What does New York’s prompt payment law require on private construction?

In New York, on a private construction contract of $150,000 or more, an owner must approve or disapprove an invoice within twelve business days and pay it within thirty days after approval, a contractor must pay a subcontractor within seven days after receiving good funds for that work, and a late payment bears interest at one percent a month. The prompt payment article does not cover public works, construction of an individual one-, two- or three-family home, a residential tract development of one hundred or fewer one- or two-family homes, or a residential project of 4,500 square feet or less. An owner that disapproves all or part of an invoice must issue a written statement of the items not approved, and may withhold from an interim payment only an amount sufficient to cure the listed items or, alternatively, the line-item amount in an agreed schedule of values. When payment depends on lender approval, it is due seven days after the owner receives good funds. A contractor or subcontractor that is not paid on time may suspend work after at least ten calendar days’ written notice without being in breach. A contract term setting payment terms different from the article’s, or requiring retainage above five percent of the contract sum, is void. A written contract can set its own payment terms where the statute allows. This is N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §§ 756, 756-a, 756-b, 757.

WhatNew York
Payment deadlineOwner pays 30 days after approval; subs in 7 days
Who this coversPrivate construction, not only public works

What the statute says

“Payment of an interim or final invoice shall be due from the owner not later than thirty days after approval of the invoice.”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

N.Y. Gen. Bus. Law §§ 756, 756-a, 756-b, 757

Read the statute in the New York Consolidated Laws (New York State Senate): nysenate.gov.

Checked against the statute on November 15, 2026.

This is a summary of a published statute, not legal advice. Rules change, local ordinances can add to them, and the terms of a specific lease may differ. Check the citation and speak to a lawyer before acting.

How Seayora uses this rule

A contractor on Seayora keeps every job’s dates, its estimate, its invoices and its payments in one record, so the date work was last performed, the date each invoice went out and the amount still owed are on file when a lien or payment deadline is counted.

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