G702 and G703 are the American Institute of Architects' payment-application forms — so ubiquitous in US commercial construction that their numbers became the generic vocabulary for progress billing. They aren't alternatives to each other: they're two halves of one package. G702 is the cover; G703 is the detail behind it.
What the G702 is
The G702 — Application and Certificate for Payment — is the one-page summary and legal wrapper of a pay application. It identifies the parties, project, application number, and period, then runs the standard eight-line money summary: original contract sum, net change orders, contract sum to date, total completed and stored, retainage, total earned less retainage, previous certificates, and current payment due. Below the math sit the contractor's signed (often notarized) certification and the architect's certificate — where the reviewer certifies the amount actually approved, which can differ from the amount requested.
What the G703 is
The G703 — Continuation Sheet — is the itemized backup. It lists every schedule-of-values line with columns for scheduled value, work completed in previous applications, work completed this period, materials presently stored, total completed and stored to date, percent complete, balance to finish, and retainage. Its grand totals are the inputs to the G702's summary.
Side by side
| G702 (Application) | G703 (Continuation Sheet) | |
|---|---|---|
| Role | Summary + certification | Line-item detail |
| Granularity | Whole contract | Each schedule-of-values line |
| Key content | Eight-line payment math, signatures | Progress columns per line item |
| Who signs it | Contractor (and certifying architect/CM) | Nobody — it's backup |
| Orientation | Portrait | Landscape (wide columns) |
| Where its numbers come from | The G703's totals | Your records + prior applications |
How the totals flow
The relationship is one-directional: detail feeds summary. The G703's total-completed-and-stored grand total becomes G702 line 4; the G703's retainage columns produce G702 line 5. If a reviewer adjusts a line item, the change ripples up through both documents. This is why the cardinal sin of pay applications is editing a G702 number by hand: the moment the cover disagrees with its continuation sheet, the application is internally inconsistent and will bounce.
- G703 grand total — completed & stored
- $141,900.00
- → becomes G702 line 4
- $141,900.00
- G703 retainage column total
- $14,190.00
- → becomes G702 line 5
- $14,190.00
- G702 line 8 — current payment due
- $35,210.00
One source of truth, two views of it. Generators that compute both documents from the same data make the mismatch impossible.
Do you need the official AIA forms?
It depends entirely on your contract. AIA documents are copyrighted — the official forms are licensed from AIA Contract Documents, not downloaded free — and some contracts (especially where the prime contract is an AIA agreement) explicitly require them. But most subcontracts require the substance, not the brand: a payment application 'in the form of' or 'consistent with' G702/G703, meaning any document presenting the same fields and math is acceptable. That's what 'G702-style' means: identical information and calculations in an original layout.
- Contract names AIA G702/G703 as required documents → license the official forms from AIA.
- Contract asks for applications 'in the form of' G702/G703, or is silent on format → a G702-style equivalent is standard practice.
- Not sure → ask the GC's project accountant before your first application; they process hundreds of these and will tell you in one email.
Free 'AIA form downloads' floating around the internet are usually either unlicensed copies (a copyright problem) or Excel recreations with fragile formulas (a math problem). If you need official, buy official; if you need equivalent, use a tool that computes the equivalent correctly.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I submit a G702 without a G703?
- Practically, no. The G702's numbers are unverifiable without the continuation sheet behind them, and reviewers will ask for it. The only near-exception is a single-line contract, where the 'detail' is trivial — and even then most reviewers want the sheet.
- Are G702 and G703 free?
- No — they're copyrighted AIA documents licensed through AIA Contract Documents (per-document or subscription). What can be free is an equivalent-format document, since the underlying information and math aren't copyrightable — only AIA's specific form design is.
- What's the difference between G702 and G702S?
- AIA publishes variants of its payment forms for different contract structures (such as subcontractor-specific versions). The math is the same; the parties and certification language differ. Your contract will name the variant if it cares.
- My GC uses Textura/Procore — do these forms still matter?
- Payment platforms digitize exactly this structure: the fields you fill online are G702/G703 fields. Understanding the two documents is understanding what the platform is asking for — and you'll still meet paper G702-style applications on projects that don't use a platform.
