Alberta's Prompt Payment And Construction Lien Act Passes Second Reading

Bill 37, known as the Builders' Lien (Prompt Payment) Amendment Act, 2020, passed second reading on Oct. 28, 2020, following two days of debate. The proposed amendments to Alberta's current Builders' Lien Act focus primarily on new prompt payment rules and adjudication of disputes. The debate identified a number of issues that have been left undefined by the proposed amendments.

Details of adjudication process

A number of the members of the Legislative Assembly focused on the fact that much of the detail surrounding the adjudication process is not included in the amendments to the statute and has been left to be addressed in the regulations. The proposed amendments do not, for example, set out who will be responsible for the cost of the adjudication process or how much it will cost. Members fear that those costs may approximate the cost of a private arbitration, which could make the adjudication process prohibitively expensive for some contractors.