Matt Madden Clarifies How Contractors and Subcontractors Can Legally Navigate Payment Disputes

July 28, 2026

Recent court guidance shows how construction contractors and subcontractors in Massachusetts can navigate payment disputes while fulfilling contractual and legal requirements. In a recent Bowditch alert, we detailed the case of J.C. Cannistraro, LLC v. Columbia Construction Co., where the Court upheld an arbitration award allowing a general contractor to recover a substantial portion of a payment it had been required to make after its rejection of the subcontractor’s invoices failed to comply fully with the Prompt Pay Act. Matt Madden shared with Construction Dive that despite Columbia’s victory, the case hinged on the contractor failing to fully comply with Massachusetts’ law. Here is an excerpt:

“Although the court ultimately allowed Columbia here to recoup the sums and affirm the arbitrator’s decision, it did affirm that its initial rejections didn’t comply with the statute, so it doesn’t excuse prompt pay compliance.”

Read the article “Dotted Line: What a recent Massachusetts ruling means for prompt payments in construction” on the Construction Dive website.