[D] Headquarters progress payment · Construction Exercise Map

Scenario descriptions

The situation, for each audience

Keep the trainer context out of trainee packets and read-aloud materials.

Trainee facing · Read aloud

Current situation

Campbell Hall work began on 22 March. After four earlier approved progress payments and the later asbestos interruption, Peace Walker Infrastructure Partners, LLC submits Progress Payment Request No. 005 for $4.88 million. Approval would bring cumulative paid progress to $11.23 million.

The on-site COR is incredulous. His signed field memorandum and photographs estimate only 52 percent of the electrical work physically installed, 30 percent of HVAC installed, and no drywall installed, while the contractor claims 65 percent, 60 percent, and 25 percent for those portions. He recommends withholding $2.016 million from the current request. Peace Walker maintains that its percentages follow the accepted progress schedule and schedule of values.

Trainer only · Do not issue

Facilitator context

Release at Increment 17 on 1 September, after [F] and after sufficient asbestos work has allowed interior construction to resume. Give D-01 and D-03 initially. D-03 is a credible installed-work observation, but the COR has not compared his field percentages with the contract's accepted progress schedule, schedule of values, or material-delivery records.

Release D-02 only if trainees ask for the accepted progress schedule or schedule of values, prior-payment history, the basis for Peace Walker's claimed percentages, or records for delivered materials. D-02 shows four earlier approved payments totaling $6.35 million. It also shows explicit August milestones for physical installation and for delivery and protected staging of permanent materials and equipment: 13 percent electrical, 30 percent HVAC, and 25 percent drywall. The contractor achieved and requested exactly those scheduled staging amounts. Joint inventory and receiving records support all $2.016 million questioned by the COR.

FAR 52.232-5(b)(2) permits the Contracting Officer to authorize material delivered on site and preparatory work in the progress estimate. The intended decision is to correct the COR's installed-work-only interpretation and approve the properly substantiated $4.88 million request. Wrongfully withholding the supported $2.016 million creates an avoidable payment dispute. FAR 52.232-27 does not automatically impose Prompt Payment interest while a genuine amount or compliance disagreement exists, but a sustained contractor claim may carry interest under FAR 52.233-1(h). Continue to [K] after either response.

Trainer clue bank

Regulatory signposts

4 sources

Direct trainees to a citation when they need a narrower clue. Have them apply the contract’s actual clauses, current thresholds, local policy, and the facts before treating any signpost as dispositive.

Release 01

Give initially

2 records

These establish the decision without answering the factual questions trainees should identify.

D-01

Progress Payment Request No. 005 and certification

Requests a net $4.88 million after $6.35 million in four prior approved payments and contains the FAR 52.232-5(c) certification.

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D-03

COR physical-installation concern and photo log

Shows the COR's installed-work percentages and recommendation to withhold $2.016 million because the field installation appears lower than the contractor's claimed schedule percentages.

Draft document availablePDF · 2 pages · Editable Word copy

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Release 02 · Oral inject

Trainer addition

1 prompt

Give only after trainees have read and discussed the event. Use it to narrow attention without disclosing the answer.

After trainees discuss D-01 and D-03, ask: ‘Does the COR's percentage of physically installed work necessarily establish the payable percentage under this contract?’ If needed, ask what contractual record defines how progress is measured and direct them to FAR 52.232-5(b)(2).

Release 03

Give only after trainee prompting

1 record

Use the prompt as a release gate; close-enough trainee questions should count when they seek the same underlying fact.

Prompt / triggerHandoutExercise purpose

PromptAsk for the accepted progress schedule or schedule of values, prior-payment history, the basis for the claimed percentages, or delivered-material records

HandoutD-02
Accepted progress schedule, schedule of values, and payment support

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PurposeShows four prior payments, the current-period delta for every work portion, and explicit August milestones for installing work and staging permanent materials and equipment. The contractor's accomplished and requested staging amounts match the accepted schedule exactly.

Facilitation lens

What a strong analysis should surface

FAR 52.232-5(b) uses the Contracting Officer's approved estimate of acceptable work accomplished, but paragraph (b)(2) expressly permits authorized credit for material delivered on site and preparatory work. A field-installation percentage is evidence, not necessarily the entire contractual measure.
D-03 correctly observes 52 percent electrical installation, 30 percent HVAC installation, and no installed drywall. It does not review the accepted schedule or material records and therefore understates earned value by $416,000 electrical, $1.20 million HVAC, and $400,000 drywall.
D-02 shows that the accepted August schedule weights delivery and protected staging of permanent electrical materials/equipment at 13 percent, permanent HVAC equipment/materials at 30 percent, and drywall materials at 25 percent. The contractor achieved and requested precisely those milestones. Receiving tickets, paid invoices, joint inventory sheets, contract-use identification, protected storage, and the no-prior-payment check support the full $2.016 million questioned by the COR.
Approve the properly substantiated $4.88 million current request. Following the COR without checking the agreed payment basis wrongfully withholds $2.016 million and invites a payment dispute or certified claim; a sustained claim may include interest under FAR 52.233-1(h).

Trainer-controlled decision menu

Available response options

2 options

Offer options in plain language and accept equivalent trainee analysis. Do not reveal the assessment labels. Use each availability gate before accepting a contextual response, and use the trainer line to redirect a superfluous answer immediately.

How to run this node: Offer only these two decisions. D-03 is part of the initial packet; release D-02 only if trainees ask for the accepted progress schedule or schedule of values, prior-payment history, the basis for the claimed percentages, or material-delivery support. If they offer total rejection, automatic retainage, or another side response, say: 'That might fit different facts, but here you must decide whether the COR's installed-only estimate controls or whether the accepted progress schedule supports the requested payment—which do you choose?'

D1Weak

Accept the COR's installed-work percentages and approve only $2.864 million, withholding $2.016 million from Payment Request No. 005.

Available when: Initially available
Trainer line: “The COR's photographs are credible but incomplete as a payment measure. FAR 52.232-5(b)(2) permits authorized progress credit for material delivered on site and preparatory work. D-02 shows that the accepted schedule assigns the questioned $2.016 million to delivered, protected, jointly inventoried material that has not been paid previously. Taking the COR at his word without checking that schedule wrongfully withholds earned value.”
Leads next: Peace Walker disputes the underpayment and converts the unresolved $2.016 million balance into a certified claim. If the contractor prevails, the Government must pay the supported principal and applicable interest under FAR 52.233-1(h), while the avoidable dispute strains remote-island subcontractor and supplier cash flow. [K] still opens at Increment 19.

D2Strong

Obtain D-02, compare the field installation with the accepted progress schedule, and approve the full $4.88 million request.

Available when: Available after trainees request and review D-02
Trainer line: “The team respects the COR's factual observations while correcting his assumption that only installed work can earn progress credit. D-02 verifies the prior-payment baseline and shows that the contractor achieved and requested exactly the accepted August staging milestones: 13 percent for permanent electrical materials/equipment, 30 percent for permanent HVAC equipment/materials, and 25 percent for drywall materials, supported by receiving records, joint inventory, contract-use identification, and protected storage.”
Leads next: Approve Payment Request No. 005 for $4.88 million, explain the payment basis to the COR, and continue to [K] at Increment 19 without a payment dispute.