Texas Prompt Pay on Public Jobs: Day 31, Day 46, and the 10-Day Clock Downstream
Three Clocks, Not One
Texas Government Code Chapter 2251 — the state's prompt payment law — does not give a public construction job one payment deadline. It gives it three, stacked on top of each other, and each one starts on a different date for a different party. A subcontractor who only knows "30 days" is tracking the wrong number, or the wrong half of it.
The Governmental Entity's Clock: the 31st Day, or the 46th
Under Section 2251.021, a payment from a state agency, county, municipality, school district, or other political subdivision is overdue on the 31st day after the latest of three events: the entity receives the goods, the service is completed, or the entity receives an invoice.
Subsection (b) changes that date for one specific group: a political subdivision whose governing body meets only once a month or less often. For those entities — a water district board, a small city council, a school board that meets monthly — the same payment isn't overdue until the 46th day after the same triggering event. The 15 extra days exist because the body that has to approve the voucher only convenes once a month, and the statute gives it one meeting cycle to act.
| Governing body meets | Payment overdue on | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| More than once a month | 31st day after goods/service/invoice (latest) | Gov't Code 2251.021(a) |
| Once a month or less often | 46th day after the same event | Gov't Code 2251.021(b) |
Texas Government Code 2251.021 — two different clocks for the same invoice, depending on how often the paying body meets.
- Covered payers under Chapter 2251 include state agencies, counties, municipalities, school districts, junior college districts, and other special-purpose districts.
- The 46-day exception turns on how often the entity's governing body meets — not its size, budget, or type of project.
- Both clocks run from whichever of the three triggering events (goods, service, or invoice) happens last — not from the invoice date alone.
The Subcontractor's Clock: 10 Days, All the Way Down
Once the governmental entity pays the general contractor, a second clock starts. Section 2251.022 requires the GC to pay each subcontractor's appropriate share no later than the 10th day after the GC receives the payment; the share is overdue on the 11th day.
Section 2251.023 repeats the same 10-day, 11th-day rule one tier further down, for whatever a subcontractor owes the supplier or sub-subcontractor below it. The clock resets at every level of the chain, each time triggered by that party's receipt of payment, not by the original invoice date.
Worked Through: A Site-Work Sub on a Water District Job
A sitework subcontractor finishes grading on a water district's lift station, and the district's office receives the pay application on November 2, 2026. The district's board meets once a month, so Section 2251.021(b) applies: the payment is overdue on the 46th day after November 2, which is December 18, 2026 — not the 31st day most contractors assume. Assume the district pays the general contractor on that date, right at the deadline. Section 2251.022 now gives the GC 10 days to turn that money around; the subcontractor's share must go out by December 28, 2026, and is overdue starting December 29.
| Event | Date | Governing rule |
|---|---|---|
| District receives pay application | Nov 2, 2026 | Triggering event |
| Payment overdue (board meets monthly) | Dec 18, 2026 | Gov't Code 2251.021(b), 46th day |
| GC receives payment | Dec 18, 2026 | — |
| Sub must be paid by | Dec 28, 2026 | Gov't Code 2251.022(a), 10th day |
| Sub's payment overdue | Dec 29, 2026 | Gov't Code 2251.022(b), 11th day |
46 days, then 10 more — the full chain on one public job, from invoice to the subcontractor's deadline.
What a Missed Deadline Actually Costs
Section 2251.025 puts interest on every one of these overdue payments, starting on the date the payment becomes overdue and running until the payment is mailed or electronically transmitted. The rate is fixed once a year — one percent plus the prime rate published in the Wall Street Journal on the first business day on or after July 1 of the preceding fiscal year — and that rate then applies to every payment that becomes overdue during that fiscal year.
We could not verify the specific percentage currently in effect against a dated, primary-source Wall Street Journal prime-rate quote, so no number is stated here. A contractor relying on this section should pull the rate the Texas Comptroller has posted for the fiscal year in which the payment became overdue, rather than assume last year's figure still applies.
This prompt-pay clock is separate from the deadline to protect lien rights on the same job. If you're tracking both on a Texas project, the free lien deadline calculator works out the lien date in English and Spanish — it's a calculation, not legal advice.
If you want the day-31-or-day-46 date, the 10-day pass-through date, and the date interest starts, laid out for one of your own jobs, email info@noumansadiq.com with the job's state and start date.
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