Square the continuation sheet against the period's work, match the waivers on file to who was actually paid, and run the response clock the governing state sets — the officer certifies, not the agent.
A period closes, and the schedule of values is pulled from supported project-accounting, ERP or spreadsheet sources.
02
A change order executes, and the contract sum as adjusted is rebuilt from it rather than carried forward as a plug.
Reason
03
A line is billed, and its retainage and stored-materials positions are carried with the evidence behind each one.
04
A waiver arrives, and it is matched to a payee on the prior application, at a tier, for an amount, through a date.
05
A form is prescribed, and the waiver is read against California's under Cal. Civ. Code §8132 or Texas's under §53.284.
Decide
06
A clock starts under New York GBL §756-a, Massachusetts §29E or California §8800 — not under the contract.
07
A package completes, and it goes to the officer who will sign it and have it notarised.
Out
08
A draw is retained as a dated version, beside the waivers behind it and what the certifying officer was shown.
09
A write action runs only inside the approval boundaries agreed during implementation.
→Product statement
The agent assembles and reconciles the package; the contractor's officer certifies it, and the architect issues the Certificate for Payment.
Example workflow
One draw, period to signature
AgentHuman
1Period closedSchedule of values, change orders, waivers and inspection reports
2Package assembledLine items, waivers, retainage and title currency, each with its named source
3Exceptions draftedContinuation sheet, waiver matrix, open conditions and confidence
4Controls appliedSum-as-adjusted checks, waiver-match tests, state form and clock rules, and confidence threshold
No human action required
Stages 1 to 4 run unaided, and nothing is certified at any of them — after a sworn application is funded, a correction contradicts a notarised one, so the officer lane opens at the gate.
5DecisionBranches at the confidence threshold
High confidence
Goes to the certifying officer.
Low confidence
Adds a contract-administration read first.
Officer review
The package is held with its waiver matrix, its open conditions and the confidence.
Approve · Amend · Send to contract review
Approved — released for signature▼
6Project accounting updatedOnly where write access and approval policy allow it
7Outcome evaluatedAmendment distance, exception outcomes, certified-versus-applied variance and post-draw corrections
Amendments
Each officer amendment is counted in the evaluation.
What should not run autonomously
Human approval stays in control
Outside the boundary — human approval required8 items
Certifying the Application for Payment before a notary.
Issuing the Certificate for Payment — the architect.
Deciding the amount certified, which the architect may vary.
Generating, completing or signing a lien waiver.
Automation boundaryAgent acts unaided
✓Square the continuation sheet to the contract sum as adjusted.
✓Match each waiver on file to a payee, tier, amount and date.
✓Track the retainage, stored-materials and title-currency positions.
✓Compute the response clock that state sets, and escalate it.
Any write happens inside the boundaries agreed at implementation, never ahead of a certification.
Issuing the owner's written disapproval, or withholding.
Opining that a waiver is enforceable or that title is clear.
Releasing retainage, or clearing a funding condition.
Changes to waiver, clock or approval rules.
Example output
One line on the draw, annotated
Everything the agent assembles is attached to the document it was drawn from.
Draw package output · single line itemIllustrative example
Trade
Open exception
Days since payment
Source of record
Confidence
Signer of record
Drywall subcontractor
Paid on the prior application with no waiver covering it
31 days
Prior application, certified
88%
Certifying officer, named on the draw
As receivedTaken from the prior application and the waiver file — nothing on this side is written by the agent.
Source facts usedPrior applicationWaiver file, by tierPayment register
Why this is openThe certification asserts payment for work previously certified — the G702 second limb.
ActionApproveAmendSend to contract review
What the score decidesBelow the configured threshold the line picks up a contract-administration read before the officer sees it.
Value
Where AI adds value
The same four claims, placed at the point in the workflow where each one applies.
Where the value landsValue 01 – 04
Every drawFrom the project record
03Assembly
Reconcile one month of one job
Line items are set against the contract sum as adjusted — one month of one job, not a rent roll or an operating statement.
01Approved path
Silence is not withholding
New York gives twelve business days, and a decline must name the items not approved — GBL §756-a.
02Human review
Deemed approved, or priced
Massachusetts deems an unanswered application approved — M.G.L. c. 149 §29E; SJC-13819, 26 June 2026, put payment before defences. California prices delay — §8800.
