Industry Focus
Construction payment moves down a chain, and subcontractors and suppliers sit at the end of it. JSD recovers past-due commercial balances for construction businesses, including unpaid progress billings, retainage, disputed change orders, and material supply invoices.
The Industry
A subcontractor or material supplier can be owed for progress billings, retainage held after closeout, change order work performed on a field directive, and rental equipment left on a jobsite weeks past the agreed term. Each balance sits inside a chain of contracts, and recovering it means knowing where in that chain the money stopped.
We review the subcontract and the pay application history before approaching the account. That review shows whether the owner has paid upstream and what the contract says about retainage and backcharges, so the first conversation with the general contractor starts from the documents. JSD handles commercial collections across a wide range of industries, including construction accounts.
Past-Due Balances We Help Recover
Common Problems
The owner has to approve the pay application and release funds to the general contractor before anything moves down to the trades. When the money stalls at any level, the subcontractor at the bottom of the chain is usually the last to find out.
The general contractor says payment is coming once the owner pays. Weeks turn into months, and the subcontractor has no direct view of whether the owner already released the funds. Many states read pay-when-paid language as a timing clause, which means the wait is supposed to end after a reasonable period.
A superintendent asks for extra work in the field and promises the paperwork will follow. The work gets done, and when the paperwork never arrives, the extra cost turns into a disputed line on the final invoice. Daily logs and dated emails from the jobsite often prove the directive was given.
Five or ten percent of every progress payment is held back until the project closes out. Closeout drags on over punch list items that belong to other trades, and the retainage sits with the general contractor long after the subcontractor’s crew has moved to another job.
Near the end of a job, the general contractor deducts backcharges for cleanup or schedule delays from the final payment. Some are legitimate. Many arrive with no prior notice or supporting documentation, and they reduce the balance only if the subcontract supports them.
Mechanic’s lien and payment bond rights depend on notices and filings with strict state deadlines, some measured from the last day of work on the job. A company that waits on a promise of payment can lose its strongest remedy before anyone tells it the check is never coming.
Subcontractors and suppliers depend on the same general contractors for future work, and nobody wants to be the trade that pushed too hard. The balance keeps aging while the estimator hopes to land the next job with the same contractor.
When to Escalate
By the time a subcontractor learns the owner paid the general contractor months ago, the window to file a lien may already have closed.
| Situation | Next step |
|---|---|
| Pay application approved but payment hasn’t arrived | Ask the general contractor in writing whether the owner has funded the draw |
| Extra work done without a signed change order | Gather the daily logs and emails that show the directive |
| Retainage unpaid 60 days after substantial completion | Request the closeout status in writing and send a formal demand |
| Backcharge deducted with no prior notice | Request the backcharge documentation and dispute anything the subcontract doesn’t support |
| Approaching your state’s lien or bond notice deadline | Talk to construction counsel before the deadline passes |
| 60 to 90 days past due with no payment date | Move from reminders to formal demand |
Documentation
Construction collections usually come down to the subcontract and the record of what happened in the field. Pay applications, change orders, delivery tickets, and daily logs show what was billed and what was approved, and they carry more weight than anyone’s memory of a conversation with the superintendent.
JSD reviews the account before contact goes out. Lien waivers matter here too, because a conditional waiver signed for a payment that never cleared can leave the balance open, and an unconditional waiver signed too early can complicate the claim.
Subcontractors and suppliers extend credit up and down the project chain, and each type of customer approves payment differently. JSD works accounts across all of them.
The Process
JSD reviews the contract documents and where the project stands before deciding how to approach the account. Knowing whether the owner has paid upstream often decides how the first call goes.
Subcontract or purchase order, pay applications, change orders, and lien waivers. We confirm what was approved and what has already been paid upstream before approaching the account.
We contact the person who controls the payment, usually the general contractor’s project accountant or the owner of the company.
When the general contractor objects to a change order or a backcharge, we tie the objection to the subcontract and the field records and resolve it on those terms.
Payment in full, a payment plan, a verified dispute, or a referral to construction counsel when a lien or bond claim applies. We record the outcome and recommend the next step.
Confidential Account Review
Send us the balance, customer name, invoice age, and the subcontract or purchase order if you have it. We’ll tell you directly whether the account is worth placing and what the process looks like.
FAQ
Ready to place an account?
A lien deadline keeps running whether or not anyone is chasing the invoice.
Start a free placement reviewRelated reading
