STrOp · Learn
Practical knowledge for specialty contractors
Compliance, change management, project controls, and the data discipline that compounds across bids. Written for California specialty subs — owners, PMs, estimators, and the field.
20 of 47 articles for Finance. Clear
All 76 topics
Baseline vs current vs actuals — the three views every project lives in
A baseline is the promise. Current is the forecast. Actuals are the receipts. Treating them as one number is how subs miss overruns until they're paying for them.
Bill the month — a pay app that doesn't bounce
Open the period, let the G703 build from the SOV, enter percent complete, submit to open the receivable, generate the §8132 conditional waiver, and send one package whose math ties to the SOV.
California lien deadlines — preliminary notice, stop notice, mechanic's lien
The three deadlines that protect your right to get paid on a private California project. Miss one, lose the remedy.
Certified payroll — one run a week, eCPR out the door
Build the week's certified payroll run from approved timecards, generate the eCPR XML DIR takes, print the A-1-131 for the GC's portal, and read the Compliance tab before you leave.
Certified payroll — weekly cadence and DIR submission
When CPRs are due, what "work performed" means, and how STrOp builds the LCPtracker / eCPR export.
Close out the job — punch, package, retention, done
Clear the punch list, file the closeout documents so the package assembles itself, issue substantial completion, and bill retention on the final application with the §8138 waiver behind it.
CSLB license renewal — windows, fees, and the gotchas
When the 60-day renewal window opens, what an "active" vs "inactive" renewal means, and what STrOp warns you about.
DIR registration & renewal — California public works
Who needs to register, when annual renewal opens, and what STrOp checks before you bid a prevailing-wage job.
Earned value for trades — the four numbers that predict overruns
EVM without the certification. PV, EV, AC, and the four ratios that tell you a job is going sideways before the final pay app does.
Import a DIR wage determination (and keep it current)
Load a California prevailing-wage determination — including its scheduled July-1-style increase — so your projects validate pay against the right floor, and refresh it when DIR reissues.
Lien waivers — the four California forms and when each is safe to sign
Conditional vs unconditional, progress vs final — the §8132–§8138 statutory forms as a two-by-two matrix, and the one rule that keeps you from waiving rights for a check that hasn't cleared.
Pay app submission checklist
What goes in a monthly pay application, what the GC's reviewer looks for, and what STrOp assembles automatically.
PCO vs CO — proposal versus executed change
A PCO is your priced ask. A CO is the executed contract amendment. Until the CO is signed, the work isn't billable on a pay app.
Prevailing wage rates — how to find the right one
Which rate applies to which worker on which project, where DIR publishes them, and how STrOp pulls the right one onto your timecards.
PWC-100 — is your public works project registered?
The awarding body's DIR project registration is what your certified payroll submits against — how to verify it exists, find the DIR project ID, and what to do when it's missing.
Retainage release — when, how much, and what to chase
Standard 5–10% withholding through the project, partial release at substantial completion, final release after closeout. The clocks and triggers contractors miss.
Service agreements — cadence, visits, invoicing
Turn recurring maintenance into an agreement STrOp works from — the visit cadence generates the calls, the billing cadence drives the invoices, and neither depends on anyone remembering.
The STrOp glossary — what we call things, and why
Construction has never agreed on its words — the same term means three different things depending on who's talking. Here's the one name STrOp uses for each thing, and the words we deliberately split.
Turn a signed T&M tag into a change order
Walk a signed T&M ticket through change event, priced PCO, and executed CO in the Changes tab, so the contract value and the SOV move together and the chain holds up.
Your estimate is your earliest budget — not the contract value
The contract value tells you what the GC owes you. The estimate tells you what the job is supposed to cost. Confusing them is how subs miss a 30% margin compression.
See STrOp in action
Single-pipeline operations for California specialty contractors — bid through warranty.
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