When a client stops paying, the order of your next moves is already written down in the payment, notice and suspension clauses of your own contract. Send written notice the way the contract specifies. Let the cure period run in full. Then suspend, with a second written notice. Walk off before that and the breach can become yours. At the same time, start counting your lien deadline from your last day of work, because that clock is set by statute and does not wait for the contract steps to finish.
Most advice on a client not paying contractor invoices jumps straight to liens or to pulling the crew. Both are real tools. Neither is the first one, and using either out of order is how a collectable debt turns into a countersuit.
A late payment is a breach. So is an early walk-off.
Nonpayment is usually a material breach. But the contract that gives you the right to be paid also tells you how to enforce that right. If yours says written notice by certified mail and a ten-day cure before suspension, then a text message and a crew gone the next morning is not suspension under the contract. It looks like abandonment.
Here is how that plays out. The client's attorney argues you left the job. The client hires someone else to finish and back-charges you for the difference between that cost and your remaining contract balance. They add delay damages. Your unpaid invoice stops being a debt and becomes an offset against their claim. The argument shifts from "they didn't pay" to "who breached first," and you want that question to have only one answer.
A slowdown counts too. Dropping to one carpenter, not ordering the windows or skipping the inspection you were supposed to call in can all be treated as a suspension without notice. If you are going to stop, stop the way the contract says.
The sequence, in the order your contract writes it
Pull the signed contract for this job, not the template in your drive. Clauses get edited during negotiation. Find five things: the payment due terms, the notice clause (method, address and named recipient), the cure period, the suspension right and the termination right. Some residential contracts have no suspension clause at all. State prompt-payment law may supply one, or it may not. That is a question for a construction attorney before you act, not after.
- Confirm the invoice was proper. It was submitted on the date, in the format and with the backup the contract requires.
- Send written notice of nonpayment by the exact method the notice clause names, to the exact person and address it names. Keep proof of delivery.
- Let the cure period run in full. Keep working unless the contract says otherwise. Count the days the way the contract counts them, calendar or business.
- If the cure period passes without payment, send a second written notice stating that work will be suspended and on what date.
- Suspend on that date. Secure the site, photograph its condition, log what is in place and what is stored, and notify subs and suppliers in writing.
- Terminate only if the contract allows it, and only after the separate notice the termination clause requires. Suspension and termination are different rights with different steps.
What the written notice should say
- The invoice number, date, amount and the date payment was due under the contract.
- The contract section that sets the payment terms and the section that gives you the right to suspend.
- The cure period and the date it ends.
- What happens if payment is not received by that date: suspension of work, starting on a stated day.
- A neutral tone. The notice may be read later by a judge or arbitrator. Write it for them.
Delivery method. If the contract says notice must go by certified mail or hand delivery to a named address and you sent an email, the client can argue notice was never given. Then the cure period never started, your suspension was premature and the breach is yours. Read the notice clause twice and send it the way it says, even if you also email a copy.
Check your own paperwork before you send anything
A lot of payment stops start as disputes rather than cash problems. The client looks at the house, looks at an invoice that claims 60% complete on framing and decides it isn't. When percent complete is estimated instead of measured, the client has a reason to hold payment, and an arbitrator may agree. If that sounds familiar, the fix is upstream, in how progress billing is built from the schedule and the estimate.
Other common causes: the contract required a lien waiver with each pay application and yours wasn't attached, or the waiver you sent released more than the payment you were asking for. The difference between a conditional and an unconditional waiver matters here, and it is covered in what a construction lien waiver actually releases. Unsigned change orders are the third. Billing for extra work the client never approved in writing invites a hold on the whole invoice.
Separate the disputed amount from the undisputed amount. Many contracts require the client to pay the undisputed portion on time. A notice demanding the undisputed balance is harder to argue with than a notice demanding everything, including line items you can't back up.
Run the lien clock in parallel, not last
The lien is often treated as the last resort, something to file after notice, cure and suspension have failed. That ordering is the mistake. The lien deadline is set by state statute, and in most states it runs from your last day of furnishing labor or materials to the job, or from completion, depending on the state. It does not pause because you are negotiating, waiting out a cure period or hoping the check shows up.
