How Does a Subcontractor Submit a Final Pay App?

A final pay application is the last bill on a subcontract. It differs from a monthly one in three ways: nothing is left to bill afterward, it usually comes with the release of retainage, and it is paid only against closeout paperwork and releases. The GC needs the same from you that its owner needs from it, so its own final payment depends on yours being complete.

Owner specifications show what is expected. The University of Houston's payment procedures section, a public example, has the contractor submit the final application after completing closeout requirements, with evidence of completion of closeout, insurance certificates where required, an updated final statement accounting for final changes to the contract sum, AIA's G706, G706A and G707 (an affidavit of payment of debts and claims, an affidavit of release of liens, and consent of surety to final payment) and evidence that claims have been settled (Section 01 29 00). Your GC flows down its version of the list.

Before you put numbers on the final application, match your change order log with the GC's line by line: every executed change order on the schedule of values, no pending ones, deducts included. Anything still in dispute is either settled now or kept open on purpose.

Final payment is where open claims get lost. On federal work, final payment comes after completion and acceptance of all work, a properly executed voucher, and a release of all claims arising under the contract, other than claims in stated amounts that the contractor has specifically excepted from the release (FAR 52.232-5, paragraph (h)). The changes clause adds that no proposal for an equitable adjustment is allowed if asserted after final payment (FAR 52.243-4, paragraph (f)). Your subcontract likely flows down something similar, so write any open claim on the release, with its amount, before you sign.

AIA's summary of G706 describes it as a sworn statement, submitted with the final request for payment, that all payrolls, bills for materials and equipment, and other indebtedness connected with the work for which the owner might be responsible have been paid or otherwise satisfied, with any exceptions listed (AIA's G706 summary). Whatever form your GC uses, its exceptions list is where an unpaid supplier goes. The difference between waiver types is in conditional vs unconditional lien waivers.

The job and companies are fictional. "Marrow Plumbing" has a subcontract sum to date of $318,450.00: $305,000.00 original plus $13,450.00 of executed change orders. Through its last monthly application it has billed $311,900.00, and the GC holds 10% retainage, $31,190.00. Left to bill: the $6,000.00 closeout line (testing reports, O&M manuals, as-builts) and the last $550.00 of change order 4. The subcontract releases retainage with final payment. Marrow has one open claim: $4,800.00 for acceleration the GC directed in month 7.

The check: the last work billed is $6,000.00 + $550.00 = $6,550.00, and $6,550.00 + $31,190.00 of released retainage = $37,740.00. The $4,800.00 claim is not on the pay application, because it is not an executed change order; Marrow lists it as an exception on its release instead.

• A missing closeout document, often the O&M manual or as-builts, holds the whole payment; the GC's side of the same checklist is in how a GC closes out a subcontract.
• A supplier's final waiver is missing, or your affidavit lists no exceptions when a supplier is unpaid.
• The change order log doesn't match the GC's, so the final contract sum is in question.
• An unconditional waiver was asked for before payment; send a conditional one instead.
• The GC is waiting on its own final payment from the owner; check what your subcontract and state law say about timing.

How to chase the retainage itself is in how to get retainage released; the deadlines that can apply to a late payment are in prompt payment acts. The full run from bid to final payment is in the subcontractor's guide and the project lifecycle.

On a Conflo pay app, a sub bills each schedule-of-values line by percent and the form refuses anything past 100%, so a final bill is the application that takes every line to 100%. The summary shows retainage held and the balance to finish. Limits today: there is no separate final pay app type and no retainage release step, so the retainage request goes to the GC outside Conflo, and executed change orders raise the contract sum but are not yet lines you can bill.

In the closeout package, the GC requests documents from each company: O&M manuals, as-built drawings, a warranty letter, attic stock, owner training and a final lien waiver, each with a due date. The sub turns each one in, and the GC approves it or sends it back with a note.

A final pay application gets paid when it is complete: every line at 100%, change orders reconciled, open claims excepted in stated amounts, and the closeout documents and conditional final waiver attached.

Start collecting the closeout documents and your suppliers' final waivers a month before your last day on site.

Join the waitlist as a subcontractor

1. FAR 52.232-5, Payments under Fixed-Price Construction Contracts — Acquisition.gov, U.S. General Services Administration. Read October 22, 2026.
2. FAR 52.243-4, Changes — Acquisition.gov, U.S. General Services Administration. Read October 22, 2026.
3. Section 01 29 00, Payment Procedures (master construction specification) — University of Houston, Facilities Planning and Construction. Read October 22, 2026.
4. Summary: G706–1994, Contractor's Affidavit of Payment of Debts and Claims — AIA Contract Documents (The American Institute of Architects). Read October 22, 2026.