The AIA Document G702, Application and Certificate for Payment, is the standard form used to request progress payments on commercial construction projects. It summarizes the financial status of the contract: original amount, changes, total completed and stored to date, retainage withheld, previous payments, and current amount due. Every number on this form must be correct and must tie to your G703 continuation sheet.
Contractors submit the G702 with the G703 continuation sheet each billing period. The architect or owner representative reviews it, verifies the math against the schedule of values and prior pay apps, and either approves or rejects it. Rejection cycles are expensive: a single math error on Line 4, which must match G703 totals, can delay payment by a full billing cycle. That means 30 extra days of carrying the cost yourself.
What the G702 Is and When You Use It
The G702 is the summary page. The G703 is the detail page that backs it up. They go together; you never submit one without the other. On most commercial projects you submit a pay application once a month, tied to a billing cutoff date in the contract. The G702 is also the document the architect signs to certify that the work shown is complete and correct, which is what authorizes the owner to release payment.
If your contract is written on AIA Document A102 or A201, the G702 and G703 are almost certainly the required billing forms. Even on non AIA contracts, many owners still request them because they are familiar and standardized. Knowing this form cold is one of the most useful skills a project manager or controller has.
The Nine Lines, Top to Bottom
The form has nine numbered lines that build on each other. Each line depends on the one before it, and the architect checks that they tie together before signing. Getting the order right matters. Here is the field by field breakdown.
- Line 1, Original Contract Sum: The contract amount as signed. This never changes for the life of the project.
- Line 2, Net Change by Change Orders: The cumulative net of all approved change orders to date, additions minus deductions. This must equal the sum of approved COs in your log.
- Line 3, Contract Sum to Date: Line 1 plus Line 2. This is your current contract value.
- Line 4, Total Completed and Stored to Date: The value of work in place plus materials stored on site or properly warehoused, from the G703 column totals. This is the line that ties to your continuation sheet.
- Line 5, Retainage: The portion withheld from completed work and from stored materials. Commonly 10 percent, sometimes reducing to 5 percent after 50 percent completion per the contract.
- Line 6, Total Earned, Less Retainage: Line 4 minus Line 5. What you have actually earned so far.
- Line 7, Less Previous Certificates for Payment: The sum of all prior approved pay apps. Line 6 from the previous billing.
- Line 8, Current Payment Due: Line 6 minus Line 7. The new money this period.
- Line 9, Balance to Finish, Including Retainage: Line 3 minus Line 4. What is left on the contract, including retainage still held.
How It Ties to the G703 Continuation Sheet
Line 4 is where the G702 and G703 meet. The G703 lists every line item on your schedule of values, with columns for scheduled value, work completed from previous applications, work completed this period, materials presently stored, completed and stored to date, retainage, and balance to finish. The column totals at the bottom of the G703 must equal Line 4 on the G702. If they are off by a dollar, the architect will kick the pay app back.
Change orders flow the same way. Each approved CO becomes a new line item on your G703 continuation sheet, billed just like original scope. The net of those CO line items rolls up into G702 Line 2. Keeping your CO log, your G703, and your G702 in lockstep is the core discipline of construction billing, and it is exactly where most errors happen.
Common Rejection Reasons and the Math Behind Them
The most common rejection is a Line 4 mismatch with the G703 totals, usually caused by adding a row on the G703 and forgetting to update the column total, or by retyping a number that was already linked. The fix is to never hand key totals; link them or use software that calculates them.
Retainage errors on Line 5 are the second most common. The mistake is usually applying one retainage rate when the contract calls for two, one for completed work and a different rate for stored materials, or a step down after 50 percent completion. Read the retainage clause in your contract before you build the pay app, not after the architect rejects it.
Overbilling catches people too. If Line 4 jumps more than the project visibly progressed this month, the architect will ask for backup. Always be able to walk the architect through the G703 line items that moved and why. A clean, defensible pay app gets signed fast. A padded one gets questioned, delayed, and remembered.
Treat the G702 as a balance sheet, not a formality. Every number tells the story of where the project stands, and the architect reads it that way. Get the nine lines right, tie them to the G703, and you get paid on the schedule the contract promised.