This bill mirrors language that is already in Massachusetts statutes to enable the process of ‘prompt pay’ for private construction work to help contractors and subcontractors receive payment from public awarding authorities in a timely fashion for work that was not included in the original contract. Currently, the law does not set a timeframe for when an awarding agency must accept or reject charges for work outside the original contract, which prevents the contractor or subcontractor from being able to even bill for it — let alone receive payment.

The goal of the prompt pay law, which was enacted in 2010 and has worked well since then is simple: to keep the payment process moving so that funds flow as they should on construction projects, and prompt payment becomes routine business practice.