04Build an evidence trail
The line, the waiver that matches it and the officer who certified stay on the draw.
Integrations
Typical integrations
Five system groups connect to the same agent. Which of them are in scope is decided in discovery.
Project accountingSage 300 CRE · Viewpoint CMiC · Foundation
Integration availability depends on the client's existing systems and API access.
Agent controls
Six layers between the model and the certification
Six gates in order, widest first. What passes every one appears in the map beneath this.
L6 · Outermost — last line of defenceInward → L1 · closest to the model
L6Rollback / safe modePull back to package assembly when evaluation or production signals degrade.Roll back
L5Version monitoringTrack model, prompt, waiver-rule and state-configuration changes.Track
L4TraceabilityRecord the line items, the waivers, the open conditions and the approval time.Record
L3Officer approvalHold the package for the named certifying officer; it governs release, not whether the certification is true once sworn.Gate
L2Policy guardrailsTest the package against the configured waiver-form, retainage and clock rules; a failure returns it, and a tier never seen is not a failure.Restrict
L1Confidence thresholdsRoute low-confidence lines to a contract-administration read before the officer sees them.Require review
Model corePackage assembled — continuation sheet, waiver matrix, open conditions and confidence
L1 – L2Test whether the package may stand
L3Puts the release in the hands of an officer
L4 – L5Keep the line and the waiver behind it
L6Narrows to draw-package assembly when signals degrade
How Nestack evaluates it
Evaluate the assembly workflow — not only the finished application.
Coverage runs the whole depth of the workflow, and every layer is cut by slice.
Surface — the package the officer signs
Depth of coverage ▼
E1Final-output evaluationDid every line trace to the document behind it?
E2Step-level evaluationDid the agent use the right contract sum, state rules and project configuration?
E3Tool evaluationDid it read and write the correct project and the correct period?
E4Confidence calibrationDo low-confidence lines actually attract more officer amendments?
E5Slice evaluationHow does performance change across specific trades and project types?
E6Business outcomeHow many lines were amended, or corrected after the draw was funded?
Floor — the outcome the contractor answers for
Failure modes
Where each failure originates in the agent
Seven failure modes, set at the stage where each one first appears.
Agent lifecycleDirection of processing →
01 · Retrieval1 mode
FG-03
Superseded contract sum
A change order executed after the last draw is missing.
Stage gathersValues, change orders, waivers and inspection reports
02 · Reasoning2 modes
FG-04
Unreconciled percentage jump
A line moves further than the inspection describes.
FG-06
Non-conforming waiver form
A national template is used on a form state.
Stage proposesContinuation sheet, waiver matrix and confidence
03 · Tool / write2 modes
FG-02
Clock started on the invoice
The last required document arrived later.
FG-05
Exception aged as pending
A missing waiver rolls forward, never escalated.
Stage writesOnly where write access and approval policy allow it
04 · Output1 mode
FG-01
Condition read as satisfied
A title date-down predates the advance it covers.
Stage returnsThe draw package the certifying officer signs
05 · Change / Version1 mode
FG-07
Silent waiver-rule drift
A model or rule change alters what reads as matched.
Stage tracksModel, prompt, waiver rules and state config
Sev-1 · a wrong package reaches a signatureSev-2 · an unmatched waiver reaches the fileSev-3 · source degrades, line goes to review
A project-level waiver-match rate can read as complete while a few trades carry most of the returned lines. Nestack reports the return rate by trade, not only in total.
Slice performance — reported separately, not only in aggregateIllustrative example
Slice
Failure rate
Lift
Lift vs. threshold
Status
Multi-tier subcontract trades
9.8%
3.7×
Review
Stored-materials line items
7.0%
2.6×
Review
Change-order-heavy scopes
4.8%
1.8×
Watch
Single-tier fixed-scope trades
2.2%
0.8×
Normal
Bar: return-rate lift vs. single-tier fixed-scope baseline · scale 0–4.0× · tick marks the 2.0× review threshold2 of 4 slices over threshold
Evidence-linked improvement
A cycle ends with one more test
A cycle is done when the unmatched waiver has become a case the next release must pass. That suite is what the next draw built is measured against.
Improvement cycle · five stagesSwitchback — the path turns at Improve and returns at Learn
01Detect
Waiver-match return rate rises for one trade.
