How to Fill Out an AIA G702/G703 Payment Application
A step-by-step guide to the G702 cover sheet and G703 continuation sheet — schedule of values, work completed, stored materials, retainage, and the certification.
What the G702 and G703 actually are
The AIA G702 "Application and Certificate for Payment" is the one-page cover sheet a contractor submits to get paid for a billing period. The G703 "Continuation Sheet" is the line-by-line breakdown behind it. Together they are the standard payment request on most commercial projects in the United States.
The G702 summarizes the money; the G703 shows the math. An owner or architect signs the G702 to certify that the work billed has actually been done.
Start with the schedule of values (G703)
Every G703 line is one item from your schedule of values — the agreed breakdown of the contract into billable pieces (mobilization, footings, slab, framing, electrical rough-in, and so on). The scheduled-value column lists each item, and the sum of that column equals your original contract sum.
- Work completed from previous applications, plus work completed this period.
- Materials presently stored on site but not yet installed.
- Total completed and stored to date, and the percentage of each line that is finished.
- The balance left to finish.
Carry the "previous" forward — never re-bill it
The single most common pay-app error is re-billing work that was already invoiced. Each application is cumulative: the "previous" column must equal the "total completed to date" from your last approved application, and this period bills only the new work. If your previous column drifts from the prior certificate, the whole application will bounce.
BuildControl carries the previous column forward automatically from the last approved application, so the cumulative math can't drift.
Retainage
Most contracts hold back a percentage of each payment — typically 5% or 10% — until the job is substantially complete. That withheld amount is retainage. On the G702 it reduces the current payment due, and it is released later, often at closeout or after the punch list is signed off. Track it per line, because some contracts reduce retainage on stored materials or after the job passes 50% complete.
The certification and signatures
The bottom of the G702 carries the contractor's certification: a sworn statement that the work covered by the application was completed per the contract documents and that money received on prior applications was used to pay subs and suppliers. The contractor signs, and on many projects has it notarized. The architect then certifies the amount actually approved — which can be less than the amount requested.
Common reasons a pay app gets rejected
- The "previous" column doesn't tie to the last certificate.
- Percent complete is ahead of what the field actually shows.
- Stored-materials billing has no invoices or bill of sale attached.
- A lien waiver from the prior period is missing.
- Change-order work is billed before the change order is executed.