Resources · Progress claims
The progress claim checklist,
usable straight off this page.
Everything a residential progress claim needs before it goes to the client, the contents, the evidence, the GST line and the statutory diary step, laid out as a working checklist rather than a lecture. Run a live claim against it item by item. The thinking behind each item lives in the linked references, and the state-specific rules carry their usual caveat, confirm the current position where the job is.
01 / How to use this
A checklist, not a template
This resource is deliberately a checklist rather than a downloadable form. The stage names, amounts and terms on a real claim come from your contract's claim schedule, and the statutory overlay differs by state, so a universal template would be quietly wrong somewhere. What holds nationally is what a clean claim contains, what rides with it, and what gets diarised the day it is served. That is what is below, in the order you would work through it on a live claim.
The mechanics behind each item are covered in the progress claims reference, the step-by-step process in the progress claims guide, and the statutory layer in the security of payment by state lookup. Everything here is general information, not legal or tax advice.
02 / The claim itself
What a compliant claim contains
Work down the list. A claim that can tick every line is ready for the client; a claim that cannot is not ready, whatever the calendar says.
- The parties and the contract. Builder and client names as they appear on the contract, the contract date or reference, and the job address. The claim should be traceable to its contract by anyone who picks it up.
- A claim number and a claim date. Sequential per job, dated the day it is served. The date matters more than it looks, it is what the contractual terms and any statutory clock run from.
- The stage, named as the contract names it. Claim the stage in the claim schedule's own words, base, frame, lock-up, fixing, practical completion or as your contract defines them, and only once the stage meets its contract definition, not the site's feel of nearly done.
- The stage amount from the claim schedule. The amount or percentage the contract fixed for the stage. The claim collects what the contract fixed, and a number that does not reconcile to the schedule invites the query that stalls payment.
- Approved variations, itemised. Every approved variation that belongs with the stage, each with its own line, description, reference to the signed paperwork and amount. Variations left off a claim are revenue delivered and never billed; unapproved variations on a claim are disputes on order.
- Any adjustments and credits. Prime cost and provisional sum adjustments, credits owed, and anything else the contract requires to be brought to account at this point, each shown as its own line rather than netted invisibly.
- The GST line. The GST position shown clearly against the total. On a taxable building contract, progress payments generally carry GST; the treatment detail belongs with your accountant, and the checklist item is that the claim shows it rather than leaving it implied.
- The total and the due date. The amount claimed, and when it falls due under the contract's payment terms, stated on the claim rather than left for the client to calculate.
- Claim-to-date figures where the contract uses them. On percentage-of-completion contracts, the value complete to date, less amounts previously claimed, so the arithmetic to this claim's figure is on the page.
03 / The evidence pack
What rides with the claim
The evidence is assembled during the stage, not hunted at claim time. It is what turns approval from a negotiation into a formality.
Stage photos
Dated photos showing the stage complete against its contract definition, wide shots for context and close shots for the items the definition names. Taken during the stage, not reconstructed from a phone roll at claim time.
Inspection records and certificates
The inspection result, certificate or compliance record that marks the stage boundary where one applies, frame inspection, waterproofing certificate, or the record the contract or the certifier requires at that point.
Variation paperwork
The signed variation document for every variation amount on the claim, the description, the price and the client’s approval, dated before the work was done. An unsigned variation on a claim is an invitation to dispute the whole claim.
The claim schedule reference
The contract’s claim schedule entry the claim is made under, so the client can reconcile the amount against what was signed without asking. The claim that answers its own questions is the claim that gets approved in days.
04 / The sequence
From stage complete to money in
Six steps, in order. The diary step in the middle is the one that decides disputes before they start.
- 01
Assemble the claim the day the stage completes
Stage value from the claim schedule, plus every approved variation that belongs with the stage. Claims batched to month-end hand the client weeks of free credit on work already done.
- 02
Run the checklist above
Every content item present, every evidence item attached. A claim that fails an item is not ready, and submitting it early usually costs more days in queries than finishing it would have.
- 03
Submit for approval and record the date
Present the claim so the client can see what the stage covers, what each variation was and what the total is. The submission date matters, it starts the clocks, contractual and statutory, so it goes on the record.
- 04
Diary the response window
If the claim is or may be a payment claim under the security of payment Act where the job is, a response window now exists, and it differs by state. Diarise it for the specific job the day the claim is served, and do the same for any claim served on you.
- 05
Invoice on approval, with the GST treatment consistent
The approved claim becomes a tax invoice, and on most jobs the payment terms only start running from the invoice. Every day between approval and invoice is a day added to the payment cycle for nothing.
- 06
Track claimed, approved and paid
Three running positions per job. The gap between claimed and approved is a conversation to have this week; the gap between approved and paid is money to chase. Neither closes itself.
