MOC — Comparative Construction Markets
Map of Content — the markets profiled, grouped by how strongly they protect subcontractor payment.
Strongest protection — statutory adjudication + anti-avoidance
- Australia — security of payment in every state/territory; the reference model
- United Kingdom — originated the 1996 model; moving to ban retention in 2026
- Malaysia — CIPAA 2012; voids pay-when-paid clauses
- New Zealand — adjudication since 2002; the lead test case for retention trusts
- Canada — province-by-province rollout since 2019
Partial / general-law protection
- United States — state-by-state mechanics liens and prompt-pay acts; no statutory adjudication
- European Union — Late Payment Directive only; reform Regulation blocked in 2025
- India — MSMED Act remedy, contested for works contracts
Weak / absent statutory protection
- South Africa — prompt-payment regulations drafted but unenacted for 15+ years
- Nigeria — federal contractor arrears now a macro-fiscal credit risk
- Saudi Arabia — no statute; academic evidence of deliberate delay tactics
- United Arab Emirates — reforming from 2025; no adjudication
- Middle East GCC — regional umbrella; general contract law only
- China — payment problem framed as migrant-worker wage arrears; state-directed ring-fencing
Key relations
Australia [part-of] Prompt Payment Legislation United States [contradicts] Construction Adjudication South Africa [supports] Construction Payment Problem Nigeria [causes] Contractor Insolvency and Subcontractor Risk New Zealand [relates] Retention Trust and Project Bank Accounts
Cross-cutting finding
Every market in the vault exhibits the Construction Payment Problem. Statutory protection measurably reduces and remedies it but does not eliminate it — see Conclusion.