Public works prompt payment in Alberta runs on a different statute than private construction. Alberta government project contracts fall under the Public Works Act and are exempt from the timelines in the Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act. Since April 1, 2025 those projects have had their own prompt payment and adjudication framework, and it differs from the private regime in ways that change how invoices are issued, how disputes surface, and what remedy is available when payment does not arrive.
Key Takeaways
- Alberta government projects are governed by the Public Works Act, not the PPCLA.
- The Crown pays a proper invoice within 28 days or gives notice of dispute within 14 days.
- Every party in the chain issues a proper invoice upward, unlike the private regime.
- Contractors pay subcontractors within 35 days, and subcontractors pay below within 42.
- Lien registration is not the remedy on a public work. A notice of claim is.
- Confirm whether the body you are contracting with is actually the Crown.
This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Public works claims are procedural and the correct steps depend on the contract and the body you are dealing with.
Public Works Projects Run on a Different Statute
This is the point that catches contractors out, and it catches them out late.
The Government of Alberta states plainly that Alberta government project contracts are subject to the Public Works Act rules and are exempt from the timelines set out in the Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act.
For businesses across the Edmonton region this matters more than it does elsewhere in the province. As the seat of government, Edmonton carries the highest concentration of departments, agencies, and publicly funded institutions in Alberta, which means a materially larger share of local contractors and suppliers invoice public bodies. Recovering Edmonton receivables frequently means working within a framework that never applies to a private commercial project.
What Changed on April 1, 2025
Prompt payment was extended to public works effective that date, through amendments introduced by the Service Alberta Statutes Amendment Act, 2024. The framework borrows its structure from the private regime while differing in its specifics.
Transition matters here. The new provisions apply to contracts entered into on or after April 1, 2025. Contracts signed before that date remain under the previous provisions, so on a long-running project the governing rules depend on when the contract was signed rather than when the work is being done.
Which Contracts Are Actually Covered
Under the Public Works Act, a contract means an agreement between the Government of Alberta or a Crown agent and a contractor providing labour, equipment, material, or services to a public work.
That definition is narrower than “publicly funded.” A municipality, a school board, a university, or a health authority may or may not be the Crown or a Crown agent for these purposes, and the answer determines which statute governs your payment rights entirely. Confirm the status of the body you are contracting with before you calculate a single deadline, because getting this wrong at the outset means every date you track afterward is the wrong date.
The Payment Timelines Under the Public Works Act
The chain runs on defined periods once a proper invoice is delivered.
| Payment obligation | Timeline |
| Crown to contractor | 28 days from receiving a proper invoice |
| Crown notice of dispute | Within 14 days |
| Contractor to subcontractor | 35 days from receiving the subcontractor’s proper invoice |
| Subcontractor to sub-subcontractor | 42 days from receiving the proper invoice |
Proper invoices must be issued at least every 31 days from the commencement of the work. That is an obligation rather than an option, and holding invoicing until a phase completes does not satisfy it.
Everyone Issues a Proper Invoice
This is the most significant departure from the private regime and the one most likely to trip up a contractor moving between project types.
Under the Prompt Payment and Construction Lien Act, the proper invoice is the one the contractor delivers to the owner. Under the Public Works Act, every party down the construction chain issues a proper invoice to the party above them. A subcontractor’s invoice to a general contractor is itself a proper invoice with its own consequences.
The practical effect is that invoicing discipline extends further down the chain on a public project than it does on a private one. A subcontractor who invoices informally on a government job has not started any clock.
You Cannot Lien a Public Work
Contractors accustomed to registering against title need to reset here.
Alberta approached public works differently from most provinces. Rather than bringing public projects into lien legislation, the province brought the prompt payment and adjudication machinery into the Public Works Act. Registration against Crown property is not the mechanism, and the remedy sits elsewhere.
The Notice of Claim Instead
The Public Works Act provides a claims process. A contractor or subcontractor who supplied labour, equipment, material, or services to a public work may deliver a notice of claim to the Minister or to the Crown agent responsible for the work.
