REGINA -- According to the Saskatchewan Construction Association, contractors working in residential construction will not be exempt from prompt payment legislation when it comes into effect on April 1, 2021.
If a contract does not specify anything different, developers can invoice main contractors every month and get payed 28 days after submitting the invoice. Sub-contractors have 35 days to pay. If no payment is made in that time, the legislation allows for a fast moving adjudication process in order to force payment.
“Now those contractors have a remedy through this legislation to do something about it earlier in the process so that everybody doesn’t end up on the hook for lots of money. So it protects contractors, it protects homeowners and it creates a level playing field across the industry which we have never had before,” Saskatchewan Construction Association President Mark Cooper said.
Residential construction was not originally expected to be included in the prompt payment legislation.
Cooper said the mining sector, SaskPower electricity related work and engineers, architects, and land surveyors are all exempt from the legislation.
“As an association we would prefer to see no exemptions and we’ll continue to push to move in that direction, but today we’re really just excited to see there won’t be an exemption for the residential sector,” Cooper said.
CTV News Regina has reached out to the provincial government for comment.
