How Should an Architect Review a Schedule of Values?

By Wyatt Cooper · Published October 22, 2026 · 7 min read

Key takeaways

Review the schedule of values before the first pay application, because every certificate you sign afterward is measured against it.
Check the format first: one line per specification section, major subcontracts split, separate lines for closeout, allowances and stored materials, and a total equal to the contract sum.
Spot front-loading by comparing each line with an independent value (the bid breakdown or subcontract amounts): early lines too high, late lines too low, same total.
In the worked example, $168,000 has moved from finishes and closeout to early lines, so once the first three lines are billed the owner has paid $55,200 more than that work is worth, even after 10% retainage.

To review a schedule of values as an architect, check it before the first pay application. Confirm the format your specification asks for: lines that follow the specification sections, major subcontracts split into several lines, separate lines for closeout, allowances and stored materials, and a total equal to the contract sum. Then compare each line with an independent value, such as the bid breakdown, to find front-loading: early work priced high and late work priced low.

Why the schedule of values is worth an hour now

The schedule of values splits the contract sum into the lines every pay application bills against. Each month you certify a pay application by judging the percent complete of each line. If a line's value is wrong, a correct percent still certifies the wrong amount. The schedule is the one document you can fix before any money moves; after the first payment, the contractor has every reason to keep it as it is.

The specification may set the deadline. The University of Houston's payment procedures section, a public example, asks the contractor to submit the schedule of values to the architect at the earliest possible date and no later than 14 days before the first application for payment is due, coordinated with the construction schedule (Section 01 29 00). On federal work, each progress payment request itemizes the amounts against the elements of the work and lists each subcontractor's work and subcontract total (FAR 52.232-5, paragraph (b)(1)), which only works if the itemization was sound to begin with.

Check the format first

Format checks for a schedule of values, from a published payment procedures section
Check	What the University of Houston's section asks for	Why it matters to you
Line structure	At least one line for each specification section, using the project manual's table of contents	You can judge progress section by section
Big subcontracts	Several lines for each principal subcontract over 5% of the contract sum	One huge line hides how far along the trade really is
Closeout	Separate closeout lines totaling 5% of the contract and subcontract sums	Money is left to hold until closeout is done
Stored materials	A separate line for each part of the work that may include stored materials	You can tell stored from installed
Allowances	A separate line for each allowance	Allowance changes don't blur other lines
Overhead and profit	Each line includes its share of overhead and profit	No line is loaded with all the fee
Total	Rounded to the dollar, and equal to the contract sum	The arithmetic ties to the agreement

The same section asks for the schedule to be arranged like AIA's G703 continuation sheet, which breaks the contract sum into portions of the work (AIA's G703 summary). Your own specification may set different numbers; check it before you send comments.

Spot front-loading line by line

Front-loading moves value from late lines to early ones without changing the total, so the contractor is paid ahead of the work. It is not always deliberate; it can come from carrying general conditions or bonds on the first line. Either way, the owner ends up financing the job, and if the contractor stumbles, the money left to finish the work is short.

Get an independent value for each line: the bid breakdown, the GC's subcontract amounts or the owner's estimate.
Put the contractor's line and the independent value side by side and take the difference.
Look at the pattern, not single lines: early activities (mobilization, sitework, concrete) above, late activities (finishes, closeout) below.
Work out what the owner would have paid, net of retainage, when the early lines are billed, and compare it with what that work is worth.
Send written comments asking the contractor to move the value, with the numbers; don't certify the first application until the schedule is settled.

A worked example: a $2.4 million fit-out

The job and companies are fictional. A GC submits a schedule of values for a $2,400,000 contract on the "Larch Hall Renovation", with 10% retainage. The architect compares it with the bid breakdown the GC submitted with its proposal (rounded here to eight summary lines).

