Receiving payment is an important piece of any for-profit business. And construction contractors are no exception. But sometimes payments do not arrive on time (or, worse yet, not at all), even when a contractor has done everything right.

Ensuring that owners have the ability to pay invoices when they become due is an important upfront risk mitigation strategy that can help reduce future risks of non-payment. Although it is not possible to entirely remove this risk, there are options to help reduce it. This article will highlight some of the options to help increase payment security, both before and during the Project, to reduce the risk of non-payment for work that is otherwise properly performed. This article does not cover the entire waterfront of available options, including liens (which could be a separate topic for an entire thesis). But this article nonetheless provides some practical options for consideration to reduce payment risks.