Pay Less Notice Received? What to Do in the Next 7 Days
The short answer
Check the date first. A pay less notice must arrive before the deadline in your contract (under the statutory Scheme, at least 7 days before the final date for payment) and state the sum and how it was worked out. Late or empty, it's not valid and the notified sum is due.
- Check the date and the content. Under the Scheme, a pay less notice must be given at least 7 days before the final date for payment, and state the sum and how it was calculated.
- Late or missing = the notified sum is due. Without a valid pay less notice, the payer must pay the sum in the payment notice, or your application if they sent no payment notice.
- Valid but wrong? They pay the lower sum on time; you challenge the valuation with backup, in your next application or through adjudication.
- Two levers if it isn't paid: suspension after 7 days' written notice, and adjudication, with a decision in 28 days from referral.
A pay less notice lands in your inbox two days before payday. The number is half what you applied for, and there's a line saying "valued as per site measure". Cash for wages is now short.
We sit on the other side of this. Craftex runs subcontract packages as a main contractor, so our commercial team values subcontractor applications and answers them with notices. Here is what we would check if one of ours landed on your desk. To go through your notice with our team, book a free strategy call.
This is general information from a contractor's experience, not legal or financial advice. For your situation, speak to a construction solicitor or a quantity surveyor.
The first 24 hours: 5 checks on the notice
Don't reply yet. Get your contract, your application and the notice side by side, and check these five things.
| Check | What to look for | If it fails |
|---|---|---|
| 1. On time? | Arrived before the deadline in your contract. Under the Scheme: at least 7 days before the final date for payment | Not a valid pay less notice: the notified sum is due |
| 2. Sum stated? | The amount they say is due (it can be zero) | Not a valid pay less notice |
| 3. Basis given? | How the sum was calculated: measures, rates, deductions | Weak notice: ask for the workings in writing |
| 4. Right sender? | From the person or role the contract names, to the address the contract names | Note it, take advice before relying on it |
| 5. Which payment? | Clearly tied to your application number and payment cycle | Ask which application it answers |
These rules come from the Construction Act. They apply to construction contracts with businesses, not to a contract with a homeowner for work on the home they live in.
Pay less notice received: work out your dates
Most disputes about notices are really disputes about dates. Your contract sets them. If it doesn't, the statutory Scheme fills the gap.
| Date | Under the Scheme (if your contract is silent) |
|---|---|
| Valuation period | 28 days by default |
| Payment due date | 7 days after the end of the period, or when you apply, whichever is later |
| Payment notice deadline | No later than 5 days after the due date |
| Final date for payment | 17 days after the due date |
| Pay less notice deadline | At least 7 days before the final date for payment |
JCT and NEC subcontracts set their own periods. Use the ones in your contract; the Scheme is only the fall-back. If your subcontract says you're paid only once the main contractor is paid, that pay when paid clause usually doesn't hold.
Problems like this usually trace back to cash and contracts. Take the free 4-minute Construction Business Scorecard: 18 questions on your pipeline, sales, pricing, cash flow and systems, with your weakest area shown first.
If the notice is late, missing or empty
The law is simple here. To pay less than the notified sum, the payer needs a valid pay less notice, on time, stating the sum and the basis.
- No payment notice either? On a Construction Act contract you can send your own notice of the sum due. Where the contract treats your application as the payment notice, your application sum is the notified sum.
- Late pay less notice? It doesn't count. The notified sum must be paid by the final date.
- A number with no workings? Ask for the calculation in writing the same day.
Send a short, dated letter. Don't argue the valuation yet. Just put the dates on record.
Subject: Application [no.] — [project] — notice received [date]
We received your notice dated [date] on [date] in respect of our application [no.] for £[x]. Under the subcontract the final date for payment is [date], so a notice of intention to pay less had to be given by [date]. Your notice was received after that date [or: does not state the basis on which the sum was calculated]. We therefore consider the notified sum of £[x] payable by [final date]. Please confirm payment. We reserve our rights, including to suspend performance and to refer the matter to adjudication.
Replying with an angry phone call and nothing in writing. If this goes to an adjudicator, only dated documents count.
Got a pay less notice this week?
Book a free call and we'll look at the dates and paperwork with you.
If the notice is valid but the valuation is wrong
A valid notice means the payer pays the lower sum on time. You don't get the full application just because you disagree. Your job now is to prove the value.
- Ask for their measure, line by line, and compare it with yours. If the cut is a list of back charges, use our contra charges plan.
- Send your backup: marked-up drawings, dated photos, delivery notes, signed variation instructions.
- Meet on site with the QS or package manager and walk the disputed areas.
- Carry the difference into your next application with the backup attached.
- Adjudicate if a large sum stays stuck. You can refer a dispute at any time. The adjudicator decides within 28 days of referral (extendable by up to 14 days with your consent). Check what adjudication costs first.
If the money still doesn't arrive
Whatever the sum due is, valid notice or not, it has to be paid by the final date. If it isn't, you have two statutory levers.
| Lever | What it does | How | Watch out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Suspension | Stops some or all of your work until paid in full | At least 7 days' written notice, stating the grounds | Get the notice right; you're entitled to reasonable costs of suspending and the time back |
| Adjudication | A binding decision on what's due | Notice of adjudication, referral within 7 days, decision in 28 days | Costs money and time; worth it for sums that matter |
| Statutory interest | Interest on late payment between businesses | Base rate + 8%, plus £40–£100 per invoice | Your contract may set a different rate |
Make your next application hard to cut
You can't stop every pay less notice. You can make yours rare and small. Our guide shows how to write a payment application, step by step, with an example.
This is how the commercial side works on Craftex projects, and what our commercial management service runs for contractors. To fix your applications and payment terms, book a free strategy call.
- On the right day, to the right person, in the form the contract asks for. Diarise every date for the whole job.
- Measured backup with every application: quantities, marked drawings, dated photos.
- Variations signed before you do them, then priced in the next application.
- One running account per package, so every application builds on the last.
Joe Crawford, Craftex's Commercial Director, has 37+ years in commercial construction. "Firm with clients, fair with subcontractors" is how we put it on our services page, and it starts with paperwork both sides can check.
The Cash Flow & Margin Blueprint
Payment terms, the UK rules that hit your cash, and a fill-in payment schedule.
Get the free guideWant applications that get paid in full, every month?
Book a free strategy call.
Before your next application goes in
This is general information on the rules in England and Wales as of October 2026, not legal advice. For a large or disputed sum, speak to a construction solicitor.
Before you go
- Every payment date for the job is in your diary
- Each application has measures, photos and signed variations attached
- You check every notice for date, sum and basis the day it arrives
- You reply in writing and keep the dates on record
- You know when to suspend and when to adjudicate
