Patent ID: 7734546

Claim:
A construction payment management system comprising: an application server including a processor and a computer readable memory, wherein the computer readable memory stores a construction project profile that identifies a plurality of participants associated with a construction project and a role for each of the plurality of participants in the construction project, wherein, according to the construction project profile, the plurality of participants includes a first participant, a second participant, and a third participant, and wherein, according to the construction project profile, the third participant is a payor for the construction project, the second participant is a contractor that is contractually subordinate to the third participant for the construction project, the first participant is a contractor that is contractually subordinate to the second participant for the construction project, and the first participant is not directly in contract with the third participant for the construction project, an identifier of a first participant device, a second participant device, and a third participant device corresponding to the first participant, the second participant, and the third participant, respectively, and instructions that, when executed by the processor, establish electronic communication between the application server and each of the first participant device, the second participant device, and the third participant device, generate an electronically-executed first request for payment on behalf of the first participant in the construction project in response to information received from the first participant device, transmit the first request for payment to the second participant device, generate an electronically-executed second request for payment on behalf of the second participant based on the first request for payment, transmit the second request for payment to the third participant device, transmit a first payment directly from the third participant to the first participant, and transmit a second payment directly from the third participant to the second participant.