Prompt Payment Act

The firm that argued the Prompt Payment Act’s defining case before the Supreme Judicial Court, enforcing payment rights for subcontractors and contractors on private projects across Massachusetts.

The Massachusetts Prompt Payment Act, G.L. c. 149, § 29E, changed the economics of private construction in the Commonwealth. On covered projects, owners and contractors can no longer sit on payment applications: requisitions must be approved or rejected within strict statutory periods, rejections must be in writing, must explain the factual and contractual basis for the rejection, and must be certified as made in good faith. A request that is not timely and properly rejected is deemed approved, and deemed approved means it must be paid.

Cole Law Partners knows this statute from the inside. The firm represented the subcontractor in J.C. Cannistraro, LLC v. Columbia Construction Co. (SJC-13819), litigating the case from arbitration through a Superior Court judgment and, in February 2026, argument before the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. The Court’s June 2026 decision, together with Business Interiors Floor Covering Business Trust v. Graycor Construction Co., 494 Mass. 216 (2024), and Tocci Building Corp. v. IRIV Partners, LLC, 101 Mass. App. Ct. 133 (2022), now defines how the Act operates: the deemed-approval and good-faith certification requirements have real teeth and compel payment first, while disputes on the underlying merits can still be resolved afterward in arbitration or litigation.

That last point matters, and many discussions of the Act miss it. The Prompt Payment Act is a powerful cash flow statute, not a permanent forfeiture statute. It gets money moving downstream when upstream parties fail to follow the rules, and it forces payment before defenses are heard. It does not necessarily end the fight. Subcontractors should use the Act aggressively to enforce payment and should simultaneously keep their substantive claims and records strong, because a well-documented merits case is what converts compelled payment into money you keep. Owners and contractors, for their part, ignore the Act’s rejection and certification requirements at their peril.

What the Act covers: private construction projects in Massachusetts where the prime contract price is $3,000,000 or greater, with limited exceptions for certain smaller residential projects. Public projects are governed by separate payment statutes, which we also enforce.

How we help:

• Enforcing deemed approval where payment applications were not timely or properly rejected
• Prosecuting Prompt Payment Act claims in court and arbitration, through appeal if necessary
• Advising on requisition, rejection, and certification practices during live projects
• Coordinating Act claims with mechanics’ liens, bond claims, and Chapter 93A claims for maximum leverage
• Defending recoupment and backcharge claims asserted after compelled payment
• Auditing payment terms in subcontracts for compliance and risk before signing

The statutory deadlines are short, tiered by contract level, and unforgiving, and the case law is still developing. Whether you are a subcontractor staring at an unpaid requisition or a contractor trying to reject one correctly, the time to get advice is now, not after the deadline runs.