The Construction Prompt Payment and Adjudication Act received Royal Assent on 16 June 2023 and commences by proclamation under section 46. The official commencement schedule checked for this edition lists it as not yet proclaimed. Its future payment, notice and adjudication obligations must be distinguished from the Construction Remedies Act, which already governs lien and holdback rights.
Existing lien and holdback obligations have their own scope and status. Read the relevant topic before using a figure.
Deadlines and reference points
Read the trigger and conditions with the figure. These are statutory reference points, not calculated dates for your project.
- Holdback retained10%
Apply the statutory calculation base to qualifying work, services or materials. Track main and finishing funds and any separate contractual retention.
NB Construction Remedies Act s. 47(1)-(2)- Holdback release period60 days
Use the relevant certificate, completion or abandonment event under the local statute, and check the fund, claims and release conditions. The detailed guide explains jurisdiction-specific branches.
NB Construction Remedies Act s. 47(1)-(2)
The holdback and its calculation base
The Construction Remedies Act generally requires 10% holdback. Its holdback provisions distinguish substantial performance, completion or abandonment and relevant contract or subcontract certificates. The applicable 60-day period does not run from the invoice merely because that invoice records a holdback deduction.
The applicable period and trigger
Keep the base holdback, subsequent work, registered liens, written notices and any discharge or security under review. Statutory conditions and whether money is otherwise payable determine release; prompt-payment legislation awaiting proclamation does not defer these existing duties.
The Act also provides mechanisms for particular holdback releases and security. Check the actual contract, publication or certificate evidence and the applicable part of the Act before treating a general period as permission to release an entire project fund.
Holdback is separate from a payment dispute
Distinguish statutory holdback, a contract's additional retention, disputed work, tax and amounts already paid or released. Prompt-payment obligations remain subject to applicable holdback duties. A prescribed notice of non-payment is not a substitute for a lien-fund release analysis.
A practical release record
Identify the fund and work period, governing contract, applicable certificate or publication, triggering date, lien searches and written notices, discharge or security, and the amount otherwise payable. Record who checked each item and retain the evidence. A worksheet balance is arithmetic; it does not certify a safe release.
Pending legislation and existing rights
The pending prompt-payment framework does not make the existing lien statute's holdback requirements optional. Apply the currently operative law to the fund, even where the new payment and adjudication procedures are not yet available.
Use the current Construction Remedies Act's actual triggering event and the applicable interpretation and service rules. Learn's tools do not calculate New Brunswick deadlines, and anticipated prompt-payment periods are not displayed as operative clocks.
Questions about this guide
What holdback rate applies in New Brunswick?
The Construction Remedies Act generally requires 10% holdback. Its holdback provisions distinguish substantial performance, completion or abandonment and relevant contract or subcontract certificates. The applicable 60-day period does not run from the invoice merely because that invoice records a holdback deduction.
When can the holdback be released?
Keep the base holdback, subsequent work, registered liens, written notices and any discharge or security under review. Statutory conditions and whether money is otherwise payable determine release; prompt-payment legislation awaiting proclamation does not defer these existing duties. The Act also provides mechanisms for particular holdback releases and security. Check the actual contract, publication or certificate evidence and the applicable part of the Act before treating a general period as permission to release an entire project fund.
Is a clean lien search enough to release all holdback?
No. The statutory period and trigger, relevant fund, written notices, discharge or security, contractual entitlement and other statutory conditions all need checking. Keep the evidence for the particular release.
Read the shared explanation
Compare the general concepts, then return to the local rules before acting. Each tool states its supported scope.
Open the general guideSources & scope
Edition: 9 October 2026. General education, not advice on a specific contract. Confirm the current law, project scope and transition before relying on a deadline. This edition has not been represented as independently reviewed by a lawyer.
Construction Remedies Act — current lien and holdback lawConstruction Prompt Payment and Adjudication Act — enacted textNew Brunswick — Acts not yet proclaimed and proclamation schedulesSource register & editorial method