When a Contractor Will Not Pay

When a contractor flatly will not pay, you usually have three remedies and they are complementary, not either-or: a builders lien (to secure the debt against the property), prompt-payment adjudication (to get a fast binding decision and the cash moving), and small claims or superior court (for a final judgment). The right move depends on whether the payer is solvent, whether your province has prompt payment, and above all on your lien deadline, which is the one clock you cannot afford to miss. The smart play is often to fire more than one remedy at once, because the lien deadline does not pause while you try the others.‍‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‍

First, decide which remedy fits

Match the remedy to your real problem.

• Reach for a lien when you need security: the payer might be insolvent, the amount is large, or you want a charge on the land and a hold on the holdback fund. The lien protects your priority even if the company above you collapses. It is available to subcontractors at every tier (see Builders Lien Basics).
• Reach for adjudication when the payer is solvent and you simply need speed: a binding determination in roughly 30 to 46 days, payable within 15. It does not stop the project and it does not give up your right to litigate later. It is only available where prompt payment is in force (see Prompt Payment Explained).
• Reach for court when you want a final, permanent judgment, the dispute is about more than a payment amount (delay, defective work, repudiation), or the other remedies have run their course. Small claims for amounts within your province's limit; superior court above it (see Chasing an Unpaid Invoice).

How the clocks interact

This is where tradespeople get hurt, so plan around it.

• The lien clock is the master deadline. It runs from your last day of supply, 30 to 90 days depending on the province, and nothing else pauses it. Adjudication does not stop it. Negotiation does not stop it. If the deadline is near, preserve the lien first and sort everything else out afterwards.
• The prompt-payment notice clock is short and brutal. If you are owed money through a contractor who was not paid by the owner, the contractor must usually issue you a notice of non-payment within 7 days of the owner's notice, or 35 days from the proper invoice. If the contractor fails to issue a valid notice, they are on the hook to pay you regardless of whether they were paid from above. That failure is often your fastest win.
• The limitation clock is the outer wall. Two years in most provinces (three in Quebec) to sue at all. It runs even while you negotiate. A written acknowledgement or part-payment can reset it.

The parallel-track strategy

On a serious non-payment, do not run the remedies one after another. Preserve the lien to lock in security, refer the dispute to adjudication (where available) to force a fast decision, and keep the court option open as the backstop. Because the lien deadline is not paused by adjudication, the only safe sequence is: protect the lien now, then pursue the fast money, then litigate if you must. Document everything as you go.

A worked path: $40,000 unpaid in Ontario

You are a subcontractor, last on site 31 May, owed $40,000, and the GC has gone silent.

1. By 15 July (60 days): preserve your lien against the property. This is non-negotiable and comes first.
2. In parallel: file a notice of adjudication with ODACC. If the GC issued no valid notice of non-payment, the determination is likely to land in your favour in about 6 weeks, payable within 15 days.
3. If still unpaid: enforce the adjudication determination as a court order, and because $40,000 is within Ontario's $50,000 small-claims limit, court remains a clean backstop.
4. Watch the 2-year limitation the whole time as the outer deadline to commence proceedings.

Common mistakes

• Running remedies in sequence. Waiting for adjudication before preserving the lien can blow the lien deadline. Run them together.
• Letting the contractor's "I have not been paid" excuse land. Under prompt payment, a contractor who fails to issue a valid non-payment notice must pay you anyway.
• Forgetting Quebec is different. No lien, a legal hypothec with a prior-notice trap, and a 3-year limitation.
• Choosing court for speed. Court is the slow, final option. For speed, use adjudication; for security, use the lien.

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