Only 6% of specialist contractors get paid within 30 days on public sector contracts according to the latest survey from trade campaigner StreetwiseSubbie.com.
The third annual survey by StreetwiseSubbie.com has revealed that the government’s 30 day
payment target on publicly funded projects is not being seen. The survey reveals that 94.9% of
specialist contractors are being paid in excess of 30 days and that 4.7% have to wait longer than 90 days.
The survey also showed that there are similar issues on private sector construction projects, albeit
slightly better, with around 11% of specialist contractors being paid in 30 days whilst a staggering
23.5% had to endure payments longer than 60 days.
The survey also reports that special contractors have little opportunity to challenge payment terms: “When payment terms are questioned by subbies, the contractors often adopts a ‘take it or leave it’ attitude, resulting in 61% of respondents saying they were unable to challenge payment terms.
“The bigger the Contractor the less likely to get better payment terms, take it or don’t do the job” is typical of the responses we received.”
The survey was undertaken by 216 specialist contracting businesses, and 78% of those who responded are firms with a turnover in excess of £1 million and some 14% are in the £5 million plus bracket.
SpecFinish reported last month that new procurement regulations will be introduced later this year requiring public bodies to drive 30-day payment through the supply chain.
