Construction Act 1996

The deadline that costs most is the one nobody counted

Miss a pay-less notice and the sum applied for becomes the sum due. Not the sum you valued. The sum they asked for. QScope counts the days so that never turns on someone being on holiday.

30 days free · No card required · Every feature on every plan

Four dates, from one due date

The Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 sets the payment timetable, and the contract form sets the day counts within it. Get the form wrong and every date after it is wrong.

Enter the due date once. QScope returns the whole sequence and recalculates it if the due date moves.

  • JCT SBC and DB, JCT IC and MW, NEC3 and NEC4, and the Scheme
  • Weekends and UK bank holidays excluded automatically
  • Bespoke payment period supported where the contract sets its own
  • Dates printed on the certificate, not just shown on screen
Payment
Statutory dates, JCT SBC/DB
Due date15 Aug 2026
Last date for payment notice due + 520 Aug 2026
Last date for a pay-less notice final - 524 Aug 2026
Final date for payment due + 1429 Aug 2026
Scheme applies instead17 and 7 days
NEC3 or NEC414 and 7 days

Every live project on one screen

A single job is easy to keep in your head. Nine jobs across three surveyors is where notices go missing, and it is never the project you were thinking about.

The project list carries a deadline panel that sorts by urgency, so the job in trouble reaches you rather than waiting to be found.

  • Sorted by what is closest, not by project name
  • Overdue shown separately from approaching
  • Counts the days as of today, every time you open it
  • Straight through to the certificate that needs issuing
All projects
Payment deadlines
ProjectDateStatus
11 Essex Road, pay-less24 Aug4 days
Mill Lane, payment notice21 AugOverdue
Corn Exchange, final date2 Sep13 days
Bridge Works, pay-less9 Sep20 days
Questions

What surveyors ask before they start

Which contract forms are supported?

JCT SBC and Design and Build, JCT Intermediate and Minor Works, NEC3 and NEC4 ECC, and the Scheme for Construction Contracts. Each carries its own day counts for the final date for payment and the pay-less notice.

Does it handle bank holidays?

Yes. The calculation excludes weekends and UK bank holidays, which is where hand counting usually goes wrong, particularly around Easter and the August bank holiday.

What if our contract sets a different payment period?

Enter it in the project settings and QScope uses your figure instead of the default for the contract form. The pay-less deadline is then counted back from your final date for payment.

Is this legal advice?

No. QScope calculates dates from the figures and contract form you enter. It does not check that the form you selected is the one that actually applies, and the notices you issue remain your professional responsibility.

Related

The rest of the commercial picture

Try it on your next valuation

Not your whole portfolio. One live job, one certificate. If it does not save you time the first time you use it, walk away and take your data with you.