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Approved change orders that never reach a pay app
An approved change is only money once it is on the schedule of values and billed. Here is how to find the ones that never got there.
What it is
A change order is approved, the work is done, and the change never appears on the schedule of values or on a later payment application. The GC has nothing to pay because nothing was billed. On the standard AIA forms, approved changes are listed on the continuation sheet (G703) and their net total feeds line 2 of the application (G702).
How Main checks it
Main lists every approved change in your change-order log and looks for it on the schedule of values and on every pay application after its approval date, by change number first and then by amount and description. A change that appears nowhere is flagged with its approval date, its amount and the pay apps it is missing from.
A worked example Sample
SAMPLE: a synthetic project with made-up figures, to show the arithmetic. Not a real company.
Project “Harbor Street Clinic (SAMPLE)”. The change-order log has CO-07, approved on May 14 for $18,240.00. Pay apps 6, 7 and 8 were issued after that date.
| Pay app | Period end | CO-07 on the SOV? | CO-07 billed |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | May 31 | No | $0.00 |
| 7 | Jun 30 | No | $0.00 |
| 8 | Jul 31 | No | $0.00 |
Three pay apps after approval, CO-07 is on none of them: $18,240.00 of approved work not yet billed.
What to do
- Confirm the change is executed (signed), not only approved in principle.
- Add it to the schedule of values as its own line (AIA notes change orders are usually listed separately on the continuation sheet).
- Bill the completed portion on the next pay app.
Sources
- AIA Contract Documents, “Instructions: G703–1992, Continuation Sheet”
- AIA Contract Documents, “Completing payment applications” (G702 line by line)
Check your own numbers. Upload a change-order log and pay-app lines for one project to the free check: an automated preview, not reviewed by a person.