The contractor's schedule of values against the bid breakdown (fictional; whole dollars)
Line	Schedule of values	Bid breakdown	Difference
1. General conditions and mobilization	$168,000	$96,000	+$72,000
2. Sitework and demolition	$312,000	$276,000	+$36,000
3. Concrete	$288,000	$264,000	+$24,000
4. Structure and framing	$336,000	$336,000	$0
5. Roofing and envelope	$216,000	$180,000	+$36,000
6. Mechanical, electrical and plumbing	$624,000	$624,000	$0
7. Finishes	$432,000	$504,000	−$72,000
8. Closeout	$24,000	$120,000	−$96,000
Total	$2,400,000	$2,400,000	$0

The pattern is clear: lines 1, 2, 3 and 5 carry $72,000 + $36,000 + $24,000 + $36,000 = $168,000 more than the bid, and finishes and closeout carry $72,000 + $96,000 = $168,000 less. Closeout at $24,000 is 1% of the contract, where the example specification asks for 5% ($120,000).

The effect on the owner: when lines 1 to 3 are complete, the contractor has billed $168,000 + $312,000 + $288,000 = $768,000, and the owner has paid $768,000 less 10% retainage = $691,200. By the bid breakdown that work is worth $96,000 + $276,000 + $264,000 = $636,000. The owner has paid $55,200 more than the work in place is worth, with the retainage already taken out.

Schedule of values review — Larch Hall Renovation, submittal 01 29 00-1

Action: Revise and resubmit before pay application 1
Line 1: Reduce from $168,000 to the bid breakdown's $96,000, or show the general conditions spread over the duration
Lines 2, 3 and 5: Reduce by $36,000, $24,000 and $36,000 to match the bid breakdown
Line 7: Increase by $72,000; split by specification section (01 29 00, 1.3.B)
Line 8: Increase to $120,000, 5% of the contract sum, as separate closeout lines
Total: Unchanged at $2,400,000

The architect's comment on the fictional schedule of values. Every name, number and date is made up.

After the schedule is accepted

Keep the accepted schedule with the bid breakdown you compared it to, so later questions have an answer.
Expect it to change only by change order: each executed change order is added as its own line.
Re-check the schedule against progress after two or three applications; a line that races ahead of the schedule is worth a site look.
When you certify, judge each line's percent against the work in place, not against the contractor's cash need.

How the contractor builds the schedule in the first place is in how to build a schedule of values; the rest of the design team's construction-phase work is in the architect and engineer's guide and the project lifecycle.

The bottom line

Review the schedule of values before the first pay application: the format your specification asks for, then each line against an independent value to find front-loading.

Put your comments in writing with the numbers, and certify the first application only once the schedule is settled.

Join the waitlist as an architect or engineer

Sources

Section 01 29 00, Payment Procedures (master construction specification) — University of Houston, Facilities Planning and Construction. Read October 22, 2026.
Summary: G703–1992, Continuation Sheet — AIA Contract Documents (The American Institute of Architects). Read October 22, 2026.
FAR 52.232-5, Payments under Fixed-Price Construction Contracts — Acquisition.gov, U.S. General Services Administration. Read October 22, 2026.

Questions

What is front-loading a schedule of values?

Putting more value on early lines and less on late lines than the work is worth, with the same total, so the contractor is paid ahead of the work in place.

When should an architect review the schedule of values?

Before the first pay application. The specification may set a deadline; the University of Houston's, for example, asks for it no later than 14 days before the first application is due.

What should an architect compare a schedule of values against?

An independent value for each line: the contractor's bid breakdown, its subcontract amounts or the owner's estimate. The pattern of differences shows front-loading better than any single line.

Does retainage protect the owner from front-loading?

Not fully. In the worked example, the owner pays $55,200 more than the early work is worth even after 10% retainage, because the early lines are overvalued by more than the retainage held on them.

Can the architect reject a schedule of values?

Your contract and specification say how the architect reviews it and when the contractor must revise it. Return it with written comments and the numbers behind them.