- Contract clock — starts on the payment due date; runs through notice, cure and suspension; length set by your contract; missing a step puts your breach claim at risk.
- Lien clock — starts from last furnishing or completion, depending on the state; length set by statute; does not stop for talks or promises; missing it loses the lien entirely.
Some states also require a preliminary notice early in the job, and several add stricter rules for owner-occupied homes. If a required preliminary notice was never sent, find that out now, while there is still time to talk to an attorney about what remains. Do not assume a return trip for minor punch or warranty work resets your last day of furnishing. In many jurisdictions it does not, and courts look skeptically at visits that seem designed to restart the clock.
The practical move is simple. The day a payment goes past due, write down the date of your last substantive work on the job and the lien deadline that follows from it under your state's rules. Then run the contract steps knowing exactly how much room you have.
The record that decides who breached first
Payment disputes turn on contemporaneous records, meaning documents made at the time, not reconstructed after the lawyers get involved. The ones that matter:
- Daily logs showing who was on site, what was done and on which dates, including the last day of work.
- Change orders with the client's approval and the date it was given.
- Each invoice, the date it was delivered and the backup sent with it.
- Every notice, with proof of delivery by the contract's required method.
- Photos of the site on the day work was suspended.
In BuilderSolve, daily logs are dated entries tied to the job. Change orders carry an audit trail showing who approved what and when, and clients approve them through the branded portal, so the approval is on record rather than in a text thread. Budget vs. actual shows what was billed against what was earned, which is the comparison an arbitrator will make. The AI assistant can draft a daily log or a change order from field notes. A person approves or rejects it before it becomes part of the record.
What it does not do: it does not file liens, calculate state lien deadlines or send legal notices. Those belong to your attorney or a lien service. It reads QuickBooks one way, and QuickBooks stays the book of record, so your AR aging still comes from there. If the back office is the bottleneck, the BuilderSolve finance team handles AR follow-up and change order paperwork, and the operations team keeps contract files organized so the notice clause can be found in minutes. They track the dates you and your attorney set. They do not give legal advice.
What to do this week
- Pull the signed contract for any job with a past-due invoice and mark the notice, cure, suspension and termination clauses.
- Check that the invoice was proper: backup attached, change orders signed, lien waivers in the form the contract requires.
- Write down the last day of substantive work from the daily log and the lien deadline that follows from it under your state's statute.
- Call a construction attorney before sending anything if the contract has no suspension clause or the lien deadline is close.
- Send the nonpayment notice by the exact method the contract names, and calendar the end of the cure period.
Then fix the template. If the next contract has a vague notice clause or no suspension right, this job is the reason to change it. More on getting paid on time, and keeping the paperwork that proves you earned it, is collected under money and billing for builders.
Common questions
what can a contractor do if a client stops paying
Follow the contract's sequence first: written notice of nonpayment delivered by the method the contract names, the full cure period, then a second notice and suspension. At the same time, calculate your lien deadline from your last day of work, because it is set by state statute and does not pause. Talk to a construction attorney before suspending if the contract has no suspension clause.
can a contractor stop work for non payment
Often yes, but only the way the contract or state law allows. Most contracts that grant a suspension right require written notice and a cure period first. Stopping without following those steps, or quietly slowing down, can let the client argue you abandoned the job and claim their completion costs against your unpaid balance. Read the suspension clause before you pull the crew.
when does the mechanics lien deadline start
In most states the lien deadline runs from your last day of furnishing labor or materials to the job, though some measure from completion. The length is set by state statute and varies. It keeps running while you negotiate or wait out a contract cure period. Some states also require a preliminary notice early in the job, so confirm your state's rules early.
does a return trip for punch work extend the lien deadline
Usually you should not count on it. In many jurisdictions minor punch, warranty or corrective work does not reset the last day of furnishing, and courts are skeptical of visits that look designed to restart the clock. Use the last day of substantive work recorded in your daily logs, and get legal advice if you are close to the deadline.
should I file a lien before sending a notice of nonpayment
Not necessarily before, but do not wait until the contract steps are finished either. Send the contract's required notice and run the cure period while tracking the statutory lien deadline in parallel. If the deadline will arrive before notice, cure and suspension play out, talk to an attorney about filing within the window rather than losing the lien.