What Is a Schedule of Values?

Lines that are too coarse, "MEP, one lump," make percent-complete a guess and hide which trade is overbilled. Lines that match the contractor’s cost codes, or the specification divisions that carry real money, can be walked in the field. Division 01 costs, general conditions, supervision, temporary facilities, need their own lines so they are not buried in a trade.

The specification is a useful cross-check. If Division 03 is a large share of the drawings and a small share of the SOV, the money is sitting somewhere else, often in an early line. Owners ask for the SOV far enough before the first billing to send it back.

Mobilization, submittals, and general conditions are real costs, and they are also the easiest place to park profit. A mobilization line that is several percent of a hard-bid building, with no schedule of what it buys, deserves a question. So does a "project management" line that would be fully billed by month three of an eighteen-month job.

Unit-price and GMP contracts need the same scrutiny for different reasons. On a GMP, the SOV should tie to the estimate the GMP was built from, including contingencies that are not yet scope. Billing contingency as if it were work in place spends the owner’s risk money early.

The contract usually says the contractor submits the SOV promptly and the architect or owner approves it. Approval means the breakdown is a reasonable basis for payment, not that every line equals the subcontractor’s private buyout. The contractor’s buyout and fee allocation can stay commercially sensitive. The owner still needs enough detail to certify progress.

Rejecting an SOV delays the first payment, so it should be done with specific comments: split this line, reduce mobilization, add stored-material rules. Silence plus a paid first pay app is approval in practice, even if nobody signed a form.

Each change order adds value that must land on a line. Folding changes into original lines makes "percent complete" unreadable, because the denominator moved quietly. New lines labeled with the change-order number keep original scope and changed scope auditable.

At substantial completion the SOV should reconcile: work in place, retainage, punch remaining, and unsettled changes. A schedule of values that nobody updated since month two cannot support a final payment recommendation. The continuation sheet is the project’s financial as-built.