First-pass owner pay-application drafting

The job

The project manager at a US general contractor doing about $5–10M a year — often the owner wearing a PM hat, or one person who also writes RFIs, stamps submittals, walks change packages, and answers the superintendent at 6 p.m. There is no billing clerk whose only job is the monthly owner pay app. Once a month (or per the contract period) someone has to turn last period’s certified G702/G703, the current schedule of values, every executed change that belongs on this bill, the super’s % progress notes, and stored-materials invoices/photos into a package the architect will review and the owner will pay against. If the first pass is a vague “bill 60%,” the architect kicks it back. If a fluent draft invents line percents, phantom change orders, or stored-materials dollars that are not on the site, you have worse than a late app — you have a certified-looking lie waiting for a signature.

This job is use an agent, not build a model. The PM already has a desk: the last certified G702/G703 PDF (or Excel that became it), the schedule of values the architect already has, signed G701 change orders (and any CCD amounts the contract says may bill), field % notes or a short progress walk sheet, stored-materials backup, and Word/Excel/PDF for the draft. The agent sits in the assemble-and-draft step only. It does not invent percent complete. It does not invent stored materials. It does not notarize. It does not become the Architect’s Certificate for Payment. An unsigned AI draft is not a pay application.

Without an agent the work is still the same: open last period’s certified app, roll Column D from prior D+E, enter this period’s work and stored materials, recompute Column G, transfer the rollup to G702, fill the Change Order Summary from executed COs only, apply retainage per the contract, sign, notarize, submit with G703 and backups.

What G702 and G703 are. Official AIA G702–1992 summary: G702 and G703–1992 provide forms on which the contractor can apply for payment and the architect can certify that payment is due. The contractor shows the status of the contract sum to date — total dollar amount of work completed and stored to date, retainage (if any), previous payments, a change-order summary, and the current payment requested. G703 breaks the contract sum into portions per a schedule of values prepared by the contractor as required by the general conditions. Designed for a Project where the Contractor has a direct Agreement with the Owner; procedures for use are covered in A201, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction. G702 serves as both the contractor’s application and the architect’s certification: if the application is properly completed and acceptable, the architect’s signature certifies to the owner that payment in the amount indicated is due; the form also allows the architect to certify a different amount with explanation. Official G702 summary note: The AIA does not publish a standard schedule of values form.

How the package is completed (official instructions). Official G702–1992 instructions: after the Contractor completes G703, transfer summary information to G702; the Contractor signs G702, has it notarized, and submits it together with G703 to the Architect; the Architect reviews and, if acceptable, completes the Architect’s Certificate for Payment on G702. The Architect may certify a different amount than applied for, pursuant to A201 §§ 9.5 and 9.6; the Architect should initial all figures on G702 and G703 changed to conform to the amount certified and attach an explanation. The Owner makes payment directly to the Contractor based on the amount certified on G702; payment should not be made to any other party unless specifically indicated on G702. AIA’s how-to article: start with the Continuation Sheet; columns include work completed this period and stored materials; Column G Total Completed and Stored follows D+E+F style totals; for fixed retainage, Column I is often left blank and retainage is handled on G702 Lines 5a/5b; for variable retainage, use Column I on G703; list change orders as line items on G703 and fill the Change Order Summary on G702. Retainage percentage comes from the contract (and applicable law) — this page does not invent a “typical” rate.

G703 columns (official instructions — click these, do not invent). From the G703–1992 instructions:

Column	What the instructions say
A / B / C	Identify portions of the Project and scheduled values consistent with the SOV submitted to the Architect at commencement (or as subsequently adjusted). Breakdown may be by sections of the Work or by Subcontractors; stay consistent. Column C is subtotaled/totaled across pages; initially equals the original Contract Sum; may be adjusted by Change Orders.
D	Amount of completed Work covered by the previous application (previous columns D & E). Do not enter previous Column F (Materials Presently Stored) into D.
E	Value of Work completed this application, including materials that were listed under previous Column F and are now incorporated into the Project.
F	Materials Presently Stored for which payment is sought. Recalculate each period. Covers newly stored materials and previously stored materials not yet incorporated. Mere Owner payment for stored materials does not deduct from F — only as materials are incorporated into the Project is their value moved from F into E.
G	Total of D + E + F. Percent complete = G ÷ C.
H	Column C minus Column G (balance to finish).
I	Normally only where variable retainage is permitted on a line-item basis. Leave blank when a constant retainage is withheld from the overall contract amount.

