Research by the National Specialist Contractors Council has revealed that 69% of subbies were not paid within 30 days by major contractors on public schemes.
The shock figure comes just two weeks after Cabinet Minister Francis Maude promised to put pressure on major contractors to pay their supply chain.
Across the whole of construction only 2% of suppliers were paid within the 30 day during the second quarter of 2011 – down from 7% in the previous three months.