One anchor for money-in
The prime contract is a single record: its value or fee, retention terms, key dates, the executed contract, and links to everything it drives, so the commercial anchor and the billing that runs off it never disagree.
Pay
The prime contract that anchors your whole money-in side
One record per project — its value or fee, retention terms, key dates and the executed contract — that every pay application, change order and retention release runs off. Set it up as a lump sum or cost-plus, and each drives the right billing downstream.
Original contract sum
$4,850,000.00
frozen at Schedule of Values baseline
Adjusted contract sum
$4,892,500.00
incl. CO-007 change order +$42,500
Contract type
Lump sum
fixed-price · sell-side anchor
Retention
5%
withheld on every release
Awarded
01/15/2026
executed contract on file
Practical completion
06/30/2027
key date · drives retention release
Certified to date$2,560,163.8752.3% of adjusted sum
Contract sum · adjustments to date
| Adjustment | Type | Amount | Contract sum |
|---|---|---|---|
| Original contract sum | Baseline | — | $4,850,000.00 |
| Additional balcony waterproofing CO-007 | Approved change order | +$42,500.00 | $4,892,500.00 |
| Adjusted contract sum anchors every claim & release | +$42,500.00 | $4,892,500.00 |
One record per project holds the contract value, type, retention terms, key dates and the executed contract, and anchors the Schedule of Values, pay applications and change orders that run off it. On a lump-sum contract the sum freezes at the baseline — only an approved change order (CO-007, +$42,500) moves it, to $4,892,500.
Trusted by builders across the country
From custom-home builders to commercial head contractors, teams run their projects on BuildPass.
Your money-in side needs one anchor, not four spreadsheets
Lump sum or cost-plus
Set the contract up as fixed-price (lump sum) or cost-plus. Each commercial model drives the right downstream billing, with no configuration to keep in sync by hand.
Frozen where it counts
A lump-sum contract sum locks at the Schedule of Values baseline; cost-plus fee terms freeze at setup, while the budgetary estimate stays revisable with a reasoned history.
How it works
Everything the contract anchors, in one place
From setting the contract up to closing it out.
ProjectNorthside Apartments
PrincipalNorthgate Property Group
Awarded01/15/2026
Retention5%
Defaults carry from the project and freeze on create
Set up from the project
Create the prime contract against the project — principal, key dates and retention terms carry across from the project's defaults and freeze when you create it.
Lump sumFixed price · sum freezes at the SOV baseline
Cost-plusReimburse approved cost plus a percentage fee
Lump sum or cost-plus
Choose the commercial model on setup. A contract is available on fixed-price (lump sum) and cost-plus projects, so it matches the deal you signed.
Frozen at baseline
$4,850,000
Locked · SOV baselineOnly an approved change order moves it after baseline
Freeze the contract sum
On a lump-sum contract the negotiated sum locks at the Schedule of Values baseline, and only an approved change order moves it after that.
Percentage fee12%frozen at setup
Estimated cost$4,120,000budgetary · from estimate
Revise the estimate later with a reason — history stays
Set a fee and hold an estimate
On a cost-plus contract, freeze a percentage fee and hold a budgetary estimated cost — prefilled from your latest estimate — that you revise later with a reason.
| 03-100Concrete | $612,400 |
| 16-100Electrical | $208,950 |
| Fee (12%) | +$98,562 |
| Claimed | $919,912 |
Bill cost-plus open-book
Cost-plus pay applications reimburse approved-actual cost plus your percentage fee, grouped by cost code and traceable to the source bills behind every line.
Retainage5%
Executed contractPDF
ActiveClosed
Hold retention and close out
The contract holds the retention terms every release runs off and the executed contract PDF, and moves through a clean Active to Closed lifecycle.
Connected to the whole job
The prime contract sits at the centre of money-in
Upstream, the project's estimate seeds a cost-plus contract's fee and estimated cost. Downstream, a lump-sum contract drives the Schedule of Values (whose baseline freezes the sum), pay applications and change orders; a cost-plus contract drives cost-reimbursement pay applications that bill approved cost plus the fee, with no Schedule of Values or change order — income follows cost. Both hold the retainage terms every release runs off and feed WIP and cost reporting, where a cost-plus job earns its margin as the fee by construction. It's the sell-side mirror of the subcontract on the buy side.
Prime contract · sell-side anchor
$4,850,000
Northside Apartments · lump sum · frozen at SOV baseline
billed via
Pay applications · on the Schedule of Values
$2,560,163.87
certified to date · reconciles to the contract sum
adjusted by
Change orders · CO-007
+$42,500 → $4,892,500
an approved change moves the sum after baseline
Trusted by builders who run their projects on BuildPass
From custom-home builders to commercial head contractors, teams across Australia and New Zealand run their projects on BuildPass every day.
The onboarding process and training we received from the BuildPass team was fantastic.
Nick Du Bois
Managing Director, FORA
If you're considering implementing new technology on site, you must have BuildPass on your list.
Rob Lineker
Director, Dei One Projects
I'd recommend BuildPass to any builder, sub contractor or site manager. It just makes your life easier.
Garath Vella
Director, Lorden Vella
Frequently asked questions
It's the sell-side record of your contract with the client, one per project, that anchors the Schedule of Values, pay applications, change orders and retainage. It holds the contract value or fee, the retention terms, the key dates and the executed contract PDF.
A lump-sum contract has a negotiated fixed sum that freezes at the Schedule of Values baseline and drives pay applications and change orders. A cost-plus contract has no fixed sum: it reimburses your approved-actual cost plus a percentage fee, so there's no Schedule of Values or change order — income follows cost.
Each pay application folds the approved-actual bills that fall in the claim window, groups them by cost code, and adds your percentage fee, producing an open-book pack where every line traces back to its source bill. Fixed-fee claiming isn't available yet — cost-plus claims bill on a percentage fee.
No. On a cost-plus contract the estimated total cost is budgetary and never bills; it derives an estimated final price and sets the retention cap. You revise it with a reason and the history stays visible. What bills is approved-actual cost plus the fee.
Fixed-price (lump sum) and cost-plus. Time-and-materials contracts aren't supported, and a guaranteed maximum price isn't available yet.
Anchor your next contract in BuildPass
Subscribe for BuildPass news and product updates, or book a demo to see the prime contract on your own projects.