What is the difference between the G702 and the G703?

The G702 is the summary and the certificate; the G703 is the detail. The G702 is a single page that rolls the whole application into a handful of figures: the contract sum, change orders, total completed and stored to date, retainage, previous payments, and the current amount due, plus the signature blocks where the contractor applies and the architect certifies. The G703 is the continuation sheet behind it, listing every line of the schedule of values with its scheduled value, the work completed this period and to date, any stored materials, and the retainage on each line. The G703 line totals add up to the summary figures on the G702, so the two forms always reconcile.

Who signs and certifies an AIA pay application?

Two parties, in sequence. The contractor completes and signs the application, certifying that the work covered by it has been done and that the amount requested is correct. The application then goes to the architect or engineer, who reviews it against the work in place and signs the Certificate for Payment, either for the full amount or for a reduced amount with an explanation. That certification is what authorizes the owner to pay. The owner pays against the certificate, not against the raw application, which is why a line the architect will not certify does not get paid that period even if the contractor billed it.

Do you have to use AIA forms to bill a construction project?

No, but the structure is near-universal. The AIA G702 and G703 are copyrighted forms, and many contractors use equivalent formats from their accounting software, a lender's template, or a custom spreadsheet. What matters is not the specific form but the structure it enforces: a summary that reconciles to a line-item continuation sheet driven by the schedule of values, with work completed, stored materials, and retainage tracked per line. Owners and lenders expect that structure whatever the form is printed on, because it is what lets them verify that a payment request matches the work actually in place.

Construction Glossary · Billing & Pay Apps

AIA G702 & G703Pay Applications

The two forms behind nearly every commercial progress payment: a one-page summary that gets certified, and the line-by-line sheet that proves it.

Definition

A pay application is a contractor's formal request for progress payment. On most commercial projects it uses two AIA forms: the G702 Application and Certificate for Payment, a one-page summary of the amount earned and due, and the G703 Continuation Sheet, the line-by-line breakdown from the schedule of values that supports it.

How the two forms reconcile

The G703 lines add up to the summary on the G702. On our $12.0M project, Application 8 shows $5.7M completed and stored, and after retainage and prior payments, $0.63M is due this period.

G703 — Continuation Sheet

General conditions$0.7M

Sitework$1.6M

Concrete/structure$1.9M

Steel/masonry$0.6M

Finishes$0.1M

MEP$0.5M

GC fee/overhead$0.3M

Completed & stored$5.7M

G702 — Application & Certificate

Total completed & stored to date$5.7M

Less retainage (10%)($0.57M)

Total earned less retainage$5.13M

Less previous certificates($4.50M)

Current payment due$0.63M

What the G702 summarizes

Every application carries the same core fields, each flowing from the contract and the continuation sheet.

Field	What it is	Our example
Original contract sum	The starting contract value	$12.0M
Change orders to date	Net approved changes	$0.0M
Contract sum to date	Contract plus changes	$12.0M
Completed & stored to date	From the G703 line totals	$5.7M
Retainage	Withheld, usually 5-10%	$0.57M
Total earned less retainage	Completed and stored, minus retainage	$5.13M
Less previous certificates	What was already paid	$4.50M
Current payment due	The check this period	$0.63M
Balance to finish	Contract sum less total earned less retainage	$6.87M

Apply, certify, pay

Step 1

Contractor applies

The contractor fills the G703 from the schedule of values, rolls it into the G702, and signs the application certifying the work is done.

Step 2

Architect certifies

The design team reviews against the work in place and certifies the amount, in full or reduced. Only certified amounts get paid.

Step 3

Owner pays

The owner pays against the certificate, less retainage. That payment becomes the "previous certificates" line on the next application.

How POD reads a pay application

POD reads AIA G702 and G703 pay applications and reconciles the continuation-sheet lines against the summary so the figures tie out. The completed-and-stored total flows into POD's earned-value engine, and the retainage and amount-due math is tracked per line, so a billing picture that used to live in a stack of forms becomes queryable project data.

Construction billing methods guide

Frequently asked questions

The form is only the surface

Behind every pay app is the schedule of values that drives it and the retainage that holds part of it back. Start with the document that defines the lines.

Schedule of Values Back to the Glossary