They won’t pay because their customer hasn’t paid.

Your invoice is tied to someone else's delay

An electrical subcontractor asks about an overdue account. The builder says the owner has not paid its progress claim and everyone must wait. The electrician has no contract with that owner and cannot verify when funds might arrive. It needs to understand its own payment rights and avoid building its cash plan around another party's dispute.

Identify the explanation and the claimed condition

Ask whether the builder is describing a cash shortage or relying on a particular contractual clause. Request the wording it says connects your payment to its receipt. Those are different positions.

Keep the statement and your agreement together. Do not assume an upstream delay automatically changes the date in your own contract.

Have the relevant rules checked

Payment terms and construction laws require jurisdiction-specific assessment. Give an adviser the job location, contract, claim and response. Avoid applying a rule remembered from another state or another type of contract.

Business.gov.au advises checking payment conditions and relevant state building requirements. The practical task is to establish your position without waiting for the owner-builder dispute to be resolved.

Source: business.gov.au - What to do when you have not been paid

Assess any voluntary accommodation

If you consider a short extension, ask what supports the proposed date and whether part-payment is available. Record the commercial reason for accommodating the builder and the exposure it creates for you.

Obtain advice on rights and deadlines before agreeing. A helpful conversation should not accidentally become an open-ended promise never to pursue the account.

Plan independently of the upstream receipt

Show the amount as uncertain in your cash forecast and identify your own upcoming commitments. Review additional work and credit against the agreement, rather than automatically increasing exposure.

Choose a review date and a supported next step. If the builder's inability to pay appears broader, seek appropriate recovery or insolvency-related advice instead of relying on repeated reports about the owner.

Check your contract, not only their explanation

Request the clause or basis relied upon and obtain jurisdiction-specific advice.

Document any accommodation and plan your obligations without assuming the upstream payment will arrive.

Call CRP today about debt recovery and coordinating the appropriate professional support.

Source: business.gov.au - Prepare a contract