If a main contractor does not pay your invoice, first check the contract, the payment arrangements and the reason given for refusing payment. The fact that the main contractor has not yet been paid itself does not automatically mean that your claim is not yet due. That depends on the arrangements and circumstances, which need to be examined. Keep evidence of performance, additional work, completion and the moment at which payment became due.
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Written by Onur Arslan, attorney at Arslan Advocaten. Registered in the specialisation register of the Netherlands Bar for employment law and personal injury.
For a subcontractor, a single outstanding instalment can have an immediate impact on staff, materials and follow-on work. Even so, stopping work straight away is not always the right step. A payment claim, a complaint about your work and a right to suspend work each require their own assessment.
With whom did you conclude the contract?
Check the legal name of your client. The site manager, the project name and the party named on a purchase order are not always the same legal entity. Compare the order confirmation, the Chamber of Commerce (KvK) details, the invoicing instructions and earlier payments.
Establish who was authorised to give additional instructions on behalf of the main contractor. An oral request from a site manager may serve as evidence, but it can also lead to disputes about authority, scope or price. Confirm changes in writing as soon as possible to the correct contact person and contracting party.
Your contract with the main contractor is, in principle, separate from the main contractor’s contract with the end client. Direct payment by the end client is not automatically an enforceable way out. A three-party arrangement can sometimes offer a solution; in that case, record which debt the payment is allocated to and who still has which obligations afterwards.
When is your invoice due?
Read the payment terms and any conditions for instalment invoices. Is a percentage payable after a phase of the work, after approval or after completion? Which documents must you submit? Think of timesheets, job sheets, test results and a statement of performance.
A main contractor may argue that a formal step is missing. Examine whether that step was actually agreed, whether you complied with it and whether, in the circumstances, the other party can rely on it. Statutory rules on payment terms may also be relevant. Indefinite delay with a reference to internal administration is not necessarily decisive.
Draw up an overview per invoice: basis, amount, date sent, contractual due date, payments received and remaining balance. Keep retention sums, deductions and disputed additional work separate. This shows at once whether the dispute affects the entire claim or only one part of it.
The main contractor says the client has not paid yet
Ask which arrangement the main contractor is relying on. Is there a clause that links your payment to payment by the end client? What exactly does the wording mean: a postponement of the payment date, or a transfer of the risk that the end client never pays? Its interpretation and validity must be examined in context.
Without such an assessment, “I haven’t been paid myself” is not a complete legal response to your invoice. Also ask what steps the main contractor is taking to collect its own claim. A temporary payment problem may justify an arrangement, but record the amounts, instalments and consequences of non-compliance.
With any arrangement, assess whether the acknowledgement of the debt is sufficiently clear and whether limitation periods require attention. For this, read business invoices and interrupting the limitation period. Simply continuing to phone does not safeguard every time limit.
Additional work must be provable separately
Evidence that additional work was ordered is important, but it does not automatically settle every dispute about price. What price or method of calculation was agreed? Was a warning about a price increase required? Was the extra work actually performed, and does it genuinely fall outside the original contract?
In construction contracts, Article 7:755 of the Dutch Civil Code (BW) plays an important role. Among other things, that provision concerns the need for a timely warning of a price increase, unless the client should have understood that need on its own. Its precise application requires an assessment of the facts. The statutory rules can be found in Book 7 of the Dutch Civil Code.
Keep drawing revisions, WhatsApp messages, job sheets and specifications. Create a file for each item of additional work containing the instruction, the price information and the performance. The full route is explained under additional work not paid.
The main contractor relies on defects or damage
Ask for a specific list of the alleged shortcomings and the supporting evidence. Does it concern your work, the work of another party or a change in the design? When was the defect discovered, and when were you given the opportunity to investigate it? Did the main contractor have a third party carry out repairs?
Compare the defence with the agreements and the completion documents. A complaint may be justified and require repair, but it does not automatically justify withholding every outstanding invoice. With a damages claim, the legal basis, the extent and the causal link must be examined. A general deduction for future uncertainties is something different from a sufficiently substantiated counterclaim.
For the general payment dispute, see disputed invoice. For the specific question of repairs, see client refuses to pay because of defects. If you are the client complaining about work yourself, you can read the other side of the issue under work not carried out properly.
May you stop the work?
In the event of non-payment, suspension may be possible, but check whether the claim is due, how the obligations are connected, the extent of the suspension and the arrangements made. Halting an entire project can have major consequences. Wrongly relying on suspension can in fact lead to a claim against you.
Before stopping work, have it assessed which work may be suspended and how to announce this clearly. Take measures to prevent danger, damage and unnecessary consequential loss where that can be expected of you. Also make arrangements about access, materials and the condition in which you leave the work.
The conditions are explained under suspending work or payment. A right of retention is a different remedy with its own conditions. It does not automatically exist for every subcontractor on every construction project.
What does case law show?
In ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2025:1516, the case concerned an oral agreement between a main contractor and a subcontractor. There were outstanding invoices, an invoice for additional work and disputes about damage and performance. The court had to assess those elements separately.
This case shows why a single project folder is often insufficient. Organise the instruction, the original contract price, the additional work, payments, complaints and counterclaims separately. With an oral contract, later messages and conduct are particularly important. The absence of a formal contract does not automatically mean that there is no claim.
From reminder to a suitable debt collection route
For an undisputed claim that is due, a clear formal demand may be the next step. If there is a substantive defence, have it assessed first. The choice between negotiation, a payment arrangement, ordinary proceedings and urgent measures depends on the evidence, the urgency and whether the debt can actually be recovered.
Investigate specific payment risks. Winning a case achieves little if there is nothing to recover. At the same time, a suspicion of financial difficulties is not a licence to levy an attachment. That requires a proper legal basis, leave from the court and a weighing of the risks. See the explanation of prejudgment attachment.
The general debt collection steps are set out in business debt collection. Through its corporate law practice, Arslan Advocaten can assess your file and options. Discuss a budget per phase and take the interests of ongoing work into account in your choice.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to wait until the main contractor is paid?
That does not follow automatically from the main contractor’s payment problem. Examine your own contract, the payment terms and any clause that makes payment dependent on the end client.
Can the end client pay me directly?
The parties can sometimes agree to this. An independent right to direct payment does not arise merely because you carried out the work. Record the legal consequences of any arrangement.
Are signed timesheets sufficient evidence?
They can be important evidence, but the instruction, the rates, the authority of the signatory and any complaints may also be relevant.
Can I take materials back from the construction site?
Not without an assessment. Ownership, incorporation into the work, access to the site and the rights of other parties may restrict this. Have any action checked in advance.
Sources and legal basis
- Amsterdam Court of Appeal, 10 June 2025, on invoices, additional work and evidence in subcontracting (ECLI:NL:GHAMS:2025:1516).
- Dutch Civil Code, Book 7 (specific contracts).
Corporate law at Arslan Advocaten. This article is reviewed whenever the law changes. Last updated: 19 September 2026. General information is not legal advice on your own situation.
