Vic: Respondent Serves Payment Schedule within Time after receipt of s.18(2) Notice

If the respondent provides the payment schedule following receipt of the second opportunity [s18.(2) - optional adjudication] notice within 2 business days of receipt of the notification and the claimant accepts and is paid the full scheduled amount, the payment process under the Act is complete.

Otherwise, if the claimant:

• disagrees with the scheduled amount; or
• full payment of the scheduled amount is not made by the due date;

than the claimant may proceed to adjudication.

The adjudication application must be made within 5 business days from the date of expiry of the s.18(2) notice.*

*Note: herein lies a trap for many a claimant and their advisers.

1. If the respondent fails to pay the full scheduled amount by the due date of payment, some claimants have assumed (wrongly) that they have 10 business days from the due date of payment to make their claim. However this is not what the Act provides. The adjudication application must be made within 5 business days from the date of expiry of the s.18(2) notice.
2. This means that an adjudication application made before the expiry of the s.18(2) notice but after the payment schedule is received is invalid and will need to be resubmitted after the s.18(2) notice expires at the end of the 5 business days.

As a payment schedule has now been received, the dispute resolution process of the Act reverts to that described in the Payment Schedule Served area of the flowchart (with blue background). Please move to the next step on the Victoria flowchart being "Claimant has 10 business days to prepare & serve Adjudication Application from receipt of Payment Schedule or 5 business days after s.18(2) Notice has expired, whichever applicable".