Amey, ISG, Costain and Osborne rank as construction’s fastest-paying main contractors settling subcontractor and supplier invoices in less than 20 days.

Latest returns from submissions to the Government’s Duty to Report on Payment Practices and Performance indicate a slight improvement on past years.

But the controversial self-reporting data which is collated and published by trade body Build UK every six months has been challenged by subcontractors because it is based on the number of invoices paid rather than value. This means that if many small sums are paid promptly, large payments could still be delayed without seriously impacting payment records.

The clock on payment release does not start from payment application but records payment times after certification, and does not reflect disputes or pay less notices.

Subcontractors argue this means the reporting leagues fail to reflect real payment practice in the industry.

Main contractor payment performance – source Build UK

Average
payment days
% not paid
to terms
% paid within
60 days

Amey
15
19
98

ISG
15
21
98

Costain
18
9
99

Osborne
19
34
95

Lendlease
21
0
100

Ferrovial
21
19
97

Morgan Sindall
24
4
99

Murphy
24
13
93

Morrison Utility Services
25
15
94

Canary Wharf Contractors
26
1
99

Galliford Try
26
11
99

Mace
26
12
95

Sir Robert McAlpine
27
6
94

Bouygues
27
18
95

VolkerWessels
27
25
96

Willmott Dixon
28
11
99

FM Conway
28
11
97

Henry Boot
28
15
94

Vinci
28
16
94

BAM Nuttall
28
16
94

Laing O’Rourke
28
17
91

John Sisk & Son
29
18
97

Multiplex
30
14
93

Wates
30
20
98

McLaren Construction
30
26
100

BAM Construct
30
28
96

Bowmer and Kirkland
30
28
95

Kier
32
27
91

McLaughlin and Harvey
33
22
96

Tilbury Douglas
33
28
95

Graham Construction
34
6
96

Novus Property Solutions
36
11
95

Balfour Beatty
36
15
96

TSL
37
32
89

Seddon
38
5
97

Winvic
38
11
94

Skanska
38
28
85

Robertson Construction
38
28
94

Eurovia
46
19
85

Northstone
46
68
76

EQUANS
48
3
86

Watkin Jones
48
9
85

Colas
63
61
68

The top 43 main contractors are taking on average nearly 31 days to pay, a day faster than a year ago.

Also the average % of invoices not paid within terms improved from 21% a year ago to 19%.

Jo Fautley, Deputy Chief Executive at Build UK, said: “Five years ago we began benchmarking contractor members on payment performance and the results speak for themselves – after achieving average payment terms of 30 days in January, they’ve reached another key milestone paying 95% of invoices in 60 days.”