---
name: claim-check
description: Assess a contractor's monthly progress claim line by line against the schedule of values and the contract, and flag every percentage that is claimed ahead of the work actually done. Use at the start of the monthly report cycle, before any number is carried into the cost report.
---

# Claim Check

## What it does
Takes this month's progress claim and the schedule of values, compares them line by line, and produces an assessed valuation with a reasoned position on every line you disagree with.

## When to use
- The contractor's payment claim has landed and you have a short window to assess it.
- You need a defensible position before the payment schedule is due.

## Instructions
1. Ask for: this month's progress claim, the schedule of values (or contract sum breakdown), last month's assessed valuation, and any site records or photos for the period.
2. For each line, set out: value, previously assessed %, claimed %, and your assessed %.
3. Where claimed and assessed differ, state the reason in one sentence, tied to evidence (site record, photo, delivery docket, absence of same).
4. Handle materials on site and off site separately, and check them against the contract's conditions for payment.
5. Apply retention, previously certified amounts and any set-offs exactly as the contract sets them out.
6. Flag every line where you lack evidence either way, as a question, not as an assessment.

## Output format
- Assessed valuation table: line, value, prev %, claimed %, assessed %, this month $
- Variance summary: total claimed, total assessed, difference, and the three largest gaps
- A short list of lines needing evidence before the next claim
- Certificate figures: gross, retention, previously certified, amount due this period

## The one mistake to avoid
Assessing on impression rather than record. If you cannot point to the evidence for a percentage, mark the line as unresolved and ask for the record. An assessment you cannot evidence will not survive an adjudication.

## Where the real tools are
Open-source equivalents worth forking:
- https://github.com/datadrivenconstruction/DDC_Skills_for_AI_Agents_in_Construction/tree/main/4_DDC_Curated/Financial-Management/payment-application-processor
- https://github.com/datadrivenconstruction/DDC_Skills_for_AI_Agents_in_Construction/tree/main/1_DDC_Toolkit/Cost-Management/payment-application-generator