How do I catch overbilling in construction bills?

Where overbilling usually hides

• Quantities above measurement. The bill claims more than the signed measurement shows.
• Double billing. The same work appears in two bills, often under a slightly different description or item number.
• Wrong rates. A higher rate is used than the BOQ or the approved rate for that item.
• Unapproved extra items. Work billed as extra without a written instruction or approved variation.
• Advance and material not recovered. Mobilisation advance, secured advance or material issued is not deducted as the contract requires.
• Cumulative creep. Each bill looks reasonable on its own, but the running total for an item has crossed what was executed or allowed.
• Part-rate items billed as complete. Work paid at full rate before it is finished, such as plaster without finishing or doors without fixing.
• Front-loaded rates. High rates on early items and low rates on later ones, so too much is paid early in the job.
• Material paid twice. Material claimed as a secured advance and then again as finished work, without the advance being recovered.
• Price escalation on the wrong base. Escalation calculated on the wrong base date, index or quantity.

Illustrative case

Bill 9 claims 40 doors as complete at the full item rate. The site record shows frames and shutters fixed on all 40, but hardware and painting done on only 25. The other 15 are part-complete and should be paid at a part rate, or held, until finished. (Illustrative case.)

Overbilling is often not fraud

Much of it comes from honest mistakes, rushed measurements and records that do not match. That is why the fix is not suspicion; it is checking every claim against its proof, every time.

How AI helps

Titan by NovaKons reads all bills on a project together with the measurements, rates, drawings and approvals, so repeated items, unsupported quantities and missing deductions surface before the money goes out.