Leave the certification out and the claim dies on jurisdiction; get its wording wrong and it can be cured. The agent builds the file and runs the clocks, and a named person certifies.
Builds the claim file; the signature stays a person's
In
01
A claim is built, and the agent opens the file against the contract as awarded and the clause it relies on.
02
A cost line lands, and the agent traces it to the record behind it and marks the ones no record supports.
Reason
03
A change is asserted, and the agent separates one directed in writing from one argued only from conduct.
04
A claim is priced, and the agent aggregates increased and decreased costs against the certification threshold.
05
A claim is ready, and the agent drafts the certificate in the words prescribed at FAR 33.207(c), unsigned.
Decide
06
A claim reaches the contracting officer, and the CDA interest clock runs from that receipt, not from an REA.
07
A decision clock starts, and the agent computes the decision date and the date a deemed denial would arise.
Out
08
A decision is received, and the agent counts the board and court windows from receipt and holds both open.
09
Execute write actions only inside the approval boundaries agreed during implementation.
→Product statement
The agent assembles and counts; a person authorised to bind the contractor certifies and submits — and this page is United States federal contracting plus one California statute, not the law of any other state.
Example workflow
One claim, record to certification
AgentHuman
1Entitlement event recordedDirective, correspondence, cost record or an REA already with the officer
2Basis assembledThe clause relied on, the events behind it and the records each cost line rests on
3Claim file builtEntitlement basis, cost trace, sum certain and confidence
4Controls appliedProvenance checks, threshold aggregation, sum-certain and decision-request checks and confidence threshold
No human action required
Stages 1 to 4 run unaided, and nothing is certified or submitted at any of them — the agent is assembling, and the certifier's lane opens at the confidence gate.
5DecisionBranches at the confidence threshold
High confidence
Goes to the authorised certifier.
Low confidence
Adds a claims counsel read first.
Certifier review
The file is held with its unevidenced lines, its open questions and the confidence.
Accept · Query line · Send to counsel
Accepted — signature follows▼
6Claim register and cost system updatedOnly where write access and approval policy allow it
7Outcome evaluatedLines queried, lines found unevidenced late, clocks missed and files produced complete
Queries
Every line queried in review is counted in the evaluation.
What should not run autonomously
Human approval stays in control
Outside the boundary — human approval required8 items
Executing the certificate, in any wording, for anyone.
Deciding that entitlement exists under the clause.
Submitting the claim to the contracting officer.
Calling a course of conduct a constructive change.
Automation boundaryAgent acts unaided
✓Assemble the entitlement basis with the clause it relies on quoted.
✓Trace each cost line to a source record, and mark the ones that do not.
✓Aggregate increased and decreased costs against the threshold.
✓Run the accrual, decision and appeal clocks, and hold the file for the certifier.
Any write happens inside the boundaries agreed at implementation, never ahead of a certification.
Stating the sum certain as the agent's own conclusion.
Appealing, or electing the forum an appeal is taken in.
Settling, withdrawing or releasing any part of a claim.
Changes to certification, threshold or approval rules.
Example output
One cost line, annotated
The schedule agent guards the contract clock; this one assembles the statutory claim.
Claim file output · single cost lineIllustrative example
Claim basis
Cost line
Traced to
Provenance
Confidence
Consequence
Suspension of work
Extended field supervision across the suspension period
Summary tab only
Timesheets not produced
88%
The certifier warrants the data
As receivedTaken from the cost ledger and the claim records as they stand — nothing on this side is written by the agent.
What was readJob cost ledger exportDaily reports on fileSubcontract payment log
Why this line is flaggedThe totals agree and the timesheets under them were archived at demobilisation — the certifier decides.
ActionAcceptQuery lineSend to counsel
What the score decidesBelow the configured threshold the file picks up a claims counsel read before the certifier 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 claim on fileFrom the cost record
03Assembly
Trace the line, not the total
Read each cost line back to the record it came from, and where no record exists, say so before the signature.
01Approved path
A missing certificate is fatal
Routine cost lines arrive already traced to the records behind them.
02Human review
Send review to the unevidenced lines
Untraced lines and near-limit clocks are marked, so the certifier starts where the exposure sits.
04Build an evidence trail
The claim, the record its cost rests on and the person who certified stay on the file.
Integrations
Typical integrations
Five system groups connect to the same agent. Which of them are in scope is decided in discovery.