05 / The state layer
The caveats that change by state
Three parts of this checklist change depending on where the job is, and each carries the same instruction, confirm the current position for the state where the work is performed.
- The response window. Where the security of payment Act covers the work, the window for a payment schedule differs by jurisdiction and can be shortened by the contract. Whichever side of a claim you are on, the window is diarised per job, per state, the day the claim is served. The per-state windows are mapped in the security of payment by state lookup.
- Whether the scheme reaches your client at all. The owner-occupier position is the least uniform question in the regime, broadly inside the scheme in New South Wales since 2021, generally outside it in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT, threshold-dependent in Western Australia, and covered on a slower clock in Tasmania. Down the chain, between builder and trades, the schemes apply everywhere, which means the diary step matters even where the client is out of reach.
- The shape of the claim schedule itself. Domestic building contract legislation in several jurisdictions caps deposits and requires progress payments to be stated in the contract and proportionate to the work performed. That is decided when the contract is signed, but it is why a claim can only ever be as clean as the schedule behind it, and why current standard-form contracts are the simplest way to inherit a compliant structure.
The GST line carries its own version of the caveat. Progress payments on a taxable contract generally carry GST, and how the timing lands depends on the contract and the accounting setup, cash or accruals among other things. The mechanics are covered in GST and BAS for builders, and the treatment for your business belongs with your accountant against current ATO guidance.
06 / FAQ
Common questions.
A compliant residential progress claim identifies the parties, the contract and the job address, carries its own claim number and date, names the stage being claimed exactly as the contract’s claim schedule names it, and states the amount fixed for that stage. It itemises every approved variation claimed with it, each with its own description, signed approval and amount, states any credit or adjustment, shows the GST position clearly, and states the total and the due date the contract’s terms produce. Behind the numbers it carries evidence, dated photos, any inspection record or certificate marking the stage boundary, and the signed paperwork for each variation. Contract requirements and state legislation add detail on top of that core, so the contract and the current state rules always finish the list.
Not automatically, and keeping the two distinct is the cleaner practice. The progress claim is made under the contract and usually passes through the client’s approval; the tax invoice is the accounting document raised once the claim is approved, and on most residential jobs it is what starts the payment terms running. On a taxable building contract, progress payments generally carry GST, and the approved claim is typically invoiced with GST in the ordinary way. The timing detail around deposits, progress payments and invoicing depends on how the contract and the accounting are set up, so confirm the treatment for your contracts with your accountant against current ATO guidance.
Enough for the client to see the stage is complete without visiting site, which in practice means four things. Dated photos showing the work the stage definition names. The inspection record or certificate where one marks the stage boundary, such as a frame inspection or a waterproofing certificate. The signed variation paperwork for every variation amount on the claim. And the claim schedule reference, so the amount reconciles against the contract without a phone call. Claims that carry their evidence get approved in days; claims that arrive as a bare number invite the query that stalls the money.
Where security of payment legislation covers the work, a served payment claim starts a statutory clock: the respondent has a fixed window to serve a payment schedule stating what they will pay and every reason for paying less, and in most schemes missing the window can make the full claimed amount payable. The window differs by state and can be shortened by the contract, so the discipline is to diarise the specific window for the specific job on the day a claim is served, in both directions, claims you serve and claims trades serve on you. The per-state windows and the owner-occupier positions are mapped in our security of payment by state reference. General information, not legal advice, confirm the current Act for where the work is performed.
It depends on the state, and the differences are real. New South Wales repealed its owner-occupier exemption in 2021, so the scheme now reaches contracts made directly with a resident homeowner there. Victoria, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT generally keep contracts with a resident owner outside the scheme or its adjudication process, Western Australia turns on a contract-value threshold, and Tasmania covers residential work with longer response windows against a homeowner. Every one of those positions is legislative and subject to amendment, so treat this as general information and confirm the current Act for the state where the job is before planning around it. The full state-by-state lookup is in our security of payment by state reference.
Because the useful part is the checklist, not a form, and a form pretending to be universal would be wrong somewhere. The stage names, amounts and payment terms on a real claim come from your contract’s claim schedule, the statutory overlay differs by state, and standard-form contracts from HIA and Master Builders already carry claim formats maintained against each jurisdiction’s legislation. This page is built to be worked through on screen against a live claim. If assembling the pack is the part that keeps failing, that is an administration problem software genuinely solves, the claim built from the job with its evidence attached, which is what the VIABUILD progress claims feature does.
07 / Keep reading
The references behind this checklist
The knowledge nodes, guides and product pages each checklist item draws on.
Or stop assembling claims by hand.
VIABUILD builds the claim from the job, stage value, approved variations and the evidence pack together, takes it to the client for a recorded approval and turns it into an invoice without re-keying. The checklist becomes the system.