, and adjudicator pool. Compare fee schedules before lodging (verified 2026-05-15, NSW Government, Authorised nominating authorities).

Lodge through whichever portal the chosen ANA operates. Most accept online lodgement; some accept email. Save a receipt or acknowledgement.

Serve the respondent at the same time

The application must be served on the respondent at the same time it is lodged with the ANA. This is non-negotiable. Same-day service via the contract’s notice clause (usually email plus post) is the standard. Keep proof of service for each method used.

Lodging with the ANA but not serving the respondent (or vice versa) is a procedural defect that the respondent may use later to challenge jurisdiction in court.

Common application rejections

These cause an ANA bounce or set up a jurisdictional challenge later:

• Missing statutory endorsement on the underlying payment claim (“This is a payment claim made under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 1999”)
• Payment claim served before the reference date for that period
• Missing supporting statement where the claimant is a head contractor
• Stale claim: payment claim served more than 12 months after work was last performed
• Wrong respondent: the application names a party with whom there is no direct contract
• Late lodgement: filed after the 10 or 20-business-day window or after the s17(2) chain ran out
• Application not served on respondent the same day it is lodged

Head contractor extra: the supporting statement

If you’re a head contractor claiming from the principal (owner-developer), s13(7) requires a supporting statement declaring all subcontractors have been paid everything due up to the date of the payment claim. A false supporting statement is a strict-liability offence: maximum penalty 1,000 penalty units for a corporation, or 200 penalty units (or 3 months imprisonment) for an individual (verified 2026-05-15, NSW Government, Authorised nominating authorities).

Build the supporting statement from your accounts. Don’t sign it from memory.

After lodgement

The ANA appoints an adjudicator within 4 business days. If you don’t receive notice of acceptance within 4 business days, you can withdraw under s26(1)(a) and re-lodge with a different ANA.

The respondent then has the longer of 5 business days after receiving the application or 2 business days after receiving notice of the adjudicator’s acceptance to lodge a response, and only if they had served a valid payment schedule. See adjudication under SOPA: the full process for what happens through the determination.

When to call a solicitor first

Complex contract chains, prior disputed reference dates, or claims over $50,000 typically justify a brief solicitor review before lodging. See builder’s solicitor: when to engage one. Adjudicator and ANA fees aren’t recoverable if the application is dismissed for a procedural defect, so a 1-hour review can save 5-figure costs.

Try it

Coming soon: a Chalkline app that assembles the application package, runs the s17 pathway logic against your dates, and flags missing documents.

Related

• Adjudication under SOPA: the full process
• Security of Payment Act NSW: how to use it
• Progress claims
• Authorised Nominating Authority (ANA)
• Reference date

See also

• Adjudication
• Security of Payment Act VIC
• Security of Payment Act SA
• Builder’s solicitor: when to engage one

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Last updated: 2026-05-15. Verified: 2026-05-15.