The Act sets rules for the form of the notice, the notice periods, and what happens where a period is missed, with different periods applying to highway and road projects. Confirm the periods that apply to your project type before relying on them.
Two points are worth holding onto. The claims process is intended to simplify pursuing non-payment, and it does not displace your private rights under contract or at common law. The builder’s liens framework you would use on a private project simply is not the route here, and treating a public job the same way costs you the remedy that does exist.
Adjudication on Public Works Projects
Adjudication is available, with its own triggers and timing.
A proper invoice that remains unpaid for more than 45 days after the date it was received is what opens the route. An adjudication may then be commenced within 180 days after delivery of a notice of claim. A monetary limit also applies to the disputes that can be referred, so confirm the current threshold before assuming a file qualifies.
The timelines for commencing adjudication under the Public Works Act differ from those under the private regime. That assessment is worth putting to legal services rather than working from a general summary, particularly since these provisions are recent.
Where the Public Works Regime Is Weaker
Worth understanding before you plan around it, because the public framework is not simply the private one applied to government.
The Public Works Act adopts the structure of prompt payment without all of its enforcement machinery. There are no mandatory notices of non-payment or dispute in the way the private regime imposes them, which means a subcontractor who is not paid in full may never receive reasons, and no party is obliged to commence adjudication.
The Province also retains discretion over how it deals with a claim, including declining it or paying money into court, on its own timeline.
The practical conclusion is that a public works contractor cannot rely on the process forcing a resolution. Deadlines still need tracking, notices still need delivering, and the file still needs someone actively moving it. Passive reliance on the framework produces a slow file rather than a paid one.
What Edmonton Contractors Should Do
Five steps, applied at the start of a project rather than when payment stops:
- Check the contract date against April 1, 2025 to establish which provisions apply.
- Issue proper invoices at least every 31 days, at every level of the chain.
- Diarize the response dates, including the Crown’s 14-day dispute window and the 28-day payment period.
- Deliver a notice of claim promptly where payment does not arrive, since the notice periods are defined and missing one has consequences.
- Track your position downstream as well as up, because your own 35 or 42 day obligations run whether or not you have been paid.
Building these dates into your accounts receivable management process rather than tracking them by memory is what separates a contractor who gets paid from one who discovers the problem at the end of the project.
Common Questions About Public Works Payment
The questions below come up on most government and institutional projects.
How long does the Alberta government have to pay?
Twenty-eight days from receiving a proper invoice, with a notice of dispute required within 14 days if the Crown is disputing the amount.
Can I lien a government building?
Registration against Crown property is not the mechanism on a public work. The Public Works Act provides a notice of claim process instead, and the notice periods are defined.
What if I am working for a school board or a university?
Confirm whether that body is the Crown or a Crown agent, since publicly funded is not the same as public works under the Act. Where it is neither, the private regime and its lien deadlines are likely to apply instead.
When can I take a public works dispute to adjudication?
Once a proper invoice has gone unpaid for more than 45 days after receipt, with adjudication commenced within 180 days of delivering a notice of claim, subject to the monetary limit on referable disputes.
The general contractor was paid and has not paid us. What now?
That is a contractual claim against the general contractor, and it runs alongside whatever public works remedy is available. Unpaid subcontractor balances of this kind are ordinary commercial debt collection matters once the statutory routes are exhausted or unavailable.
Track the Right Deadlines, Then Escalate
Public works projects are steady, well-funded work, and the payment framework around them is genuinely favourable compared to what existed before 2025. It only helps contractors who know which rules apply to them and who deliver the notices the Act actually requires.
If you are carrying unpaid balances from government or institutional work, the first question is which framework governs each contract and whether the statutory routes are still open. Bison Credit Solutions recovers construction and supply receivables across Alberta on a contingency basis, with no charge where nothing is collected, and works accounts through third-party collections once the legal position is clear.
Contact Bison Credit Solutions to review unpaid public works and institutional accounts and determine the route for each one.
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