How construction money stays connected to the project.
One structured payment process — from project setup to final payment.
On most projects, money and obligations travel separately. PayLocker changes the process, not the people: project money follows a clear, recorded pathway — into a project-specific account, and out only against verified claims and approved obligations.
Works alongside your building contract — it doesn’t replace it. Security & compliance
One process. Six steps.
Money enters the project by stage. Money leaves by approved obligation. Everything in between is visible and recorded — the foundation of obligation flow and construction payment governance.
- 01
Set up the project
Contract, stages and a project-specific account.
- 02
Verify every participant
No ambiguity about who is entitled to be paid.
- 03
Fund the project
Stage by stage, into the project’s own account.
- 04
Submit claims with evidence
Work claimed is work shown.
- 05
Approve
The right people sign off — every approval recorded.
- 06
Release payment
In the approved sequence, directly to verified accounts.
Money in — by stageMoney out — by approved obligation
Step 1
Set up the project.
Every PayLocker project starts with its own structure — and its own account.
A project begins with the things that already define the build: the contract, the payment stages, the budget and the parties. These are loaded in so every later claim, approval and payment can be checked against them.
Each project is then given a project-specific account — where its funds are received, held and released, separate from general business cash flow. Nothing about the contract changes; PayLocker adds payment governance alongside it.
Your contract stays your contract. PayLocker adds process, not paperwork.
Project-specific account createdStep 2
Verify every participant.
Before anyone can be paid, everyone is identified.
Every participant — builder, contractor, subcontractor, supplier — is verified through appropriate identity and business checks: legal and trading names, ABN or ACN, GST status, licence details and a nominated bank account.
This removes a quiet source of risk: ambiguity about who is entitled to be paid. When a payment is released, it goes to the verified account of the verified participant — not an unchecked number typed into an invoice.
Payments go to verified participants and their nominated accounts — nowhere else.
Identity & business checks passedStep 3
Fund the project.
Funds enter the project stage by stage — and stay connected to it.
When a stage falls due, the homeowner, principal or financier pays into the project’s account. The funds are now connected to the project they were paid for — visible against its stages, budget and obligations.
For homeowners, your project money stays connected to your project. For builders, incoming stage payments no longer double as the project’s informal bank.
Money in — by stage
Money out — by approved obligation
Funds connected to the projectStep 4
Submit claims with evidence.
Work claimed is work shown.
As work progresses, the builder, contractors and suppliers submit claims through PayLocker: progress claims for work performed, invoices for materials supplied — each made against the project’s stages, appointments and approved scope.
Claims carry evidence: photos, delivery records, certificates and supporting documents. Evidence lives with the claim, permanently, so “what was this payment for?” always has an answer. For contractors and suppliers, the pathway from claim to payment is visible at every step.
Every claim keeps its evidence — permanently on the record.
Submitted → Under reviewStep 5
Approve.
The right people sign off — and every sign-off is recorded.
Before any payment is released, the claim is approved by the people the project says must approve it: the builder, the client or principal, and — where relevant — certifiers or financiers.
PayLocker keeps roles cleanly separated. A certifier’s technical decision stays technical; commercial approval stays commercial; payment release is its own step. Every approval becomes part of the project’s permanent record — see multi-party approval.
Approvals are recorded decisions — not emails, texts and assumptions.
Builder ✓ → Client ✓ recordedStep 6
Release payment.
Approved, sequenced, and paid directly to the people entitled to it.
Once a claim is approved and funds are available, payment is released in the approved order, directly to the verified account of the entitled participant. Not into a general pool. To the person the project owes.
Where approved obligations exceed the available balance, PayLocker handles it transparently: payments process in order, a partial payment can be recorded with its outstanding balance visible, and the balance clears as further funds enter — see structured payment pathways.
Every payment is recorded — amount, recipient, approvals and timing.
Paid · Partially paid · QueuedEveryone sees what they’re entitled to see. No more, no less.
Visibility is permissioned by role — transparency without exposure.
Homeowners
Stage amounts, progress, approval and release status — without seeing the builder’s margin.
Builders
The full financial picture of their own project — including margin — supporting real discipline.
Contractors & suppliers
Their own quotes, claims and payment status — and nothing belonging to anyone else.
Financiers
Funds contributed, approved obligations, balances and progress — on a permissioned basis.
Built for obligation flow — not just cash flow.
Most payment tools move money. PayLocker governs how project money is held, approved and released.
Ordinary transfer
A bank transfer moves money — then the connection ends. It can’t link that money to a stage, a claim, an approval or the person ultimately entitled to it.
The PayLocker process
Stages govern the money in. Approved obligations govern the money out. Everything is verified, sequenced and recorded in between — payment integrity infrastructure that keeps funds connected to the project.
PayLocker supports and complements builders, banks, insurers, regulators and proper construction management — it does not replace them. Read our approach to payment governance and construction payment integrity.
Governance you can verify.
Every claim about how funds are handled is documented — and you can read it.
Every participant is verified before they can be paid, and payments are made only to nominated, verified accounts.
Every project’s funds are received, held and released through that project’s own project-specific account, separate from general business cash flow.
Every approval and payment is recorded — who, what, when — creating a permanent, reviewable project record.
Every party’s visibility is permissioned by role, so commercial confidentiality is respected by design.
Good questions. Straight answers.
The questions we hear most — the full detail lives in the complete FAQ.
Is PayLocker a bank?
Does the builder lose control of the project?
Who can see my financial information?
What if the account doesn’t cover every approved claim?
Does PayLocker replace my building contract?
Now you know how it works.
Put your next project on a payment process everyone can trust.
Not the account holder on your build? Ask your builder about PayLocker. · See pricing