Construction Act payment dates calculator
Work out the due date, payment notice, pay less notice and final date for payment for a construction contract in England & Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland — under the Scheme or your own contract terms.
Free, no sign-in. Nothing you type is stored or sent anywhere — it's all worked out in your browser.
Enter the end of the payment period, the application date, or both.
Not legal or tax advice — check your contract. Your contract terms and the facts of your job can change the answer.
How this works
Counting days (s.116). A period starts the day after the date it runs from. Christmas Day, Good Friday and that nation's bank holidays are left out. Weekends are not left out — they count as normal days.
Under the Scheme, an interim payment becomes due on the later of 7 days after the end of the payment period and the payee's claim (para 4). The payer's payment notice is due no later than 5 days after the due date (s.110A(1), para 9). The final date for payment is 17 days after the due date (para 8(2)). A pay less notice must be given no later than 7 days before the final date (s.111(5), para 10).
If the payer misses the payment notice, the payee can give a default notice at any time after that deadline. The final date then moves back by the number of days the notice was late (s.110B).
Under your contract, enter your own due-date rule, final-date period and pay less period. You can choose whether those periods are counted the s.116 way or as plain calendar days.
Northern Ireland has the same rules in its own law: articles 9 to 10 and 15 of the Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 and Part II of the NI Scheme, for contracts entered into from 14 November 2012. Its bank holidays (17 March and 12 July) are left out when counting.
Sources
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, Part II (legislation.gov.uk)
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 1998
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2011
- Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997
- Scheme for Construction Contracts in Northern Ireland Regulations 1999
- Scheme for Construction Contracts in Northern Ireland (Amendment) Regulations 2012
- UK bank holidays (gov.uk)
FAQs
When is a payment due under the Scheme for Construction Contracts?
For interim payments, on the later of 7 days after the end of the payment period and the date the payee makes its claim (Scheme Part II para 4).
What is the final date for payment under the Scheme?
17 days after the payment becomes due, unless the contract sets its own final date (Scheme Part II para 8(2)).
When must a pay less notice be given?
No later than the period the parties agreed before the final date for payment, or 7 days before it if they didn't agree one (HGCRA s.111(5) and (7); Scheme Part II para 10).
Do weekends count under the Construction Act?
Yes. Section 116 only excludes Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays in the relevant part of the UK. Saturdays and Sundays still count.
Does this work for Northern Ireland?
Yes. Northern Ireland has the same payment rules in the Construction Contracts (Northern Ireland) Order 1997 and its own Scheme, as amended for contracts entered into from 14 November 2012. Its bank holidays, including 17 March and 12 July, are left out when counting.
What if the payer doesn't issue a payment notice?
The payee can give its own notice at any time after the payer's deadline, and the final date for payment moves back by the number of days it was late (HGCRA s.110B(2)–(3)).
Civvio works this out automatically from your contract and site records.
Upload the contract and keep your diary, and Civvio flags the dates, notices and money at risk on every job — for you to review before anything is sent.
Start free pilotMore free tools
- Late payment interest calculatorStatutory interest at 8% over the reference rate, plus the fixed-sum compensation.
- Working days calculatorDays between dates, or a date plus or minus days, for each UK nation.
- Aggregate & concrete calculatorVolumes and tonnes with waste, plus concrete truck loads.
- Pipe gradient calculatorConvert gradients, find the fall and invert levels along a run.
- OS grid reference converterGrid references, eastings/northings and lat/long, both ways.
- NEC4 compensation event timescalesTrack notification, quotation, failure-notice and assessment deadlines for an NEC4 ECC compensation event.
- CIS deduction calculatorCalculate CIS deductions at 0%, 20% or 30%, qualifying direct costs, invoice VAT and net subcontractor payment.
- VAT domestic reverse charge checkerCheck the UK construction VAT domestic reverse charge with a short CIS, VAT registration, end-user and staff-supply question flow.
- Retention calculatorCalculate construction retention, caps and staged releases, or NEC X16 retention above the retention free amount.
- Delay damages calculatorCalculate delay damages using calendar days or weeks, amended completion dates, daily or weekly rates and an optional cap.
- Levelling reduction calculatorReduce levelling readings by rise and fall or height of collimation, check arithmetic and misclosure, adjust by setup and export CSV.
- NEC X1 price adjustment calculatorCalculate NEC X1 PAF from user-entered indices, proportions and non-adjustable share, with Options A/B and C/D adjustment amounts.
- NEC weather compensation event checkerCompare monthly NEC4 ECC weather measurements with 1-in-10-year values, identify excess and check the Contract Data location and completion context.
- Adjudication timetableScheme referral, appointment, decision and correction deadlines.