Field notes
Timing monthly claim checks so certification still works
A verification memo that arrives after you have already certified payment is only a historical note.
Monthly progress claims follow a clock: contractor cut-off, review window, certification, payment. Cost audit coordination has to sit inside that clock, not beside it.
Agree the cut-off in the engagement letter
We set the claim receipt date and the memo deadline before the first month. Without those two dates, everyone improvises — and improvisation favours the late claim.
Sample the site, do not remeasure the building
Payment verification is not a full remeasure unless you have hired us for that. Spot checks on high-value work and materials-on-site schedules usually surface the issues that matter for certification.
Separate arithmetic errors from commercial arguments
A wrong retention percentage is a correction. A disputed entitlement is a commercial decision. Mixing them in one paragraph slows the certifier. We keep them on separate lines of the memo.