I'm about to sign and the payment terms worry me
The subcontract is on the table and something about the payment clauses doesn't sit right.
What's happening?
Payment terms are where subcontracts hide their teeth: long due dates, application windows a day wide, conditions dressed up to delay payment, notice periods set to the legal minimum against you and the maximum for them. Signed, those clauses run every month of the job, and the moment you can change them cheaply is right now, before signature.
Some of what is drafted against you will not even survive the Construction Act, which voids certain terms outright. Knowing which is which turns the negotiation: you push hardest on the clauses that are lawful but loaded, and simply flag the ones the Act will strike down anyway.
The solution
A focused review of the payment terms, before you are bound by them.