Government of Saskatchewan has introduced legislation to better protect and define the rights and obligations of owners, developers, contractors and subcontractors.
The Builders’ Lien (Prompt Payment) Amendment Act, 2018 will create a payment process to establish reasonable timelines for providing payment for construction projects.  It will also establish an interim adjudication process that can be used in addition to arbitration and litigation.
“While The Builder’s Lien Act was meant to balance the needs of contractors and their customers, over time it has become apparent there is some room for improvement,” Justice Minister and Attorney General Don Morgan said.  “This legislation provides a robust set of timelines to ensure payments are made by owners and developers to contractors, and by contractors to subcontractors, in a timely manner.” Under the proposed legislation, owners and developers will be required to provide payment within 28 days of receiving a proper invoice for construction services.  Contractors will be required to provide payment to subcontractors within seven days of receiving a payment from the owner or developer.

Under this new legislation, the person required to provide payment can also dispute the payment through the interim adjudication process if they feel an invoice is inaccurate.  By providing a more robust process and clearer guidelines, government hopes to reduce the number of payment delay cases that end up in court.