The payment claim process under the Construction Contracts Act 2002

The Construction Contracts Act 2002 (Act) governs all construction contracts that relate to the carrying out of construction work in New Zealand, whether the contract is in writing, verbal, or a mixture of both, and whether it is for commercial or residential construction.

Terms of payment

The Act allows the parties to the construction contract (the principal and the contractor) to agree on express terms for payment of the construction work. This can include a mechanism for determining the number of payments under the contract, the interval between them, the amount, and the due date of each payment. The parties to a construction contract may even expressly agree to the construction work being paid by a single payment.