Payment dates and what each one means
Three different dates sit around every subcontractor payment claim, and in conversation all three get called "the due date". They mean different things, they are set by different people, and mixing them up is one of the most common causes of payment disputes.
This page explains what each date is, where it appears, and which parts of it FullClarity determines for you — and, just as importantly, which parts it does not.
The three dates
| Date | Who sets it | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Claimed due date | The subcontractor | The date they state payment is due, on their payment claim |
| Payment due date | You, through the subcontract | The date payment actually falls due |
| Assessment due date | The legislation and your subcontract | The date by which you must issue a payment schedule |
Claimed due date
In New Zealand, a payment claim must state a due date for payment. That statement is the subcontractor's, made on their own document.
It is a statement of their position. It does not change your payment terms. A subcontractor cannot shorten the time you have to pay by writing an earlier date on a claim.
When the subcontractor states a date, FullClarity records it as they submitted it. We do not alter it and we do not check it against your subcontract. If a New Zealand claim arrives without one, FullClarity fills it in when the claim is submitted: your payment due date where there is one, otherwise the default of 20 working days after the claim date.
Payment due date
This is the date payment actually falls due, determined by your subcontract. Where a subcontract is silent, New Zealand legislation supplies a default of 20 working days after the claim is served.
This is the date FullClarity prints as "Payment Due" on the payment schedule you issue. Never the subcontractor's claimed date — see Why we never print the subcontractor's date below.
Assessment due date
This is a different deadline entirely, and the one with the sharpest consequence. It is the date by which you must respond to the claim with a payment schedule.
Where your subcontract sets a period, that applies. Where it is silent, the New Zealand default is 20 working days after the claim is served.
If you do not issue a payment schedule in time, you can become liable for the full amount claimed — regardless of what you think the work was worth. FullClarity shows this date on the claim, and the Send Payment Schedules list counts down to it, because missing it is expensive.
How working days are counted
Where a period is expressed in working days, FullClarity counts forward from the claim date, skipping weekends and the public holidays configured for the relevant region. For New Zealand, no day from 24 December to 5 January counts either, as the Construction Contracts Act 2002 provides. For example, a claim dated Monday 5 October 2026 has a default due date of Tuesday 3 November 2026, because Labour Day (26 October) is skipped.
Different compliance models count differently. New Zealand uses 20 working days. Australian Security of Payment timeframes vary, and some states count calendar days rather than working days. FullClarity applies the rule for the compliance model recorded on the subcontract.
If your public holiday configuration is incomplete, dates will be calculated as though those days were ordinary working days. It is worth checking this at the start of each year.
Why we never print the subcontractor's date
On the payment schedule you issue, the "Payment Due" line always shows your payment due date, taken from the subcontract.
If a subcontractor states a due date earlier than your subcontract provides for — whether deliberately or by mistake — and your payment schedule repeated that date back to them, it could be read as you accepting it. Your own document would then become evidence that payment fell due earlier than it did.
If your payment due date is missing, the line is left blank. We do not substitute another date in its place. A blank is visible and can be corrected; a wrong date on a statutory document may not be noticed until it is being argued about.
If you see a blank where you expect a date, the subcontract's payment terms are the place to look.
What FullClarity does
- Records the subcontractor's claimed due date as they stated it, and fills it in on submission when a New Zealand claim has none.
- Calculates your assessment due date from the claim date, using the rule for the subcontract's compliance model and your configured public holidays.
- Shows the time remaining to respond on the Send Payment Schedules list.
- Prints your payment due date on the payment schedule.
- Keeps the three dates separate, so that reminders and reporting always refer to the date that was actually meant.
What FullClarity does not do
- We do not determine your payment terms. They come from your subcontract.
- We do not check the subcontractor's claimed due date against your subcontract, or tell you whether it is correct.
- We do not decide whether a payment claim is valid. That is your determination to make.
- We do not provide legal advice. The explanations here describe how the software behaves so that you can assess it against your own obligations. Where a date or a deadline carries consequences for your business, take your own advice.
If the dates disagree
A subcontractor's claimed due date and your payment due date can legitimately differ — most often because the subcontractor has applied different terms from those in the subcontract.
FullClarity does not resolve that difference for you. Both dates remain visible on the claim so that the difference is apparent to whoever is assessing it. If it matters, it is better addressed when the claim is assessed than after a payment is alleged to be late.