Change Orders on the continuation sheet. Official G703 instructions: although Change Orders could be incorporated by rewriting the whole schedule of values each time, that is not normally done. Usually Change Orders are listed separately — on their own G703 or at the end of the basic schedule. The original contract adjusted by Change Orders is entered in the appropriate location on G702 (or G732 for CM-Adviser). Construction Change Directives: amounts not in dispute that have been included in CCDs should be incorporated into one or more Change Orders; amounts remaining in dispute are dealt with under A201 § 7.3 (or A232 § 7.3 for the parallel family). Sister job for the change package itself: first-pass change-order drafting.

A201 Article 9 payment context (from the official summary — no invented clause text). Official A201–2017 summary on Article 9 Payment and Completion:

• § 9.2 — changes to the schedule of values must be submitted to the Architect and will be used as the basis for reviewing subsequent applications for payment.
• § 9.3.1 — releases and waivers of liens may be required to accompany an application for payment.
• § 9.4.1 — the Architect has three options: (1) certify the full amount of the Application; (2) certify a portion and notify the Contractor and Owner of reasons for withholding the rest; or (3) withhold certification of the entire Application and notify reasons.

G702 instructions point to §§ 9.5 and 9.6 when the Architect certifies a different amount. For contractor study of the full payment procedures with G702/G703, use the official A201–2017 preview PDF — this page does not invent section text beyond what the summary and G702/G703 instructions state.

This job is not WIP, not AP invoices, not a change order, and not a field daily.

• Not the WIP schedule. Sister job: WIP schedule and over/under-billing draft. That seat is the controller’s monthly percentage-of-completion / cost-to-cost schedule for bank, surety, and books — earned revenue vs billings, estimates to complete, overbillings / underbillings. A G702 % on an SOV line is billing documentation toward the owner; it is not a substitute for cost-to-cost earned revenue. Confusing pay-app percent with WIP percent is how both seats become fiction. This page drafts the owner progress-billing package; the controller owns the WIP.
• Not AP invoice coding. Sister job: controller invoices. That seat is money out — coding and matching supplier invoices and sub pay apps into commitments. This seat is money in — the GC’s application to the owner.
• Not a change order. Official G701–2017 is the signed agreement on Work, Contract Sum/GMP, and Contract Time. Sister job: first-pass change-order. Signed COs (and eligible CCD amounts) feed the pay app’s Change Order Summary and G703 CO lines; a draft pay app does not invent a CO.
• Not an RFI, submittal, or meeting minutes. G716 is information only. Sister seats: RFI, submittal, meeting-minutes. Minutes may track “pay app due Friday”; they are not the bill.
• Not a superintendent daily. Sister job: daily field report. Dailies and progress notes inform % complete; they do not become Column E by themselves.

Why a $5–10M GC still does this. A late or sloppy pay app is cash-flow pain, architect rejection, and a fight at closeout when the certified history does not match the last G701. There is no PE rolling every SOV line. There is one PM, last month’s PDF, a walk sheet from the super, three signed COs, and a notary appointment. That is why the first-pass draft after real attachments is the job — and why the human still owns every percent, every stored-materials dollar, retainage per the contract, the notarized signature, and the submit.

Use

This is a use workflow. You do not train a model. You do not ask it to invent % complete, invent a change-order number, invent stored-materials dollars, or notarize. You give it last period’s certified app plus this period’s notes and backups, you get a draft G703 + G702 rollup, you click every line against field reality and the last certified numbers before anyone notarizes.

