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

In Ohio, a contractor must pay a subcontractor or material supplier within ten calendar days after receiving the owner’s payment for that work, and a late payment bears interest at eighteen percent a year from the eleventh day until it is paid in full. Section 4113.61 sets no deadline for the owner’s payment to the contractor. The same ten-day rule and eighteen percent interest apply down every tier of subcontractors and suppliers, to each subcontractor’s share of final retainage, and to laborers’ wages. A contractor may reduce a payment by a retainage provision in the subcontract and may withhold amounts needed to resolve disputed liens or claims. If payment is not made within thirty days after it is due, the unpaid party may sue for the amount plus interest, and the court awards the prevailing party reasonable attorney fees and court costs unless that would be inequitable. The section does not apply to construction or improvement of a single-, two- or three-family detached house, and the rights to interest, attorney fees and court costs cannot be waived by agreement. A written contract can set its own payment terms where the statute allows. This is Ohio Rev. Code § 4113.61.

WhatOhio
Payment deadlineSubs paid within 10 days; 18% a year after that
Who this coversPrivate construction, not only public works

What the statute says

“… the contractor, within ten calendar days after receipt of payment from the owner for improvements to property, shall pay to the: (a) Subcontractor, an amount that is equal to the percentage of completion of the subcontractor’s contract …”

Quoted word for word from the section’s text.

Source

Ohio Rev. Code § 4113.61

Read the statute in the Ohio Revised Code (Ohio Legislative Service Commission): codes.ohio.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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