The construction industry has always been plagued with late payments, especially for smaller businesses who are sometimes at the whim of larger contractors.
These delays, along with increasing more expensive raw materials, can have a huge impact on a business cashflow. In fact, a recent report showed that 350 construction business went under in March 2026 alone.
What can you do? As an individual company there isn’t a great deal, however The Small Business Protection Bill has been created to attempt to crack down on late payments. The bill introduces the following measures:
- The new bill has been introduced to back small businesses with the toughest late payment regime in the G7.
- New and stronger powers for the Small Business Commissioner to investigate, adjudicate disputes and fine those persist late payers.
- A new 60-day cap on payments terms for large firms, mandatory interest on late payments and action to ban the practice of retention.
The new powers and legislation give companies far great powers to chase late payers and enforce payments terms.
If you’re a small business, there are ways you can be proactive to help to reduce payment delays:
Enforce the 60-day payment cap.
- Claim the mandatory interest on late payments.
- Demand the full fees and accepting any retentions that are now banned.
- Escalate the disputes to the commissioner when all other routes are exhausted.
If you’d like more information on the new bill, or on how to enforce it, please get in touch with us.
