Payment Dates Calculator
Work out the deadlines in one payment cycle, from the due date to the final date for payment, with the working shown.
Updated: . By Jack Butler-Kettle, Construction Claims Consultant.
Enter one payment cycle to see its deadlines. Where your subcontract is silent, the dates follow the Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998.
If you are not paid, you may be able to suspend work, which means stopping until you are paid. The earliest date follows section 112 of the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996.
Work out the dates
The dates
Enter the dates above. The deadlines and their working appear here.
Under the Act and the Scheme, a period starts the day after its date and leaves out Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays. Weekends still count.
Periods your subcontract sets are counted the way you choose above. The notice to suspend work always follows the Act’s rule.
These dates are for guidance only. They do not say whether a notice was valid or arrived in time. Check them against your own subcontract.
How the dates are worked out
Where your subcontract is silent, the Scheme sets the payment dates.
The due date is 7 days after the payment period ends, or the day you make your claim if later (paragraph 4). Your claim is your written application, stating the sum and how you worked it out (paragraph 12). Where the subcontract sets no payment period, the Scheme uses 28 days.
Your main contractor sends its Payment Notice within 5 days after the due date, stating the sum it thinks is due (paragraph 9).
The final date for payment is 17 days after the due date (paragraph 8). It is the last day your main contractor can pay without being late.
A Pay Less Notice must arrive no later than 7 days before the final date for payment (paragraph 10). It tells you that your main contractor intends to pay less than the sum due.
Section 116 of the Act sets how days are counted. A period starts the day after its date, and leaves out Christmas Day, Good Friday and bank holidays. Weekends still count. We apply it to the Scheme's periods, because the Scheme applies through the Act (section 114), and to your notice to suspend work. We count the periods your subcontract sets the way your subcontract says.
If the sum due is not paid by the final date, section 112 lets you suspend work. First you must give at least 7 days' written notice of your intention, stating your grounds. The earliest date shown assumes you give that notice the day after the final date.
Bank holidays come from the Government's list of UK bank holidays for 2025 to 2028, checked on 26 September 2026. Pick the part of the UK the job is in.
Scotland has its own Scheme. For Scotland, the Scheme dates shown are the England and Wales Scheme's, counted with Scottish bank holidays. Northern Ireland has its own law and its own way of counting days, so there we count only the periods your subcontract sets.
The dates are guidance only. They do not say whether a notice was valid or arrived in time. That depends on your subcontract and how the notice was sent. If you are unsure which rules apply to you, ask your solicitor.
Sources
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/649, Schedule, Part II (Payment). legislation.gov.uk.
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, s 112 (Right to suspend performance for non-payment). legislation.gov.uk.
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/649, Schedule, Part II, para 4 (Dates for payment). legislation.gov.uk.
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/649, Schedule, Part II, para 12 (Interpretation). legislation.gov.uk.
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/649, Schedule, Part II, para 9 (Payment notice). legislation.gov.uk.
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/649, Schedule, Part II, para 8 (Final date for payment). legislation.gov.uk.
- Scheme for Construction Contracts (England and Wales) Regulations 1998, SI 1998/649, Schedule, Part II, para 10 (Notice of intention to pay less than the notified sum). legislation.gov.uk.
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, s 116 (Reckoning periods of time). legislation.gov.uk.
- Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996, s 114 (The Scheme for Construction Contracts). legislation.gov.uk.
- UK bank holidays (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). GOV.UK.
If this is happening to you
Find the claim that fits, and the services that deal with it.
I've been underpaid. We value the shortfall and challenge unsupported reductions. See Underpayment Claim.
I haven't been paid. We check what is due and pursue overdue payments. See Late Payment Claim.