New Prompt Payment Toolkit and Resource Centre

Posted on May 10th, 2023 in Construction & Real Estate

close up of women making a payment with her phone. The man holding the debit machine is a contractor, wearing overalls.

Prompt payment and adjudication are processes provided under Ontario’s Construction Act to help contractors to get paid on time. Prompt payment legislates mandatory timelines for payment and adjudication. It is a dispute resolution process that allows a contractor or subcontractor to enforce claims for payment in a more efficient and less expensive way than going through the court system.

To further support the process, the Council of Ontario Construction Associations (COCA) recently launched a Prompt Payment and Adjudication Toolkit as an online resource centre.

The Prompt Payment and Adjudication Toolkit features downloadable documents with clear, concise information for owners, contractors, and subcontractors alike. Prompt Payment Adjudication 101, provides an overview of the act in layman’s terms, covering information about holdbacks and proper invoicing. The webpage also has a prompt payment webinar and links to government resources.

The intention of the resource centre is to get contractors and owners familiar with the legislation so that they can create their own internal processes and easily access the tools if and when there is a dispute over payment. The online resource centre is intended to provide information and should not be considered legal advice. We encourage those with further questions to contact a lawyer.

For more information and to access the toolkit, please visit: https://www.coca.on.ca/advocacy-prompt-payment/