This is an illustrative example, not a customer story. The business, people and numbers are invented to show how CivilPilot’s features fit a typical residential builder workflow. Every feature described exists in the product today.
The challenge
Imagine a mid-size builder putting up two 12-floor residential towers on the edge of Chennai. Most of the work is let out to subcontractors: structure, block work, plastering, waterproofing, plumbing and electrical. Each one works to a rate agreed at the start and raises a running-account (RA) bill every few weeks.
The QS checks each bill against a measurement sheet in Excel and a copy of the work order in a file. Retention and advance recovery are worked out by hand. When the subcontractor’s quantity and the site’s quantity differ, the argument starts over phone and ends with whoever is more persistent.
Drawings add to the confusion. Revised drawings reach the site by email or as prints, and it is not always clear which version is current. A subcontractor who built to an older revision has a fair claim, but nobody can quickly show which version was approved and when.
- RA bills checked against scattered sheets. Quantities, retention and advances are rebuilt for every bill.
- No clear current drawing. Site and subcontractors can work from different revisions.
- Budget seen too late. Spend is compared with the budget only when accounts close the quarter.
How they set it up
In this scenario the builder puts the money side and the drawing side on the same footing: every bill traces back to an agreed work order, and every piece of work traces back to an approved drawing.
Work orders that carry the terms
Each subcontractor is added to the register with GSTIN and PAN. The QS issues a work order for each package with line items, quantities and rates, plus the retention percentage and any advance paid. Those terms now sit with the work order rather than in a separate file.
- Progress is recorded against the work order lines, by the site team or by the subcontractor through the subcontractor portal link.
- RA bills are raised against that recorded progress, with retention held back.
- The QS sees what has been billed and what is still owed on each work order.
One drawing register, with approvals
Every drawing goes into the drawing register with its version history. A new revision is approved before it becomes the current version, so the site and subcontractors open the same sheet. When a question comes up on site, the engineer drops a pin on the drawing at the exact spot, and the query stays attached to that version.
Budget from the BOQ, compared as work goes on
The QS builds the BOQ with sections, items, rates and cost codes, finalises it, and creates the project budget from it for approval. From then on, the budget vs actual view shows budget, committed and actual spend by cost code, so a package running over shows up while there is still time to act.
Set up your first project today
Start the 7-day free trial, or book a demo and we’ll walk through your own sites with you.
What changes
With this setup, an RA bill is checked against the work order and the progress already recorded, not against a spreadsheet rebuilt for the occasion. Retention held so far and the balance owed on each work order are visible to the QS and the accounts team alike.
Drawing questions become easier to settle. The register shows which version was approved and when, and site queries pinned on the drawing keep their context. A claim that work followed an older revision can be checked against the record rather than memory.
The budget stops being a document that is read once. Because the budget comes from the finalised BOQ and is compared with committed and actual spend by cost code, the project manager can see which packages are moving away from plan during the job, not after it.