A portfolio-level cost-trace figure can read well while a few contracts and claim types carry most of the lines no record supports. Nestack reports the untraced-line rate by slice, not only in total.
Slice performance — reported separately, not only in aggregateIllustrative example
Slice
Failure rate
Lift
Lift vs. threshold
Status
Constructive change claims
7.8%
3.6×
Review
Delay and disruption
5.4%
2.5×
Review
Subcontractor pass-through
3.9%
1.8×
Watch
Directed change orders
2.5%
1.2×
Normal
Bar: untraced-line-rate lift vs. a directed-change baseline · scale 0–4.0× · tick marks the 2.0× review threshold2 of 4 slices over threshold
Evidence-linked improvement
Every cycle ends with one more test
A cycle closes when the defective certificate is a regression case. That suite is what the next claim assembled is measured against.
Improvement cycle · five stagesSwitchback — the path turns at Improve and returns at Learn
01Detect
Untraced-line rate rises on one contract.
02Diagnose
The claim that was right on the merits and never reached them is read back to a single step.
03Improve
The change goes out with a number, and the claims behind it travel with it.
04Verify
Nothing submits while one touched claim case is still red.
05Learn
It is kept for good, and the certification rules are amended in the same commit.
Learn → DetectThe return edge. Detection next time meets 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, claim workflow, evaluation, integration, then production validation and handover.
WorkstreamWeek 1Week 2Week 3Week 4Week 5Week 6
01Certified claim discovery and boundary definition.
02Cost and contract source assessment.
03Clause, threshold and certification rule mapping.
04Cost-ledger ingestion and line matching.
05Entitlement basis and cost-trace logic.
06Confidence scoring and file routing.
07Authorised certifier review workflow.
08Cost and contract-system integration.
09Certification and decision cases.
10Guardrails and submission controls.
11Claim-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 contract, one claim typeProductionProduction cost systemsAdvancedMultiple contracts / agencies
Introduced at Pilot
Claim assembly to your contract✓✓✓
Certifier review gate✓✓✓
Cost-trace baseline✓✓✓
Introduced at Production
Reporting by contract—✓✓
Review workflow in your systems—✓✓
Approved write-back—✓✓
Cost-and-contract integration—✓✓
Introduced at Advanced
Multi-agency rule sets——✓
Multi-stage internal approvals——✓
High claim volume——✓
Multi-forum appeal controls——✓
Build priceFrom $5,000From $8,000Custom quote
Final build priceConfirmed after discovery based on integrations, workflow complexity, claim 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 contract as awarded and its disputes clause→Clause mapping and claim-file structureWeek 1
02Representative cost records and daily reports→Cost-trace baseline and per-line provenance reportingWeek 2
03Your certification and delegation-of-authority rules→Certification-rule mapping and automation-boundary definitionWeek 1
04Access to relevant APIs, feeds or exports→Cost, contract and document assessment, then integration setupWeek 2
05Claims you would not want dismissed→Threshold cases and failure-mode testingWeek 4
06What no certification may leave unsaid→Confidence scoring, file routing, guardrails and approval controlsWeek 3
07Named certifiers authorised to bind the contractor→Certifier 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
The measure here is worked time and not layout space, so the doubling at week five is real work.
PhaseW1W2W3W4W5W6
DiscoveryW1
BuildW2 – W3
EvaluateW4 – W5
Pilot & LaunchW5 – W6
Week focusW1Claim workflow discovery, clause mapping and the automation boundaryW2Cost integration and the cost-trace baselineW3Claim assembly, confidence logic and review controlsW4Evaluation suite, guardrails and failure-mode testingW5Document integration, pilot claims and targeted correctionsW6One claim cycle run under the authorised certifier, then Agent Care handover
Reading the bandEach bar covers the weeks its own work is named in, and no more. The week 5 overlap is worked time.
At the end of W6Validation closes on live claims, and Agent Care picks up monitoring.
DurationSix-week plan shown · typical delivery 4–6 weeks depending on scope confirmed in discovery.
Next step · Construction AI agent
Build a certified-claim agent around the person who signs it.
On 28 April 2026 the Civilian Board dismissed AOC Connect, CBCA 8696: no certification at all, and the contracting officer engaging with it could not rescue that. Seven days later Haskell, ASBCA 64380, held deviant wording curable. Absence is fatal, deviation is curable.
