Getting paid as a subcontractor — how the chain actually works
A subcontractor does not get paid by the client who enjoys the work; they get paid when money has flowed down a chain — employer to main contractor to you — and each link has its own paperwork and its own delay. This guide explains the chain honestly and the habits that keep your slice of it moving.
How does the money actually flow?
Your claim joins the main contractor's own claim upward. The consultant certifies the main contractor's work — including yours inside it — the employer pays the main contractor, and the main contractor pays down. That is why your payment date often depends on events you cannot see: a certificate delayed two floors up delays everyone below it. The guide to claims and certificates covers your own submission; this one is about the links above you.
It follows that your real customer, for paperwork purposes, is the main contractor's commercial team. The claim they can process fastest is the one that drops straight into their own claim upward: measured the way they measure, valued at the rates in your subcontract, submitted before their cut-off, not after.
What does "back-to-back" or "pay when paid" mean for you?
Many subcontracts tie your payment to the main contractor being paid — the clause goes by names like back-to-back or pay-when-paid. In plain terms: their delay becomes your delay, contractually. Whether and how far such clauses can be enforced is a legal question that depends on the contract and the jurisdiction — not one this guide can settle, and a lawyer is the right spend if a large sum turns on it.
What you control is the exposure: knowing the clause exists before you sign, pricing the wait into your cash-flow plan (the retention calculator shows what the chain holds back), and keeping your own paperwork so clean that when money does move, nothing of yours is the reason it stops.
Which habits keep a subcontractor's claims moving?
Submit on the main contractor's dates, not yours — a perfect claim a day after their cut-off waits a full cycle. Measure jointly wherever you can, so quantities are agreed before they are typed. Keep variations approved in writing before the work, because unapproved extras are where chains quietly shed money. And photograph progress as you go: when a quantity is disputed two months later, the dated photo is the argument.
None of this guarantees the chain pays on time — chains wobble for reasons above your roofline. It guarantees that when it pays, you are first in the queue of the undisputed, which is the only queue that moves.
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Read →Asked often, answered straight.
Why is my payment late when my work was certified?+
Certification is one link. The employer must pay the main contractor, whose own cash and paperwork then release your payment — each link adds its own cycle, which is why subcontract payments lag the work by weeks even when everything goes right.
What is a pay-when-paid clause?+
A subcontract term tying your payment to the main contractor first being paid by the employer. Its enforceability is a legal question for your contract and jurisdiction — take advice before relying on or accepting a large exposure under one.
How can a small subcontractor protect itself?+
Know the terms before signing, submit claims in the main contractor's format before their cut-off, agree measurements jointly, get variations approved in writing, and photograph progress. Clean paperwork is what gets paid first when money moves.
Should I stop work if the chain stops paying?+
That is a contract decision with legal consequences — most subcontracts have notice procedures for suspension. Follow yours in writing rather than walking off informally, and take advice if the sum is large.