How do I check a contractor’s RA bill before paying it?

The checks that matter

• Quantities against measurements. Every quantity claimed should trace back to a signed measurement book entry or joint measurement record. Unsigned or missing measurements are the most common reason a bill should be held.
• Rates against the contract. Each item should use the BOQ rate or an approved rate. New items without an agreed rate are extra work and need a separate approval.
• Work against the approved drawings. Quantities should match the latest approved revision, not an earlier one.
• Method of measurement. Quantities should be measured the way the contract specifies (IS 1200 in India; POMI, CESMM or NRM on many Gulf projects), including deductions for openings and reinforcement taken from the bar bending schedule.
• Cumulative quantities. Add this bill to all earlier bills. The total for any item should not exceed what was actually executed. Where it exceeds the BOQ quantity, check the contract: on a remeasured contract the excess may be payable but can trigger a rate review (for example a deviation limit, or FIDIC Sub-Clause 12.3); on a lump-sum contract it needs an approved variation.
• Arithmetic and carry-forward. Check quantity × rate, and check that the previous-bill totals match what was actually certified, not what was claimed.
• Deductions. Retention (and its limit); recovery of mobilisation advance, secured advance once the material is built in, and plant advance; material issued by the owner, reconciled against theoretical consumption with permitted wastage; earlier overpayments and penalties.
• Taxes and statutory items. In India: GST at the correct rate on a valid tax invoice, TDS under Section 194C, TDS under GST (Section 51 of the CGST Act) where the owner is a notified deductor such as a government body, and the building and other construction workers’ welfare cess. In the Gulf: VAT where it applies (5% in the UAE, 15% in Saudi Arabia; Qatar has none) and the deductions set out in the payment certificate.
• Supporting documents. Test reports, approvals and instructions referred to in the bill should actually exist.

In the Gulf and on FIDIC contracts, the same document is usually called an interim payment application, certified through an Interim Payment Certificate. The checks are the same.

Illustrative case

An RA bill claims 1,250 cubic metres of slab concrete to date. The measurement book shows 1,180 signed, a further 70 measured but not yet signed by the engineer, and the previous bill already certified 1,100. The supportable amount this bill is the signed 80, not the claimed 150, until the remaining measurement is signed. (Illustrative case; figures are examples only.)

Why this takes so long by hand

The bill is one document, but the proof is spread across many: measurement books, drawings, letters, earlier bills and approvals. Matching them line by line is slow, so in practice bills are often checked in a hurry or on sample items only.

How AI helps

Titan by NovaKons reads the bill together with the measurements, drawings, letters and earlier bills, and shows item by item what the records support, what is missing and what needs your decision before you pay.