Month end on a commercial package
You are the scaffolding subcontractor on a new-build. Each month you send the main contractor an application for payment: phases erected, adaptations done, extras fitted, hire for the period. The quantity surveyor on their side checks it against their own records.
Your office builds the application from job sheets, the hire spreadsheet and a notebook of alterations the site manager asked for. Some adaptations are missing because nobody wrote them up. The payment notice comes back lower, with items marked 'not evidenced'.
Why applications lose money
Commercial scaffold packages generate income from many small events over months, and applications are only as good as the records behind them. Records kept for running the job are not organised for proving it.
- Phase completion is not recorded with dates and photos.
- Adaptations requested by site managers are not written up.
- Hire periods per elevation are tracked roughly.
- Applications are rebuilt from scratch each month.
- Payment notices are not compared line by line with applications.
What it costs
Items you are entitled to under your subcontract, left out or reduced for lack of evidence. Cash delayed month after month. Office time rebuilding applications, and quantity surveyors on both sides arguing over records neither fully trusts. We do not advise on your contractual position; we make sure the records behind your application are complete.
Quantity surveyors on the contractor's side are busy too. An application that arrives complete, in their format, with evidence attached, is easier to agree than one they have to query line by line, and that often decides whose application gets dealt with first.
The application builder we build
- The package's phases, items and rates are set up from your subcontract and tender.
- Gang leads record phase completions, adaptations and extras on their phones, with photos, dates and who instructed them.
- Hire for each phase and elevation runs from its handover date, taken from your handover records.
- Instructions for variations or adaptations are logged with the instruction and linked to the work done.
- Each month, a draft application is built from the records: cumulative work done, hire to date, adaptations, extras, with evidence attached.
- Your commercial person reviews and adjusts it, and it is produced in the contractor's required format.
- The contractor's payment notice is compared with the application line by line, and differences are listed for follow-up.
| Application item | Evidence attached |
|---|---|
| Phases erected | Dated photos and handover records |
| Adaptations | Instruction, photos, date |
| Extras fitted | Photos and dates |
| Hire to date | Handover and off-hire dates |
| Variations | Instruction and record of work |
Your commercial person owns the application. The builder makes sure it starts complete and backed by records.
What month end looks like after
Applications are reviewed, not rebuilt. Adaptations are included because they were recorded when they happened. Payment notice differences are clear and specific, which makes them easier to resolve with the contractor's quantity surveyor. And the history of each package is complete if it is ever needed.
The gang leads' part is small: a few taps and photos when a phase or adaptation is done. That small habit is what turns into a complete application at month end.
Does this describe your applications?
- Applications are built by hand each month.
- Adaptations are left out or disputed.
- Payment notices come back with items marked not evidenced.
- You do not compare notices with applications line by line.