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Interim valuations and payment certificates
Each time the contractor asks for money, somebody has to check how much work is really done. I measure it on site, value it at the contract rates and tell you what to pay.
By Edwin, quantity surveyor, registered with IQSK. 10 years in practice. Fixed fee agreed in writing.
Why payments go wrong
A contractor's application is their view of what they are owed. It is often higher than the work on the ground, sometimes by mistake and sometimes not. A client who pays it in full is lending the contractor money, and if the contractor leaves site, that money goes with them.
The opposite also happens: a client holds back payment for work that is properly done, the contractor runs out of cash, and the site stops. A valuation both sides can check prevents both.
What a valuation contains
- Work done to date, measured on site against the bill of quantities
- Materials on site, where the contract allows payment for them
- Variations instructed and agreed so far
- Less retention, at the percentage in the contract
- Less recovery of any advance payment
- Less everything previously certified
- The amount recommended for payment this time
Here is the arithmetic on illustrative figures. The contractor claims KES 9,480,000. Work measured on site comes to KES 8,150,000. Retention at 10% is KES 815,000. KES 4,900,000 was certified before. The amount due is KES 2,435,000, not the figure claimed.
How it works each month
The contractor submits an application. I visit the site, usually with the contractor's representative so the measurement is agreed on the spot. Within the period the contract allows I issue the valuation with photographs and the measurement sheets behind it. You pay against a document, and so does your bank if the project is financed.
Retention and the end of the job
Retention is money held back from each payment as security for defects. It is commonly released in two parts: half at practical completion and the rest when the defects liability period ends and the defects are made good. I keep the running total so that neither release is missed or paid twice.
For contractors
I prepare payment applications for contractors: measured, supported by site records and set out so the client's surveyor can check them quickly. A clean application is paid sooner.
Questions clients ask
My project has no quantity surveyor and is half built. Can you start now?
Yes. I value all work done to date, compare it with what you have paid, and tell you whether you are ahead or behind. From then on each payment is certified.
How often are valuations done?
Usually monthly, or at stages set out in the contract. For a house built in stages, a valuation at each stage is normal.
What if the contractor disagrees with the valuation?
The measurement sheets show how each figure was reached, so a disagreement is about a specific item and can be re-measured. Most are settled on site.
Get a fixed-fee quote
Send your drawings for valuations and payment certificates. You get a written scope, a fixed fee and a delivery date within two working days. No charge and no obligation for the quote.