What a change order is
A change order is a written amendment to the construction contract that changes the scope, the price, the schedule, or all three. It can come from the owner (“add two windows”), from the design team (a revised drawing), or from conditions on site (unexpected rock, hidden damage).
What every change order should include
- A unique number and the project name
- A clear description of the change and why it’s needed
- Drawing or spec references (for example, spec section 26 05 19)
- The cost, broken down into labor, materials, equipment and markup
- The schedule impact in days, even if it’s zero
- Who requested it and the date
- Signatures from the people authorized to approve it
The schedule line is the one most often skipped, and it’s the one that causes delay disputes months later.
A process that works
- Capture it the day it comes up. A text message or a conversation on site is not a change order. Write it down immediately, even as a draft.
- Price it quickly. Get sub and supplier quotes while the details are fresh.
- Send it for approval before the work. Doing extra work on a verbal OK is the most common way contractors lose money on changes.
- Track it until it’s signed. Pending change orders should have an owner and a follow-up date.
- Update the budget and schedule. An approved change order that never reaches the budget or schedule is a surprise waiting to happen.
Keep a change order log
Your change order log should show every change order’s number, description, amount, schedule impact, status (draft, pending, approved, rejected) and dates. Totals by status tell you at a glance how much money is still unapproved. Review it weekly with the project manager.
Read the contract’s notice terms
Many contracts require written notice of a change within a set number of days. Miss the deadline and you may lose the right to be paid, even for legitimate extra work. Put those deadlines on a calendar the moment a change comes up.
Where software helps
Most change order problems are about speed and visibility, not math. Tools that read incoming change orders, pull out the amount and response date, send them for approval and keep the log updated automatically remove the most common failures: forgotten approvals and missed deadlines.