Specialist contractors are waiting longer for payment according to the latest State of trade report from the National Specialist Contractors’ Council (NSCC),
The report says the number reporting payment periods of 60-90 days rose sharply to 21% in this quarter, up from 5% in the last quarter.

Although outlawed, the practice of pay when paid continues to have a significant effect on businesses in the specialist sector.

The NSCC State of trade survey is carried out quarterly across the 28 specialist sectors represented by NSCC and the results were analysed by the School of the Built Environment at Northumbria
University.

'Our State of trade survey highlights the problems faced by specialist contractors and provides evidence that payment periods within the industry are lengthening', said Suzannah Nichol, chief executive of NSCC.

From January 1, 2008, the OGC Fair Payment charter will be implemented in full and will require 30 day payment periods.

'NSCC fully endorses the charter and, through its own fair payment campaign, is calling for 30-day payment periods to be implemented on all contracts.'

More details about the Fair Payment campaign can be found at
www.fairpaymentcampaign.co.uk.

The National Specialist Contractors Council brings together the common aims of 28 specialist trade organisations within the construction industry and is the voice of 7,000 specialist
contractors in the UK.

A copy of the report can be found at the NSCC website at www.nscc.org.uk