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The subcontractor claim portal

Where a subcontractor submits a progress claim against their order.

The subcontractor claim portal

What it is

An awarded subcontractor gets one link for the whole engagement. It opens on Compliance documents, where they upload their SWMS, public liability insurance and workers compensation certificate, add the workers who will sign in at the gate and their tickets, and from there Lodge a payment claim. The claim page shows their contract value, what you have certified to date and the retention rate, takes the amount they are claiming for the period, and lists every claim on the job with your answer against it. The same link is where they come back to see your payment schedule.

Before you start

  • The sub must be engaged on a won job. The link is emailed when you award them on the job's Subcontractors page (Award & request docs) or on the Tenders page, when a job with engaged subs is marked won, or when you ask the assistant to engage them. It goes to the company's primary contact, else the company email. Resend compliance link on the Subcontractors page sends a fresh one; earlier links stop working and the date you first asked is kept.
  • The link lasts 30 days and is the credential: whoever holds it can upload documents and lodge claims in that company's name, so the sub should keep it in their office. An expired link tells them to contact the site supervisor.
  • Nothing on this portal certifies or pays. A claim arrives as received; a person in your business certifies or queries it on the job's Subcontractor claims page.

How to

  1. Compliance documents: "Please upload the documents below before starting on" the job. Three slots: SWMS, Public liability insurance and Workcover. A slot already filled shows On file with the file name and expiry. Insurance and workcover ask for an expiry date; the SWMS is for this job, the other two are for the company.
  2. Your workers: "Add each person who will sign in at the site, with the mobile they sign in with, and upload their white card and tickets. An expired white card on file stops that person at the gate."
  3. The link Lodge a payment claim.

Upload a compliance document (the subcontractor)

  1. In the slot, press Choose file (or Replace) and pick a PDF or image under 20 MB.
  2. For insurance or workcover, enter the Expiry date.
  3. Press Upload. The slot shows On file. The document is filed against the company (or the job, for the SWMS) and its expiry drives the compliance tones you see on the Subcontractors page and the gate check at sign-in.

Add workers and tickets (the subcontractor)

  1. Under Your workers, type the worker's Full name and Mobile and press Add worker. The mobile is the number that person signs in with at the gate.
  2. On a worker, press Add ticket, choose or type the ticket type (White Card, EWP, Working at heights, First aid and so on), enter an expiry if it has one, attach a Photo or PDF and press Upload. Tickets list under the worker; an expired one shows in red.

Lodge a payment claim (the subcontractor)

  1. Press Lodge a payment claim. The page shows their company, trade and the job, with Contract, Certified to date and Retention when a contract value is on the engagement.
  2. Enter Amount claimed (ex GST), a Period ending date, and What the claim covers. Attach their claim or invoice as a Claim PDF if they have one (PDF only, under 20 MB).
  3. Press Lodge claim. The page confirms "Claim #3 lodged — $12,500 ex GST" and, when a statutory window applies, "The builder's payment schedule is due by" a date. Lodge another claim clears the form.
  4. Claims on this job lists every claim: number, period or lodged date, amount, and its status: Awaiting assessment, Certified, Queried or Paid. A certified amount different from the claim shows as "$12,500 → $11,000". Once you issue a payment schedule, the line says when it was issued, under which Act, the scheduled amount and your reasons when it is less than claimed.

What happens on its own

  • Opening the link is recorded; the first upload marks the request submitted.
  • Each upload raises a compliance event your automations can react to. A claim raises subcontractor claim received with its number, amount, period and response due date.
  • The claim's response due date is set from the claim time and the Security of Payment window for the job's state (or your business default).
  • A claim PDF is filed in the job's documents as an invoice from that subcontractor, beside the claim.
  • The assistant can assess a new claim against the engagement, orders and site progress and propose a certified amount with reasons for you to act on. That automation is installed paused; turn it on under Automations → Subscriptions. It never certifies or pays.

Things that surprise people

  • The sub's amounts are ex GST, and the portal says so on the field. What they are owed inc GST is worked out on your side when you certify.
  • Certified to date on their page counts certified and paid claims only. A queried claim does not move it.
  • The sub never sees your internal notes, the purchase order or the gate compliance detail. A blocked worker at the gate is told only that the company's documents need updating and to talk to the supervisor.
  • An expired white card uploaded here blocks that worker at the gate. A missing one does not block; it warns the supervisor.
  • A claim or document cannot be deleted from the portal. A wrong claim is sorted out on your Subcontractor claims page.
  • Payment schedules are sent to the sub's primary contact by email, and the portal line says so; the schedule itself is not downloadable from the portal.