How to check a pay app against field reports

Published 6 October 2026. Updated 6 October 2026.

A subcontractor or a general contractor usually submits a pay application every month. Each line says how much of the work is done, expressed as a percent of its scheduled value. The percent is a claim. The only way to know whether it is fair is to compare it with what is happening on site. This guide sets out a method you can run by hand with a spreadsheet and the superintendent's reports.

If you want the arithmetic checks first, see the pay app error checklist. If the schedule of values itself is the problem, read what a schedule of values is and how front loading works.

What you need before you start

• The pay application: the summary page and the continuation sheet with one row per schedule line (on the American Institute of Architects forms, G702 and G703).
• The previous pay application for the same job, so you can see what was already billed.
• The superintendent's daily or weekly reports for the billing period, plus any inspection notes or punch lists.
• The contract or subcontract, for the retainage rate and the change order terms.
• The change order log, if your contract uses one.

Keep all of it in one folder per job and period, with the files named by job and month. If a figure is questioned later, you will need to show which version you looked at.

Step 1: Rank the lines by dollar movement

Percent complete matters less than dollars. A 10 point jump on a small line is noise. A 10 point jump on a line worth a large share of the contract is the reason you are reading at all.

For each line, take this period's billing in dollars. It is the "this period" column, and you can cross-check it as the scheduled value times the change in percent since last month. Sort the list from the biggest dollar movement to the smallest. You will spend most of your time on the first ten rows.

Step 2: Translate each line into something countable

A percent is hard to check. A count is easy. For each large line, ask what the physical unit of progress is:

• Rooftop units set and connected, out of the total.
• Floors of ductwork or piping roughed in, out of the total.
• Cubic yards placed, linear feet installed, or square feet finished.
• Fixtures, panels or devices installed, out of the total.

Write the count next to the line. If the schedule line is too broad to count ("Mechanical, lump sum"), note that now. Broad lines are the hardest to check, because nobody can say what 70 percent of "Mechanical" means.

Step 3: Pull evidence from the field reports

Read the reports for the period and mark every sentence that names a line item, an area or a quantity. Copy each excerpt next to the matching line with its date. Good evidence names what was done, where, and ideally how much:

• "All 10 rooftop units set. Units 1 to 7 piped and connected; units 8 to 10 waiting on hookups. No startup yet." Strong. Countable.
• "Ductwork complete through level 4, level 5 half done." Strong.
• "Good progress on piping." Weak. No quantity, no location.

Keep the excerpt, not your memory of it. Anyone who reads your note should be able to see the sentence you relied on.

Step 4: Turn the evidence into a range

A count of units is not yet a percent of the line's value, because the stages of the work are rarely worth the same. Take the rooftop unit line from the excerpt above: ten units, all set, seven piped and connected, none started up.

Split the line's value by stage. One reasonable split is 60 percent for setting the units, 30 percent for piping and connections and 10 percent for startup and testing. That gives 60 + (30 x 7/10) + 0 = 81 percent. Another reasonable split, 55, 35 and 10, gives 55 + (35 x 7/10) + 0 = 79.5 percent. The split is your estimate, so report a range that covers the reasonable ones, such as 78 to 82 percent, rather than one number.

State your assumption in one line: "Assumes equal value per unit; setting 55 to 60 percent of the line, piping 30 to 35 percent, startup 10 percent and not started." That assumption is what a dispute will turn on, so write it down. If the contractor has a cost breakdown for the line, ask for it and use its split instead of yours.

Step 5: Compare claimed to supported

For each line, put three numbers side by side: claimed percent, supported range, and the gap in dollars between the claim and your range. If the claim sits inside the range, mark the line clean. If it sits above, the gap is the exposure. Report it as a range too: from the top of your range (the smallest gap) to the bottom (the largest).

On the first row, the claim is 92 percent of $310,000, or $285,200. The gap is 10 to 14 points, and 10 to 14 percent of $310,000 is $31,000 to $43,400.

Note the third row. A line with no usable evidence is neither clean nor over-claimed. It is a question. Do not invent a percent to fill the cell.

Step 6: Sort the exceptions and decide what to do

Rank the flagged lines by dollar exposure. For each one, pick an action:

1. Ask the claimant for backup: photos, delivery tickets, a breakdown of the line.
2. Ask the superintendent for a specific count or a walk of the area.
3. Visit the site if the exposure is large.
4. Adjust the line in the payment you certify, in line with your contract.
5. Accept the claim and record why.

Check your contract for what it allows you to do with a disputed amount and how fast. Some contracts set dates for notice of a dispute, and missing a date can matter. Ask your own counsel or accountant if you are unsure.

Step 7: Keep the record

Save the claimed figures, your range, the excerpts and the decision, line by line. Next month, start from last month's file: any line you reduced should show a visible reason, and any line you let through on thin evidence deserves a closer look when it climbs again.

Common ways this goes wrong

• Checking only the lines that were flagged last time. Over-claims move.
• Reading percent as time. A line can be 80 percent of the way through the schedule and 60 percent of the way through its value.
• Treating a quiet field report as proof of nothing wrong. Silence is not evidence either way.
• Skipping stored materials. Check delivery tickets and storage conditions before you pay for them.

How GroundClaim does this step

GroundClaim does the reading and comparing in steps 3 to 5, and ranks the result as in step 6. You give it the pay application (a spreadsheet, a Word or PDF table, or a scan or photo) and the field notes for the same period as free text. The field notes are searched for progress on each line, and every excerpt it quotes is checked word for word against your notes. For each line, the result is either a supported percent range with a stated assumption and the excerpts it relied on, or a note that the evidence is insufficient. It does not guess a percent when the notes are vague. Code works out the dollar gap between the claim and the range.

You get an exceptions memo ranked by dollar exposure and a line-by-line reconciliation that also shows the clean lines. Each pay application comes with a one-line recommendation, which is a suggestion only. What to do about each flag, step 6, stays with you: GroundClaim never accepts or rejects a pay app, and a flag is a reason to look, not grounds to withhold payment. A second, stronger AI model reviews every result, fixes what it can, and lists what is left for you to decide. Results are model output checked by code and by a second model; they are not verified by a person.

One pay application costs 25 credits. Create an account and try it on a closed-out project where you already know the answer.

Questions

How far apart can claimed and observed progress be?

There is no universal tolerance. Progress is a judgment, so expect a range. Decide in advance what gap on a large line is worth a phone call, and check your contract for any stated rules.

What if the field reports only say 'good progress'?

Treat the line as unsupported, not as clean. Ask the superintendent for specifics such as floors, units, linear feet or quantities, or walk the work yourself before you pay.

Should I check every line or only the big ones?

Start with the largest scheduled values and the lines that jumped most this period, then sweep the rest quickly for arithmetic errors. Small lines rarely justify a site visit.