Effective August 1, 2026, Louisiana substantially revised its construction prompt-payment statute, La. R.S. § 9:2784. Act 822 expands the statute beyond downstream payments by contractors and subcontractors to establish payment requirements for owners, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers. The amendments create new payment deadlines, address disputed amounts, revise late-payment penalties and attorneys’ fee remedies, restrict contractual waiver, and extend the statute to residential construction.¹

Owners now face a firm payment deadline. When an owner receives a written payment request from a contractor for properly performed work or suitably stored or specially fabricated materials payable under the contract, the owner generally must pay the amount owed within 35 days, except for amounts properly withheld under law, the contract, or Section 2784.²

Subcontractors and suppliers will see payments move faster under the amended statute. Contractors and subcontractors previously had 14 days after receipt of payment to make required downstream payments. Act 822 reduces that period to seven days and requires payment for properly performed work or suitably stored or specially fabricated materials, including accrued interest to the extent of the recipient’s interest in the payment.³

A payment dispute will no longer justify withholding the entire amount due. If a good-faith dispute exists, the disputing owner, contractor, or subcontractor must still timely pay the undisputed amount. Act 822 also replaces the former penalty of 0.5% per day, capped at 15% of the outstanding balance, with a penalty of 1.5% per month. Although the monthly rate is lower, the amended statute eliminates the 15% cap. The penalty therefore continues to accrue until payment, qualifying mailing of payment, or entry of judgment.⁴

Other consequences of late payment have changed as well. A contractor, subcontractor, or supplier may bring an action to recover payments and penalties owed under Section 2784, and the court must award costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees to the prevailing party. The amended statute also declares any waiver of Section 2784 “absolutely null,” subject to a limited exception: owner-contractor agreements for construction or improvements to a single-family residence may extend the owner’s payment deadline up to 61 days after receipt of the payment request.⁵ Act 822 also eliminates the former blanket exclusion for residential improvements.⁶

There is another exception to the new deadlines. When an owner obtained a loan before receiving the contractor’s payment request to fund all or part of the project and satisfies the statutory requirements for requesting disbursement, payment is due on the later of 35 days after receipt of the contractor’s payment request or the fifth day after the owner receives the applicable loan proceeds. Act 822 also adds exclusions for specified agreements and services involving oil, gas, minerals, wells, mines, pipelines, and related facilities and confirms that Section 2784 does not supersede Louisiana’s separate public-contract prompt-payment requirements under La. R.S. § 38:2191.⁷

For those drafting Louisiana construction contracts, Act 822 warrants a fresh look at standard payment terms. Payment provisions should account for the new 35-day owner-payment deadline and seven-day downstream deadline and should not purport to waive Section 2784 except where expressly permitted. Withholding and dispute provisions should distinguish disputed from undisputed amounts. Contracts for financed projects should address the statute’s loan-disbursement provisions, and residential forms should be reviewed in light of the elimination of the former residential exclusion.

For subcontractors in particular, Act 822 provides clearer payment protections. The downstream payment period is cut from 14 to seven days; undisputed amounts must be paid despite a dispute over other amounts; and subcontractors have an express statutory right to recover payments and penalties, together with prevailing-party attorneys’ fees and costs. Subcontractors should ensure that invoices and project records clearly document amounts due for properly performed work and qualifying materials, as well as the timing of upstream payments.

Owners, contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers working on private Louisiana construction projects should review their contract forms and payment practices to ensure compliance with the amended statute.