WA’s Security of Payment regime is set by the Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA). This is a short, plain-English orientation — not legal advice, and not a substitute for the Act itself or qualified advice.
The lead Act in WA
In WA, progress-payment rights are governed by the Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA).
- Western Australia historically ran the “West Coast” model under the Construction Contracts Act 2004 (WA), which focused on implied and prohibited contract terms rather than a fast payment-claim process.
- The Building and Construction Industry (Security of Payment) Act 2021 (WA) moves the state toward the East Coast payment-claim / payment-schedule / adjudication structure, and introduces retention-trust and other protections.
- Because the regime has been phased in and transitional arrangements apply, confirm which Act governs your contract and its current requirements before acting.
The process, in short
Like the rest of the East Coast model, the process runs from a payment claim, to a payment schedule in reply, to adjudication if the claim is short-paid or unanswered, and then to enforcement of the adjudicated amount. The specific timeframes and requirements are set by this state’s Act — each is a defined number of business days that varies by jurisdiction, so confirm the current Act rather than relying on a number from elsewhere.
Where it leaves trades exposed
The statutory right is powerful but reactive: you invoke it after the work is done and the money is already at risk, on strict timeframes, and a winning determination is worth little if the payer is insolvent. Milestone escrow addresses the same problem from the other end — ring-fencing each stage’s payment before the work starts. It complements the statutory regime; it does not replace it.