Prompt Payment and Adjudication Legislation Soon Will be Law

Bill 142 - Amendments to the Construction Lien Act - is poised to become law as it has passed the Committee stage and now awaits third and final reading, likely in the next few weeks.

The Act received a substantial overhaul with 49 amendments passed to address concerns raised, and to address unintended consequences of the original reading. The OGCA Committee, lead by Chairman Paul Raboud, was very active in providing recommendations that have now found their way into the legislation. They will greatly improve the user-friendly nature of the proposal.

Raboud presented to the Committee on November 15th and endorsed the legislation, and focused on the need to make the adjudication user-friendly and encourage behaviour change with prompt payment and parties to find their own solutions, avoiding adjudication.

The legislation will likely pass into law before the Legislature rises for its winter break on December 14th.

We anticipate a discussion soon on regulations required to implement the plan. We understand that the Lien Act modernization section will become effective in about 6 months and the Prompt Payment / Adjudication section will be implemented in 12 to 18 months.

When the Act is passed, we will produce a detailed account of the legislation.

In the New Year, OGCA will focus on educating members and the broader industry on this massive change.