82% of contractors now wait more than 30 days to get paid
By Tara Lilley, Founder of PayBild ·
Luis sets tile. He finished a big kitchen job on June 1. His invoice said net 30.
On day 30, nothing. The general contractor said the owner hadn't paid him yet. On day 45, still nothing.
Friday was payroll. Luis has two guys who count on him. So he put it on a credit card. Then he did it again two weeks later.
He got paid in August. The interest on that card never showed up on any invoice.
Luis isn't the exception anymore
Two years ago, about half of contractors waited more than 30 days to get paid. Today it's 82%. That's not a slow drift. That's a system breaking.
Why it keeps getting worse
- Net 30 has quietly become net 60 and net 90.
- General contractors wait on the owner, then pay subs last.
- Every layer holds money a little longer to protect its own cash.
- The sub at the bottom, like Luis, carries everyone else's delay.
A late payment isn't a paperwork problem. It's payroll you can't make. Materials you can't reorder. A crew you might lose to the next job that pays faster.
What waiting really costs
A contractor who isn't paid for 45 days still covers 45 days of payroll, fuel and materials. That gap gets paid one of two ways:
- A loan or a credit card
- Your own savings
Neither one is free. And neither one shows up on the invoice.
The fix isn't "chase harder"
Better payment terms only work if the money is actually there to release. That's a structural fix, not a collections trick.
How PayBild handles it
- The homeowner funds the job before work starts. The money is held, ready.
- When a milestone is approved, payment is released right away, not after an invoice cycle.
- If the homeowner doesn't respond, the milestone releases on its own after 7 days.
- Waiting to see if they'll pay isn't part of the job anymore.
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Sources: Construction Payment Statistics 2026, DocJoist. Construction payment industry surveys, Levelset. Luis is a made-up example, based on real situations. General information, not financial advice.