1. Confirm the instrument and the period. Are you on AIA G702/G703 (direct Owner–Contractor) or a parallel form the contract names? What is Application No., period from/to, and Project? Official G702 is designed for Contractor with a direct Agreement with Owner; procedures live in A201.
2. Gather only this period’s inputs. Last certified G702 + G703 (the architect-signed set, not a rejected draft); current schedule of values (including any § 9.2 changes already submitted to the Architect); executed Change Orders (G701) that belong on this bill — and CCD amounts not in dispute only if the contract / G703 instructions path says they are already into Change Orders; field % progress notes or walk sheet you trust for this period; stored-materials backup (invoices, photos, location) for Column F; prior payment certificates / amounts already on G702; contract retainage terms (fixed vs variable; Lines 5a/5b vs Column I); lien waiver / release forms if § 9.3.1 / the Owner requires them with the application. Do not feed “the whole job folder” and hope.
3. Separate facts the files show from calls only a human may make. Prior D+E rollup, original Contract Sum, and executed CO dollars can be drafted from uploads. Percent complete / Column E dollars, Column F stored-materials dollars, and whether a CO belongs on this app are the PM’s call — pulled from the field and the signed instruments, not from model memory. If a line’s progress is unknown, write unknown — PM to complete, do not invent 73%.
4. Feed the agent those files plus your template. Your G703 column layout (or Excel SOV that maps to it) and G702 field list. Prompt shape: draft one G703 Continuation Sheet and G702 rollup for this Application only; start from the last certified app; set Column D from previous D+E only — never move previous F into D; enter this-period Work (E) and Materials Presently Stored (F) only from uploaded notes/backup or PM-supplied cells; Column G = D+E+F; % = G/C; H = C−G; leave Column I blank unless the contract uses variable line-item retainage; list Change Orders separately (own block or end of schedule) from executed COs in the upload — do not rewrite the whole SOV; transfer summary to G702 (contract sum, net COs, completed and stored, retainage per contract terms on Lines 5a/5b or Column I, previous certificates, current payment due); if a figure is not in the upload, write unknown — PM to complete; do not invent % complete, stored materials, or CO numbers; do not notarize; do not call this the Architect’s Certificate; footer: “Draft only — PM owns every percent, retainage, notarized signature, and submit.”
5. Human edit before the notary or the architect sees it. Open last certified G703 beside the draft. Confirm every SOV line’s % against the walk / notes — models invent fluent percents. Confirm Column D did not swallow prior stored materials. Confirm Column F only has materials still stored (not yet incorporated) with backup you can hand the architect. Confirm Change Order Summary matches signed G701s (and eligible CCD→CO amounts), not PCOs still in review. Recalculate G702 Lines yourself (original sum, net COs, sum to date, total completed and stored, retainage, prior certificates, current due). Confirm retainage rate and whether Column I or Lines 5a/5b apply — from the contract, not from a blog. Confirm lien waivers / releases if required travel with the package.
6. Sign, notarize, submit — human only. Official G702 instructions: Contractor signs, has it notarized, submits with G703 to the Architect. The agent does not e-sign for you and does not notarize. Do not email the architect a raw model draft as “Application No. __.” Attach the backups the contract / Division 01 expect.
7. Log the way you already do. Update your billing log: Application No., period, amount requested, date submitted, architect action (certified full / portion / withheld — § 9.4.1), amount certified, date paid. When the certified set returns, that PDF is next month’s starting point — not an uncertified draft. Sister seats stay separate: coding sub G702s is controller invoices; month-end earned vs billed is WIP.

Expected shape of the gain: less time turning last month’s certified PDF plus this period’s notes into a readable first-pass G703/G702 the PM can edit. That is not “the model billed the job.” There is no published, independent hours-saved or accuracy number for a $5–10M GC first-pass pay-app draft that this page will invent. Time one of your billing periods (draft + your edit vs writing cold) before you change anything you pay for.

Build

A general-purpose model that can read PDFs and spreadsheets can draft a G703 line table and G702 rollup from a prior certified app plus this period’s notes. Whether a line is really 40% or 55%, whether stored materials are still in the yard, whether a PCO belongs on this bill, and whether retainage follows Lines 5a/5b or Column I, need a person. Do not treat the draft as notarized, and do not build from invented percents or phantom COs.

A workable v1: a prompt template that returns one pay-app package — G703 rows mapped to the prior certified SOV, Column D rolled from prior D+E only, E/F fields sourced only from uploads or PM cells, G/H computed, Column I blank unless variable retainage is flagged, Change Order block from executed COs only, G702 summary transfer, flags (% not in notes / stored materials missing backup / CO not executed / prior F incorrectly in D / retainage rule unclear / draft — not notarized), and a “PM owns percent, retainage, signature, submit” footer. Keep the prior certified PDF and this period’s notes with the draft file. Require “not in the uploaded files” instead of filling a gap.

