What is the AIA G703?
The AIA G703 Continuation Sheet is the schedule of values attached to every G702 Application and Certificate for Payment. It breaks down the total contract sum into individual line items — one row per scope category — and shows how much of each line has been completed, stored, and certified to date.
The G702 (cover sheet) summarizes the totals. The G703 is where the actual audit happens. Every overbilling pattern — front-loading, stored materials fraud, retainage errors — is visible in the G703 columns if you know what to look for.
G703 columns explained
The total contract value allocated to this line item. All Column A values must sum to the original contract sum plus all executed change orders.
Dollar value of work completed and certified in prior pay applications. This column carries forward from the last certified pay app.
Dollar value of work completed during this payment period. Calculated as: Scheduled Value × (% complete this period − % complete previous period).
Dollar value of materials purchased and stored on-site or in a bonded warehouse that haven't been incorporated into the work yet. Requires supporting documentation.
Sum of columns C + D + E. The total amount earned on this line through the end of this pay period.
Column F divided by Column A. The cumulative completion percentage for this line item through the current pay period.
Column A minus Column F. How much contract value remains to be completed on this line item.
The amount withheld as retainage. Calculated as: Retainage % × Column F. Must match the retainage percentage specified in the contract.
The G703 math — line by line
Every line on a correctly completed G703 satisfies these relationships. Verifying them manually is the most time-consuming part of a draw review — but it's also where the most errors hide:
Column F = Column C + Column D + Column E
Total completed and stored = previous + this period + stored
Column G = Column F ÷ Column A
Percent complete = total earned ÷ scheduled value
Column H = Column A − Column F
Balance to finish = scheduled value − total earned
Column I = Retainage % × Column F
Retainage withheld = percentage × total earned
If any of these relationships don't hold on a given line, the pay app has a math error. On a 30-line schedule, that's 120 individual calculations to verify — most reviewers don't.
What the G703 doesn't show you
The G703 arithmetic tells you what was claimed. It doesn't tell you whether the claims are reasonable given the state of construction. Three categories of overbilling require judgment that goes beyond the columns:
Front-loading
A G703 where mobilization shows 100% completion in Pay App #1 but the project just started is mathematically correct — the column formulas all check out. The problem is that mobilization shouldn't be 100% in week one. Catching this requires knowing what typical completion curves look like for each scope category.
Construction sequencing violations
Electrical rough-in at 80% when mechanical rough-in is at 35% is a G703 that passes all the math checks but fails a basic sequencing test. These two trades are interdependent — electrical can't finish rough-in until mechanical is close to finished. The G703 can't flag this; you need to know the dependencies.
Completion percentage inflation
A G703 where every line item shows exactly 25%, 50%, or 75% complete is suspicious — real construction rarely proceeds in clean quarter-increments. This pattern indicates estimated rather than measured progress, but the math checks out fine.
How to verify a G703 in practice
A complete G703 review has two phases:
- 1
Math verification
Verify all four formulas for every line. Check that Column A sums to the contract sum. Verify retainage calculations. Flag any line where the numbers don't reconcile. This phase is mechanical and time-consuming — it's the part most reviewers shortcut.
- 2
Reasonableness review
Assess whether claimed completion percentages make sense given the pay app number, the project phase, and the dependencies between line items. Check stored materials claims against the documentation. Look for front-loading patterns. This phase requires construction knowledge and can't be fully automated — but it's faster when the math is already verified.
Most experienced reviewers can complete phase 2 in 15–20 minutes for a typical project. Phase 1, done carefully, takes 30–60 minutes for a 20-line G703. That's where the time goes — and where overbilling hides when reviewers cut it short.
Automate phase 1 — run phase 2 yourself
XOPON handles the G703 math verification, front-loading detection, stored materials analysis, and sequencing logic automatically — in under 60 seconds. Paste your schedule of values and get a full forensic report with exact dollar amounts before you certify.