What a schedule of values is
After award, the GC or owner asks for a schedule of values: line items whose values add up to your contract amount. Each month you report work completed and stored materials per line, and the pay application bills accordingly. On AIA-style pay applications, the SOV goes on the G703 Continuation Sheet, which supports the G702 Application and Certificate for Payment and tracks scheduled value, work completed, stored materials, percent complete, balance to finish and retainage per line.
How to structure an electrical SOV
- By system: service and distribution, feeders, branch power, lighting, lighting controls, fire alarm, low voltage, site electrical, temporary power.
- By area or phase: by floor or building on phased jobs, so foremen can report progress cleanly.
- Material and labor: many GCs allow separate lines so stored or delivered material can be billed with documentation.
- Milestones: submittals, gear release, rough-in, trim, testing, closeout and as-builts as separate lines.
Example electrical SOV
| # | Description | Scheduled value |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mobilization, submittals, general conditions | 5% |
| 2 | Temporary power and lighting | 3% |
| 3 | Switchgear and distribution: material | 14% |
| 4 | Switchgear and distribution: labor | 6% |
| 5 | Feeders | 10% |
| 6 | Branch power rough-in (by floor) | 18% |
| 7 | Branch power trim | 5% |
| 8 | Lighting fixtures: material | 12% |
| 9 | Lighting rough-in and install | 9% |
| 10 | Lighting controls | 4% |
| 11 | Fire alarm | 7% |
| 12 | Site electrical | 3% |
| 13 | Testing, commissioning, closeout, as-builts | 4% |
| Total | 100% |
Your values come from your estimate, not from this table. Gear-heavy jobs (data centers, industrial) can have distribution well above 20%; tenant work is usually branch- and lighting-heavy.
Tie the SOV to the estimate
Build the SOV by grouping estimate lines, not by guessing percentages. If the estimate is organized by system and area, the SOV almost writes itself and you can defend each value. Distribute overhead and profit proportionally across lines rather than loading them onto early lines.
Contract $2,400,000. Estimate direct cost for lighting fixtures material is $252,000 out of $2,016,000 total direct cost.
Front-loading and its risks
Front-loading puts more value on early work than it is worth, to improve cash flow. GCs, owners and lenders watch for it and may reject an unbalanced SOV. It also backfires: if a line is deleted or the job is terminated, overstated early lines lead to disputes and overbilling on your WIP schedule. Keep values proportional to cost plus a consistent markup.
Retainage
Retainage is a percentage withheld from each payment until substantial completion or closeout. Rates and rules are set by the contract and, increasingly, by statute:
- Private work in California: for contracts entered on or after January 1, 2026, Civil Code 8811 caps retention at 5% of each payment and 5% of the contract price, with exceptions for certain bonded subcontracts and some residential projects.
- Federal work: FAR 32.103 says retainage should not be used as a substitute for good contract management, and FAR 52.232-5 lets the contracting officer retain up to 10% of a payment only when satisfactory progress has not been made.
- Other states: many states cap public-project retainage (often at 5%) and some set release deadlines. Check the current statute in your state and the flow-down terms of your subcontract.
Track retainage per line so a completed line can be released when the contract allows.
Change orders
Add approved change orders as new SOV lines rather than folding them into existing ones, numbered to match the change order log, so billing and backup stay separate.
Pay application timing
Most contracts set a monthly cycle with a cut-off date, a pencil draft reviewed with the GC, and a final submission with lien waivers. Missing the cut-off pushes payment a month. Build lines that are easy to measure in the field on that cycle.
Billing checklist
- Agree the SOV structure with the GC before the first pay app.
- Bill stored material with invoices, delivery tickets, insurance and storage terms the contract requires.
- Update percent complete from field progress, not cost spent.
- Keep closeout lines (testing, O&M manuals, as-builts, training) distinct so a small paperwork item does not hold a large balance.
- Collect and track conditional and unconditional lien waivers in the form your state requires.
Where the takeoff comes in
Your SOV is only as defensible as the estimate behind it. RenderDraw produces reviewed quantities organized by system and sheet, each traceable to its source, which makes grouping estimate lines into an SOV straightforward. Start with a free sample takeoff, or see the electrical bid proposal example.
