Subcontractor Pay Application Checklist

Steps a project engineer or project accountant runs to process a subcontractor pay application from receipt through funding, including SOV reconciliation, lien waiver collection, and certified payroll verification on prevailing-wage jobs.

5 sections 20 steps Collects data
1

Pay Application Intake

  1. Confirm pay app received by cutoff
    • Most subcontracts set a monthly cutoff (typically the 25th) for pay app submission. Late submissions get held to the next cycle. Verify the AIA G702 / G703 (or owner-required form) arrived through the contracted channel — Procore Invoicing, GCPay, Textura, or email.

  2. Verify subcontract and exhibits are current
    • Pull the executed subcontract, latest change orders, and bonding documentation. Pay app values cannot exceed the contract sum plus approved COs — a common rejection reason is billing against an unsigned PCO.

  3. Capture pay application metadata
    Collects text Collects date Collects number Collects file
  4. Confirm prevailing-wage status
    • Federal Davis-Bacon and state "little Davis-Bacon" jobs require certified payroll (WH-347) tied to each pay period. If this project carries a wage determination, the certified-payroll review path activates downstream.

    Collects list
2

Schedule of Values Reconciliation

  1. Reconcile G703 line items against the SOV
    • Confirm each G703 line matches the approved schedule of values — no new line items, no reallocation between codes without a written SOV revision. Front-loading is the most common dispute on early pay apps.

  2. Verify percent complete with the superintendent
    • Walk the work-in-place with the area super or foreman. Compare to last month's reported percent complete and the three-week look-ahead. If billed percent exceeds observed install, kick back for revision before routing.

    Collects list
  3. Return pay app for revision
    • Issue a written rejection in Procore / GCPay with the disputed line items and observed percent. The sub resubmits; the pay-period clock restarts per the subcontract's terms.

  4. Validate stored materials documentation
    • Stored materials require bill of sale, photos, off-site storage agreement (if applicable), insurance rider naming the owner, and segregation/tagging on site. Owners commonly reject stored materials lacking any one of these.

  5. Confirm retainage held per contract
    • Verify retainage rate (commonly 5% or 10%, with reduction at 50% complete on some contracts) and that it is calculated on this period's billing plus stored materials per the subcontract language.

3

Lien Waiver Collection

  1. Collect conditional partial waiver for current period
    • Use the state's statutory form where required (CA Civil Code 8132 conditional progress, FL 713.20, TX statutory). Conditional partial waiver is required with this pay app; unconditional partial covers the prior period now being paid.

    Collects file
  2. Collect unconditional waiver for prior payment
    • The unconditional partial covers funds the sub has now received. Do not release the current pay app's check without the prior period's unconditional in hand — this is the gotcha that creates double-payment exposure.

    Collects file
  3. Collect lower-tier sub and supplier waivers
    • Cross-reference the sub's preliminary notice list (20-day notices in CA, NOC parties in FL, etc.) against waivers received. Any noticing party without a waiver this cycle is an open lien-rights exposure — flag for joint check or bond claim review.

4

Compliance Verification

  1. Verify certificate of insurance is current
    • Check GL, WC, Auto, and any project-specific endorsements (additional insured, waiver of subrogation, primary and non-contributory). A lapsed COI mid-project is a stop-payment trigger and a contract default event.

  2. Review WH-347 certified payroll for the period
    • On Davis-Bacon and state prevailing-wage jobs, verify each worker's classification matches the wage determination, fringe rates are correct, and the Statement of Compliance is signed. Missing or wrong-classification certified payroll is the most common DOL audit finding.

    Collects file
  3. Confirm OSHA 10/30 and site-access training
    • Federal projects and many states (NY, CT, MA, MO) require OSHA 10 for workers and OSHA 30 for supervisors within the last 5 years. Confirm rosters in HammerTech / ISNetworld match the workers on the certified payroll.

  4. Apply pending back-charges and offsets
    • Review open back-charges in the project log: cleanup, damaged work, missed schedule milestones, hoisting, dumpster usage. Notice of back-charge must have been issued in writing per the subcontract before deduction; tally the period's offset against this pay app.

5

Approval and Funding

  1. Route to project manager for approval
    • PM reviews the reconciled G703, COR adjustments, retainage calculation, and any back-charges. Approval routes to project executive on amounts above the PM's authority threshold (commonly $100K or contract-defined).

  2. Issue final approval decision
    Collects list Collects signature Collects paragraph
  3. Submit owner pay app and request funding
    • Roll the approved sub pay app into the consolidated owner G702 / G703. Most owner contracts have a 25th-of-month submission and 30-day net pay; confirm the funding draw aligns with the prime contract's prompt-pay schedule.

  4. Release payment to the subcontractor
    • Release ACH or check after owner funds clear. Most state prompt-pay statutes require pay-when-paid releases within 7-10 days of GC receipt. Issue joint checks where lower-tier waivers are still outstanding and a noticing party is at risk.

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Sections 5
Steps 20
Category Construction
Price Free to start
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