The interim valuation, assembled once
On a JCT or NEC4 job the interim valuation is the document everything else hangs off. QScope builds it from one set of figures so the number you certify is the number you can defend.
QScope Team · 5 January 2026 · 6 min read
An interim valuation on a UK contract is not a spreadsheet you rebuild every month. It is a running position: measured work to date, plus variations, plus materials, less retention, less previous payments. QScope holds that position and moves it forward each cycle instead of starting from a blank sheet.
What the valuation pulls together
The point of doing it inside QScope is that every component comes from a single source, so the gross valuation and the certified figure cannot drift apart between cycles.
- Measured work. Progress against the priced bill or activity schedule, entered as percentage complete or as a remeasured quantity.
- Variations. Only the agreed and instructed changes flow into the gross figure. Unagreed items are held separately so they never inflate the certified sum by accident.
- Materials on site. Recorded against a line, with the vesting position noted, so listed items and unfixed materials are visible rather than buried.
- Retention. Deducted at the contract rate, tracked cumulatively, not recalculated by hand each month.
Dated to the due date
Under the Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996 the payment mechanism runs off the due date, with the final date for payment set by the contract. QScope stamps each valuation with its due date, so the five day window for the payer's payment notice under section 110A and the pay less notice deadline under section 111 are measured from a fixed point rather than from memory.
JCT and NEC4 read the same figures differently
On a JCT job the surveyor values and the contract administrator certifies. On NEC4 the Project Manager assesses the amount due at each assessment date. QScope does not force one shape onto the other: it holds the underlying build-up and presents it in the form the contract expects, so the same measured work can produce a JCT valuation or an NEC4 assessment without re-keying.
Why the running position matters
When a payment is queried, the question is always the same: what changed since last time. Because QScope carries the position forward cycle by cycle, the movement is already there. This month is £1.62m gross, up £84,000, of which £61,000 is measured progress and £23,000 is the drainage variation instructed on the 14th. That answer takes a moment, not an afternoon of rebuilding.
An interim valuation done well is quiet. Nobody notices it because it agrees. QScope is built to make the agreement the normal case.
QScope assembles each interim valuation from the contract sum, agreed variations, materials on site and retention, then dates it to the due date so the notice clock starts from the right day.