A schedule of values (SoV) is a breakdown of a contract sum into work items, each with an agreed value, used to work out the amount payable as the work progresses. It is the US way of setting up a Lump Sum Contract for monthly payment, and the basis of the US Draw Request.
Worked example
A lump sum fit-out of £600,000 is divided into five lines. At the month end the contractor reports progress on each:
| Item | Value | Complete | Earned |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminaries | £60,000 | 100% | £60,000 |
| Partitions | £150,000 | 60% | £90,000 |
| M&E | £210,000 | 40% | £84,000 |
| Ceilings | £90,000 | 0% | £0 |
| Finishes | £90,000 | 0% | £0 |
| Total | £600,000 | 39% | £234,000 |
The payment request is £234,000 less Retention and less earlier payments. Preliminaries at 100% in month one would be front-loading, so a QS may challenge the first line.
The schedule of values in the money
The SoV lines should line up with how you track cost. If a line covers M&E, the budget, the Subcontract order and the Cost-to-Complete forecast for M&E should all use the same line, so earned value, cost and committed cost compare directly. When the SoV is built on different groupings from the budget, every month's reconciliation takes more work.
A good schedule has lines that can be assessed on site, with no lump called "other", and values that follow real cost plus margin. Front-loaded values bring cash in early but invite challenge and leave the late items under-funded.
In the UK
The term is US. In the UK, a measured contract uses a Bill of Quantities (BoQ), NEC contracts use an activity schedule, and JCT design and build contracts use a Contract Sum Analysis or similar breakdown. Payment is then claimed through an application for payment, assessed against the contract's Valuation rules.
Related terms
Bill of Quantities (BoQ), Valuation, Draw Request, Front-Loaded Billing, Progress Billing, Contract Sum Analysis.
Planyard's subcontractor payment applications record progress against the subcontract order, with retention and variations shown separately, so each application is checked against the agreed breakdown.