Do not build a custom classifier this quarter. Do not fine-tune. Do not connect a model to auto-email the architect or auto-notarize. Last period’s certified set and this period’s notes are the only corpus that matters.

Deploy

1. Pick five recently certified pay apps you still stand behind — one clean monthly progress, one with heavy stored materials, one with several new Change Orders, one where the architect certified a different amount (§ 9.4.1 / §§ 9.5–9.6 path), one quiet period that was mostly carry-forward.
2. Run the agent on the prior certified G702/G703 + that period’s notes/backup/COs only (no later emails that reveal the final certified numbers unless you are testing edit, not prophecy). Time upload, draft, and your edit.
3. Diff the draft against what you actually submitted / what was certified. Record invented % complete, invented CO numbers or dollars, prior F wrongly rolled into D, stored materials without backup, retainage math that ignored the contract, and G702 totals that did not tie to G703.
4. Decide using a rule set in advance: no draft goes to the notary or the architect unedited; every % and every stored-materials dollar must exist in the notes/backup or a PM-supplied cell; every CO on the summary must be executed in the upload; if the model invents five fluent percents on the clean package, it is not ready.

Use your real last certified PDF and your real walk notes, not a vendor demo. Keep the workflow only if the package you would notarize is still something you would put your name on.

Manage

What “good” looks like

• A named human edits every draft, owns every SOV percent and stored-materials dollar, notarizes, and submits.
• Raw model text is never emailed to the architect or owner as the Application for Payment.
• The upload includes the last certified app and this period’s notes/backup actually used — not a memory of “typical billing.”
• Owner pay app vs WIP vs AP invoices stay distinct. Sister seats stay those jobs.
• Proposal / PCO vs executed G701 vs CCD stay distinct on the Change Order Summary.
• Architect certification is the architect’s seat (§ 9.4.1 options). An AI draft is not certified.
• If you already have a billing / SOV workbook or PM app, the agent drafts into that. This page does not sell a new one.

Who owns the seat

The PM / owner-PM owns the contractor’s application, every percent complete, retainage per the contract, the notarized signature, and the submit. On a $5–10M GC that is one person and the laptop they already use. The superintendent owns the field progress facts that inform Column E. The controller may reconcile the certified billing total into the books and the WIP billings-to-date column — that is not drafting the owner package. The architect reviews and may certify full, portion, or none (§ 9.4.1). The owner pays the certified amount to the contractor (G702 instructions). An agent does not become any of those seats.

When to skip the agent (what not to automate)

• You do not have last period’s certified G702/G703. Do not ask a model to reconstruct billing history from memory.
• You have no field progress notes and no stored-materials backup. Do not invent Column E or F.
• Retainage, lien-waiver, or statutory billing rules you have not opened in the contract / Division 01 / applicable law. Human and counsel.
• Final payment, release of retainage disputes, or stop-payment fights. Human and counsel.
• You expected the model to notarize, to certify, or to email the owner. Wrong seat.
• The pay-app habit is already a clean Excel roll-forward and typing is not the bottleneck. Leave it.

How to stand it up this quarter

Use the model you already have access to. Drop in last month’s certified G702/G703 plus this period’s walk notes plus signed COs plus stored-materials backup plus your SOV headings. Edit every line, recalculate, notarize, submit. Repeat next period. Keep the workflow only if the package is still something you would put your name and notary stamp on. Do not buy a pay-app product to complete this job.

Citations

Tools are citations, not new brand pages. Do not invent vendor homepages. This page does not create a Procore, Autodesk, Sage, Foundation, QuickBooks, Bill.com, PayAppPro, Mastt, or other billing / project-controls vendor listing.

