Late certificate payments: what a contractor can do

Payment periods and compensation for delay under both references

These are the two references as summarised in Ta3mir's reference data. The published law and Regulation and your contract's particular conditions govern, and your contract's periods may differ.

Why certificates are usually paid late

• An incomplete certificate: the payment period only starts once it is submitted complete.
• Disputed quantities because measurement sheets or approved inspection records are missing.
• Additional work or variations not yet approved, included in the certificate ahead of approval.
• Slow review by the consultant or the public body, or funds not yet available.
• Arithmetic errors, or a «previous» column that does not match what was actually approved last time.

Under FIDIC 2017 the Engineer may withhold a payment certificate or amounts in it only for listed reasons: an amount below the minimum in the Contract Data, defective work, unperformed obligations or significant errors (sub-clause 14.6). Knowing them helps you prepare a certificate the reviewer has no reason to hold back.

In Egyptian public contracts (Law 182)

1. Submit the certificate with all its documents and get proof of the date received, since the 60 days run from it (art. 45).
2. If the public body refuses a complete certificate, send it by express mail through the National Postal Authority and keep the posting receipt and proof of delivery (art. 45).
3. Follow up the review in writing within the period, and ask for any comment on quantities or documents so you can fix it early.
4. If payment is late, claim the financing cost for the delay with official documents of the amount, as the law requires, and confirm with the public body which document it accepts (art. 45 and Regulation art. 93).
5. Submit price adjustment as a separate claim: it is paid within 60 days of submission, and the approved certificate may not be held for it (Regulation art. 97).
6. After completion, if the public body fails to take over the works you may ask for a neutral committee formed within 7 days, whose report within 30 days of its formation binds both parties (Regulation art. 99); provisional taking-over is when retention is paid.

Under the FIDIC Red Book 2017

1. Financing charges: they run on the unpaid amount from the end of the payment period, whatever the date the certificate was issued, and the contractor requests them without a Notice of Claim (sub-clause 14.8).
2. Evidence of finance: sub-clause 2.4 sets when the contractor may ask for reasonable evidence of the employer's financial arrangements, which the employer must provide within 28 days of the request.
3. Suspension or slowing down: if the certificate is not issued or payment is not made on time, the contractor may suspend or slow down work no less than 21 days after giving Notice, and is entitled to an extension, cost plus profit and financing charges (sub-clause 16.1).
4. Termination: no certificate within 56 days of the Statement, or no payment within 42 days after the payment period expires, are grounds for a Notice of termination, with 14 days for the employer to remedy the matter (sub-clause 16.2). It is a major decision; do not take it without a contracts adviser.

These periods and rates are defaults in the General Conditions; the Contract Data may change the payment period and the financing rate. The full payment cycle is in the FIDIC Red Book 2017 guide.

The documents that protect your entitlement

Worked example: the financing cost on a late certificate

Illustrative figures in an Egyptian public contract, at the 19.5% credit and discount rate the Central Bank of Egypt kept at its 24 September 2026 Monetary Policy Committee meeting. The applicable rate is the one announced at the time of accounting; the calculation here is simple, not compounded, on a 365-day year, an assumption for illustration only.

The certificate was submitted on 1 February 2026, so the latest payment date is 2 April 2026; it was paid on 1 June 2026, 60 days late, so the financing cost in this example is EGP 32,054.79. It is claimed with official documents of the amount, and the figure is reviewed with the public body.

A contractor's steps when a certificate is paid late

1. Check the payment period in your contract and when it starts: submission of the complete certificate, or the Engineer's receipt of the Statement.
2. Work out the deadline for each certificate and log it in a follow-up sheet.
3. Send a written reminder as the deadline nears, and a formal letter or Notice of the delay once it has passed.
4. Prepare the documents the reference requires to claim the financing cost, and work it out on the actual days late.
5. Under FIDIC, if the delay continues, review with a contracts adviser the option to suspend after at least 21 days' Notice.
6. Keep submitting later certificates on time: one late payment does not stop the others' periods.