Progress claims and payment certificates: how the money moves
A progress claim is your valuation of the work done to date. The consultant or quantity surveyor checks it and issues a payment certificate — usually for a lower amount — and it is the certificate, not your claim, that gets invoiced and paid. Two rules run through the whole system: you are paid on the value the certificate carries, not the value you claimed, and a variation only counts once it has been approved in writing.
How does a claim become a certificate?
The cycle repeats on the dates your contract sets — usually monthly. Work it the same way every time:
- Measure the work done to date: each contract item at its percentage complete, valued at the contract rates.
- Add approved variations only — the ones with written approval. Unapproved extras go in a separate note, never in the claim's numbers.
- Deduct what was claimed before, so this claim asks only for the new value.
- Show retention being deducted at the contract percentage, so the net figure is honest before anyone checks it.
- Submit by the contract's valuation date, with evidence attached: photos, delivery notes, signed daywork sheets.
- The consultant or QS measures, adjusts and issues the payment certificate — and its amount is the one that counts.
- Invoice exactly the amount on the certificate, referencing the certificate number, and record the payment when it lands.
Why is the amount on the certificate lower than your claim?
Almost always for ordinary reasons. The QS measured a lower percentage complete than you did. Materials you counted are not yet fixed in place. Retention came off, as the contract says. A variation you included was never approved in writing, so it comes out until it is. Or a previous claim was over-measured and this certificate corrects it.
None of that is personal, and arguing in the corridor changes little. What works is asking for the certificate's breakdown line by line, agreeing the measurement differences on the next claim, and fixing the root cause — usually variations done before approval. Read pricing variations and dayworks for the approval habit that prevents most shortfalls.
How do you keep claims clean?
Keep the claim's arithmetic boring: same format every month, contract rates untouched, one variation register that lists each extra, its price and the date it was approved in writing. Attach evidence as you go — a photo taken on the day is worth a folder of explanations later.
In InstaJack, a claim is built from approvals the client already gave on the link: contract lines at their progress, signed-off variations, and retention tracked through to its release day — see retention money, explained for the release side. InstaJack prepares and records your claim; it does not certify it — certification stays with the consultant or QS, exactly as your contract says.
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Read →Asked often, answered straight.
When should I submit my progress claim?+
On the valuation dates in your contract — commonly monthly. A claim that misses the date usually waits a full cycle, so diarise the dates at the start of the job and measure a day or two before each one.
Can I claim for materials delivered but not yet fixed?+
Only if your contract allows materials on site to be valued, and usually only with delivery notes, invoices and the materials stored properly on site. If the contract is silent, assume un-fixed materials will not be valued in the certificate — confirm against your own contract wording.
What if I disagree with the amount on the certificate?+
Invoice the amount on the certificate so payment flows, and dispute the difference in writing with your measurements and evidence. Most differences are measurement judgements that the next claim can correct once you and the QS agree the method.
Do variations need approval before I can claim them?+
Yes. A variation counts toward the certificate's value once it has been approved in writing. Work done on a verbal instruction may eventually be valued, but it will not be in this certificate — get the approval first, every time.