How to avoid becoming a late payment victim

摘要

The problem of late payment is common knowledge and in the extreme it can result in insolvency and liquidation. The worst culprits are often from the largest and the most powerful client groups. All construction suppliers have statutory as well as contractual rights of timely payment. The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 (HGCRA) provides for payments to be made promptly. It does not stipulate payment periods but allows parties to agree the payment provisions and the contract to contain adequate mechanism for determining the same. In default, The Scheme for Construction Contracts applies to impose a payment period of 17 days from the due date to the final date for payment.