Patent ID: 8180707

Claim:
A computer implemented method of managing a construction payment process, the method comprising the acts of: determining a series of events that must occur in a construction project managed by a construction project management server before a payment is made for work performed in the construction project, the series of events including a first event and a second event; detecting, by the construction project management server, an occurrence of the first event; automatically generating, by the construction project management server, an electronic notification in response to the occurrence of the first event, the electronic notification including a textual description of the detected occurrence of the first event, a textual description of an action item to be performed by a first participant in response to the detected event, and a selectable link to an electronic form; accessing, by the construction project management server, notification preference information for the first participant stored on a computer readable memory, the notification preference information identifying a preferred method of delivering electronic notifications to the first participant, the electronic notifications relating to the construction project; transmitting the electronic notification to the first participant according to the accessed notification preference information; displaying the electronic form to the first participant in response to the first participant selecting the link in the electronic notification; receiving data from the first participant through the electronic form, wherein the second event includes receiving the data; detecting, by the construction project management server, an occurrence of the second event; and initiating the payment for work performed in the construction project after the occurrence of the first event and the occurrence of the second event are detected occur, wherein the construction project includes multiple contractual tiers of participants and wherein the first participant is one of a payor making the payment to a second participant that is contractually subordinate to the first participant and a payee that receives the payment from a second participant and is contractually subordinate to the second participant.