02Diagnose
The signature on a waiver from a sub who was never paid is read back until the cause narrows to one.
03Improve
Number the change; the draws that drove it are filed under it.
04Verify
Each touched draw case is run once more, and one red holds it back.
05Learn
It stays as a standing test, and the waiver rules move with it.
Learn → DetectThe return edge. The next draw runs against a suite one case longer.
Typical build scope
Twelve workstreams across six weeks
The build scope read against the delivery timeline. Week structure follows the six-week plan — discovery, sources, draw workflow, evaluation, integration, then production validation and handover.
WorkstreamWeek 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6
01Draw-cycle workflow discovery and boundary mapping.
02Project-accounting source assessment.
03Waiver-form, retainage and response-clock mapping.
04Value and change-order ingestion.
05Package assembly and source binding.
06Confidence scoring and exception routing.
07Officer review workflow.
08Project and lender-system integration.
09Waiver and retainage cases.
10Guardrails and certification controls.
11Draw-trail instrumentation.
12Deployment, documentation and Agent Care handover.
12 workstreams · 6 weeks · bar shows the weeks a workstream is active — several run in parallelFinal scope and sequence confirmed in discovery
Engagement tiers
What each tier includes
Rows are the capabilities named in each tier's scope. Higher tiers include everything below them.
Capability✓ in scope · — not at this tierPilotOne project, one stateProductionProduction project systemsAdvancedMultiple projects / states
Introduced at Pilot
Package assembly and reconciliation✓✓✓
Officer approval✓✓✓
Waiver-match baseline✓✓✓
Introduced at Production
Reporting by trade—✓✓
Exception workflow in your systems—✓✓
Approved write-back—✓✓
Accounting-system integration—✓✓
Introduced at Advanced
Multi-state waiver and clock rules——✓
Multi-stage draw approvals——✓
High draw volume——✓
Multi-project draw controls——✓
Build priceFrom $5,000From $8,000Custom quote
Final build priceConfirmed after discovery based on integrations, workflow complexity, transaction volume, approval controls and deployment requirements.
Separate from buildBuild pricing is separate from recurring Agent Care, which covers managed monitoring, evaluations, incidents and verified improvements after launch.
What we need from you
What you bring, and what we build with it
Each input maps to a piece of build scope and a week in the delivery timeline.
You bringWe build with it
01Your schedule of values and contract documents→Value and change-order ingestion and reconciliationWeek 1
02Representative prior draw packages→Package assembly baseline and waiver matchingWeek 2
03Your waiver forms and the states you build in→Waiver-form and response-clock mapping, and the automation boundaryWeek 1
04Access to relevant APIs, feeds or exports→Project-accounting and lender assessment, then integration setupWeek 2
05Draws you would not want re-papered→Response cases and failure-mode testingWeek 4
06What no certificate may rest on→Confidence scoring, exception routing, guardrails and certification controlsWeek 3
07Named certifying officers to review the package→Officer review workflow, then pilot and production validationWeeks 5–6
Nothing else is requiredDeployment, documentation and Agent Care handover are ours.
Delivery timeline
Four phases across six weeks
Band width here comes from elapsed time rather than from layout, so week five doubles up honestly.
PhaseW1W2W3W4W5W6
DiscoveryW1
BuildW2 – W3
EvaluateW4 – W5
Pilot & LaunchW5 – W6
Week focusW1Draw workflow discovery, rule mapping and the automation boundaryW2Source integration and the reconciliation baselineW3Assembly workflow, confidence logic and certification controlsW4Evaluation suite, waiver-form checks and failure-mode testingW5Lender and title integration, a pilot draw and targeted correctionsW6One draw cycle run under the project executive, then Agent Care handover
Reading the bandA bar spans only the weeks its own work is named in. The week 5 overlap is real, not padding.
At the end of W6When the draw package validates, Agent Care takes the agent on.
DurationSix-week plan shown · typical delivery 4–6 weeks depending on scope confirmed in discovery.
Next step · Real Estate AI agent
Build the draw package around the clock the statute runs, not the one the contract does.
Construction draw volume is contracting; what rides on each package is not. Show us your schedule of values, your waiver file and the states you build in, and we will set the automation boundary and name the officer who certifies.
