Money guides
Budgets, change orders, pay applications, retainage and lien waivers.
Money
How Do Home Builders Track Job Costs?
How a home builder tracks job costs by phase: a budget from the estimate, every cost coded, committed vs spent, a projected final cost and a weekly check.
· 6 min read
Money
How Do You Back-Charge a Subcontractor?
How a GC back-charges a subcontractor: the contract basis, notice and a chance to cure, a cost record by day, the markup, and the deduction the sub signs.
· 6 min read
Money
How Do You Bill a Change Order on a Pay App?
Add an executed change order to your pay app: its own line, the new contract sum, partial billing, deducts and retainage, with a worked example.
· 7 min read
Money
How Do You Bill for Stored Materials on a Pay App?
Bill delivered but uninstalled materials: the backup owners ask for, on site vs off site, and how stored amounts move to installed work. Worked example.
· 7 min read
Money
How Do You Bill Time-and-Materials Work?
Bill T&M work a GC will pay: written direction first, a ticket signed every day, labor, equipment and materials at agreed rates, markup once. Example.
· 7 min read
Money
How Do You Fill Out Certified Payroll (WH-347)?
Fill out weekly certified payroll on Form WH-347: the header, each worker's hours, rates, fringes and deductions, and the Statement of Compliance.
· 9 min read
Money
How Do You Forecast Cost to Complete on a Job?
Forecast cost to complete line by line: remaining commitments, self-performed work at its real production rate, and time-based costs against the schedule.
· 6 min read
Money
How Do You Issue a Subcontract Change Order?
Issue a subcontract change order the sub can sign and bill: what goes on it, the revised subcontract sum, time, and the reservation of claims. Example.
· 8 min read
Money
How Do You Make a Miller Act Payment Bond Claim?
A Miller Act payment bond claim, step by step: who can claim, the 90-day notice, the one-year suit deadline from 40 U.S.C. § 3133, with dated timeline.
· 8 min read
Money
How Do You Track a Budget Against Commitments?
Track a construction budget against committed cost by cost code: revised budget, signed commitments, buyout variance and exposure, with a worked table.
· 7 min read
Money
How Do You Use Earned Value on a Construction Job?
Earned value on a construction job, worked on one trade: planned value, earned value, actual cost, CPI, SPI and estimate at completion.
· 6 min read
Money
How Does a Florida Notice to Owner Work?
Florida's notice to owner from Fla. Stat. § 713.06: who serves it, the 45-day deadline, the 40-day mailing rule, the required warning and a dated example.
· 8 min read
Money
How Does a GC Review a Sub's Change Order Request?
Review a sub's change order request like the owner will: is it a change, was notice on time, do hours, prices and markup hold up. Worked example.
· 8 min read
Money
How Does California's 20-Day Preliminary Notice Work?
California's preliminary notice from the Civil Code: who sends it, to whom, the 20-day rule, what it must say and how to serve it, with a dated example.
· 8 min read
Money
How Should an Architect Review a Schedule of Values?
Review a contractor's schedule of values before the first pay app: the format checks, then front-loading spotted line by line against the bid.
· 7 min read
Money
How Should an Owner Read a GC's Cost Report?
Read a GC's monthly cost report on a GMP or cost-plus job: current budget, projected final, contingency drawdown and the questions to ask.
· 7 min read
Money
Pay-if-Paid vs Pay-When-Paid: What Do They Mean?
Pay-if-paid shifts the risk of owner nonpayment to the sub; pay-when-paid only sets timing. How to tell them apart, and three state statutes on them.
· 8 min read
Money
What Can a Contractor Do When a Client Won't Pay?
What a contractor can do when a homeowner won't pay, in order: check your paperwork, talk, send a demand, protect lien rights, then small claims or court.
· 7 min read
Money
How Should a Remodeler Handle a Change Order?
Remodel change orders: in writing and signed before the work, with the scope, price added or credited, and effect on payments and finish date. Example.
· 6 min read
Money
How Does a Subcontractor Fill Out a Pay Application?
A subcontractor's pay app bills percent complete and stored materials per schedule-of-values line, less retainage and prior payments, with a lien waiver.
· 9 min read
Money
How Does a Subcontractor Get Retainage Released?
Finish your scope, close your punch items, send closeout documents and a written release request with the waiver asked for, and know your state's deadline.
· 6 min read
Money
Mechanic's Lien Deadlines: How They Work
How mechanic's lien deadlines are counted: the notices before, the filing deadline, the deadline to sue, and five states' filing deadlines from statute.
· 8 min read
Money
How Much Contingency Should an Owner Carry?
Owner contingency in construction: design vs construction contingency, GSA's guidelines (7% new, 10% renovation), and how to size and track yours.
· 7 min read
Money
What Are Prompt Payment Acts in Construction?
Prompt payment acts set how fast owners and contractors must pay and what late payment costs. The federal act and five states' rules, with a timeline.
· 8 min read
Money
How Do You Price a Change Order?
Price a change order from direct cost (burdened labor, materials, equipment, sub quotes), then the markups and time your contract allows. Worked example.
· 9 min read
Money
How Should an Owner Review a Change Order?
How an owner reviews a contractor's change order: is it a change, is the price right, are the markups the contract's, are the days real. Worked example.
· 8 min read
Money
How Should an Owner Review a GC's Pay Application?
An owner's checklist for a contractor's pay application: work in place, stored materials, change orders, retainage, waivers and the math. With an example.
· 6 min read
Money
Texas Retainage Law: What Property Code Ch. 53 Says
Texas retainage from the statutes: the owner's 10% reserve, notice and lien deadlines for unpaid retainage, and the public-works caps of 10% and 5%.
· 9 min read
Money
California Retainage Law: Private and Public Jobs
California retention rules from the statutes: the new 5% private cap from 2026, the 5% public cap, release deadlines and the 2% monthly penalty.
· 8 min read
Money
How Can a Subcontractor Get Paid Faster?
Subcontractors get paid faster by billing on the GC's cutoff, sending clean pay apps and waivers, and using the prompt-pay dates that start the clock.
· 6 min read
Money
How Do You Calculate Retainage on a Pay App?
Retainage is a percentage of work completed and stored to date, held back each pay period. How to calculate it, reduce it, release it, with an example.
· 9 min read
Money
How Does a Subcontractor Write a Change Order Request?
A sub's change order request: notice first, then scope, priced direct cost, your markup, days and backup the GC can pass to the owner. Worked example.
· 9 min read
Money
How Do You Fill Out a Conditional Lien Waiver?
Fill out a conditional lien waiver field by field: the claimant, customer, through date, check details and exceptions, tied to the pay app's figures.
· 8 min read
Money
How Does a GC Review a Subcontractor's Pay App?
Check each line against the field, stored materials against backup, change orders against approvals, then the math and the lien waivers. With an example.
· 7 min read
Money
How Does an Architect Certify a Pay Application?
Review the draft, compare it with what you observed on site, then certify the full amount or a lower one with the changed figures initialed and explained.
· 5 min read
Money
Retainage Laws in the Five Largest Construction States
Retainage caps and release deadlines in California, Texas, Florida, New York and North Carolina, from each state's statutes, private and public.
· 10 min read
Money
How Do You Set Up a Draw Schedule for a Home Build?
How a builder sets up a draw schedule for a home build: milestones an inspector can see, shares checked against cost, and what each draw needs.
· 6 min read