Streamline and standardise payment claims in compliance with the CCA.
VIDEO GUIDE
OVERVIEW
The payment claims process is designed to support timely and consistent payments under the Construction Contracts Act. PayLab simplifies this process by standardising and digitising payment claims - ensuring compliance, improving transparency, and enhancing financial visibility.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the steps to make a payment claim using PayLab.
PayLab enables clients to approve your Claims regardless of whether or not they have a PayLab account themselves. Here's a link on how to invite your Subcontractor or Client to PayLab.
Want to read ahead? click on the links below to skip to that section"
- Make A Claim
- Claim Details
- Last Period Amount
- Base Contract
- Variations
- Materials
- Summary
- Notes/Comments
- Review and Submit Claim
MAKE A CLAIM
By selecting your Project from the list of on the Projects page, you should arrive at the Project Overview page. In the Project Summary section, select the Make A Claim button.
You can also Make A Claim from when you are viewing a Contract.
CLAIM DETAILS
Fill these details in as appropriate - your client may give you a Claim Reference, otherwise we recommend a sequential one with unique identifier for each job.
You will need the following information prior to claiming:
- Claim Reference
- Claim Period - dates you are claiming for
- Due Date for Claim - check with client to see when their claims are due
- Due Date for Payment
- Percentage of work that has been done during the claim period
The Claim Reference and all dates under the Claim Period will automatically be set but can still be adjusted if needed. The Practical Completion Date and Defects Liability Period cannot be changed in the Make a Claim page. These will have to be edited in the Contract page under the Retentions section.
LAST PERIOD AMOUNT
Progress claims in construction contracts are cumulative, meaning each claim builds upon the last. To ensure your claim reflects only the new work completed this period, you need to select the correct amount to deduct from the total to date.
You must select an option to ensure your progress claim is accurate and reflects the correct amount payable for this period.
The available options are as follows:
- Previously Approved Amount - This period's claim will be calculated by deducting the previous approved amount from the claimed date amount (recommended).
- Previously Claimed Amount - This period's claim will be calculated by deducting the previous claim amount from the claimed date amount. Use this if the last payment schedule is missing or incorrect.
- Custom Amount - Enter a custom amount to deduct from the Claimer amount to date. This should be amount that the other party has already paid, or agreed to pay.
Once you have chosen the appropriate option, click Continue.
BASE CONTRACT
Simply add in the amount of work completed, that is what you're claiming for this month, for each Line Item.
Claims are cumulative. Each month, add to either of the options available. Click here to read more.
For example: in Month 1 you claim 10% of Line Item 1
In Month 2 you complete another 15% of Line Item 1. Here your claim for the second month on that line item should be at 25%.
Understanding your options:
To claim against your base contract, you have 3 options available to add values.
- Claim to Date (%/Qty) - Enter the percentage or cumulative value of this months claim here.
- Claim to Date ($) - Enter the total cost of the line item to date here.
- This Claim - Enter this months cost of the line item.
*Note: once a value has been added to an option, it will automatically calculate and populate the other options available.
The Parent Line Item (the overall total) will automatically calculate a percentage based on the items below it. By clicking on the Line Item, You are able to see a more detailed description of the item. This includes Previous Claims History, detailed description, Qty, rate as well as the option to Exclude From Retention.
At any point you can add comments by pressing the pen icon on the right of each line item under the Net column. Comments can be set to only appear visible to members within your organisation or visible to other parties.
VARIATIONS
These should appear automatically according to the Variations you've already added to the Base Contract (Refer here to learn how). You just need to apply the completion percentages here also.
MATERIALS
These should appear automatically according to the Materials you've already added to the Base Contract (Refer here to learn how). In this case you will need to input a specific value for each material you want to claim for.
SUMMARY
This part shows a summary of the projects money to date. Values shown are for the last period, amount claimed to date, and amount claimed this month.
If Retentions have been set up for this Contract, you will also notice there is a checkbox for Claim Retention Release. If you check this box you will be able input a partial amount or the full amount of the Practical Completion Retention Release and/or Defects Liability Retention Release.
Retentions are usually released once work is completed, defects have been rectified, and any outstanding disputes have been resolved. This may vary depending on the agreed terms of the contract.
NOTES/COMMENTS
Add any notes you would like to the Claim, Internal Notes will only be visible to your team while External Notes will be attached to the Claim you send out to be approved.
You can also Save your claim draft at any point and come back to finish it later by clicking Save at the bottom of the claim drafting page.
By clicking the green Next > button you will be taken to the final stages of making a Claim.
REVIEW AND SUBMIT CLAIM
On this page is where you should do a final review of your claim and ensure everything looks right.
If you prefer, you can preview what the Payment Claim (.pdf ) will look like with the Preview PDF button at the bottom. If you spot any errors, just hit back or Revert to Draft Status to go back and fix it.
You can attach any relevant Additional Documents related to your Claim by clicking the pen icon located at the top right. Attachments can be selected directly from your device, or you may conveniently drag and drop them into the designated area.
If an Approval Workflow has been established for this Contract, the designated Approvers will need to review the drafted Claim and provide their approval. Should you wish to include the approval history in the Payment Claim (.pdf), you can do so by checking the option to Attach history to PDF.
Once all necessary steps are completed, you can proceed to issue the claim to be approved with a Payment Schedule by clicking the Issue Claim button at the bottom right. This action will send an email notification to the Approver, prompting them to review and approve your Claim with a Payment Schedule.
Have you been invited to Approve a claim instead? Please feel free to check out our next article on becoming an Approver.