• AIA G702–1992 summary — contractor application + architect certification; contract-sum status (completed/stored, retainage, prior payments, CO summary, current request); G703 breaks sum per SOV; designed for direct Owner–Contractor Agreement; procedures in A201; architect may certify a different amount with explanation; AIA does not publish a standard schedule of values form.
• AIA G702–1992 instructions — complete G703 first, transfer to G702; contractor signs, notarizes, submits with G703; architect reviews and completes Certificate for Payment; may certify different amount per A201 §§ 9.5 and 9.6 (initial changed figures, attach explanation); owner pays contractor based on certified amount.
• AIA G703–1992 instructions — columns A–I as tabled above; prior F never into D; F recalculated each period; incorporation moves value from F to E; COs usually listed separately; CCD amounts not in dispute → Change Order(s); disputed per A201 § 7.3.
• How to complete the G702 (AIA Contract Documents learn article) — start with Continuation Sheet; Column G style totals; fixed retainage often via G702 Lines 5a/5b with Column I blank; variable retainage via Column I; list COs on G703 and Change Order Summary on G702. Practice/process article — your contract wins on retainage %.
• AIA A201–2017 summary — keystone general conditions; Article 9 Payment: § 9.2 SOV changes to Architect as basis for subsequent apps; § 9.3.1 releases/waivers may accompany application; § 9.4.1 architect may certify full, certify portion with reasons, or withhold entire Application with reasons; official preview PDF.
• AIA G701–2017 / G714–2017 — executed change vs directive before agreement. Sister job: first-pass change-order. Signed COs feed the pay app; the pay app is not a G701.
• AIA G716–2004 — RFI; neither request nor response authorizes extra cost or time. Sister job: first-pass RFI.
• AIA G-Series catalog — G702/G703 among contract-administration forms.
• Excel, Word, PDF, email — SOV workbook, draft package, notarized submit. If they already have a billing app, the agent drafts into that. No new vendor page on this site. Sister seats: WIP (controller — earned vs billed), invoices (AP / sub pay apps in), meeting-minutes, daily report.

Watch-outs

• Invented % complete, stored materials, and phantom change orders. Models write fluent “Drywall 72% — $48,200; CO-12 +$15,000; stored HVAC $22,000” lines that are not in the walk notes, the signed G701, or the yard invoice. Same failure mode as legal citation hallucination: Dahl, Magesh, Suzgun & Ho, Large Legal Fictions, 16 J. Legal Analysis 64 (2024) (arXiv:2401.01301, doi:10.1093/jla/laae003) — public LLMs, asked verifiable questions about federal cases, hallucinated often and often could not tell. Those percentages are legal-case questions, not pay-app accuracy; do not import them as a construction performance rate. Do import the habit: every percent, every stored-materials dollar, and every CO on the draft is unverified until you open the last certified app, the field notes, and the signed instruments. Blank / “PM to complete” is honest; a confident fake Column E is not.
• Rolling prior Column F into Column D. Official G703 instructions forbid it. Stored materials stay in F until incorporated; then they move into E. A model that “simplifies” history will break the ledger.
• Billing a PCO that is not a G701. Official G701 is the signed agreement. Official G714 is the directive path; undisputed CCD amounts go into Change Orders before they behave like SOV CO lines. Do not put a trailer handshake on the Change Order Summary.
• Mixing this seat with WIP or AP. Pay-app % ≠ cost-to-cost earned revenue (WIP). Owner application ≠ coding sub invoices (invoices).
• Invented retainage rates. Retainage % and fixed vs variable treatment come from the contract (and applicable law). Official how-to: fixed rate → often Lines 5a/5b with Column I blank; variable → Column I. Do not cite third-party blogs for a “typical” rate as if it were AIA.
• Treating an AI draft as certified or notarized. Official path: contractor signs and notarizes; architect certifies (full, portion, or withhold — § 9.4.1). Unsigned AI is not a pay app.
• Unsigned / unedited AI to the architect or owner. Fluent, late, and wrong is worse than a short human roll-forward. Do not let the model send.
• Do not replace the PM. The agent drafts from the last certified app and this period’s notes. The PM still owns every percent, retainage math, notarized signature, and submit.

Verdict

Yes — a $5–10M US GC should run this job this quarter if owner progress billing already starts as last period’s certified G702/G703, the SOV, signed changes, and field progress notes; the bottleneck is turning that stack into a readable first-pass Continuation Sheet and G702 rollup; and a person will still own every percent complete, retainage per the contract, the notarized signature, and the submit. Use an agent to draft an AIA G702/G703 progress payment package from the last certified application, schedule of values, signed changes, and field progress notes; the PM owns percent complete, retainage, notarized signature, and submit. Skip this quarter if you expected the model to invent % complete or stored materials, to notarize or certify, to replace the WIP or AP seats, or to email raw drafts to the architect; or if you were about to buy a pay-app product you do not already have. Do not publish this page as a vendor listing.