By Adam Hicks, CooperBuild AI · November 3, 2026

What is the construction change order process? The construction change order process is how a scope change becomes a signed change to the contract: someone identifies the change, the GC prices the cost and schedule impact, the owner reviews it, and both sides sign before the work is billed. The rule that keeps GCs out of trouble is simple: get the change in writing, give notice on time, and don't bill or build big changes on a handshake.

Most change order fights aren't about the price. They're about paper: a verbal "go ahead" from the owner's rep, a notice that went out a week too late, or a change that got built but never made it onto a pay app. Below is a practical, step-by-step change order process for small and mid-size GCs, plus how to handle verbal directives and how changes should flow into billing.

#What counts as a change order in construction?

A change order is a written agreement, signed by the owner and the contractor (and the architect, where the contract requires it), that changes the scope of work, the contract sum, the contract time, or some combination of the three.

It's different from a few documents that get confused with it:

• Change order request (or proposal). Your priced proposal for a change. It isn't binding until it's signed as a change order.
• Change directive. A written order from the owner to proceed before cost or time is agreed. Many standard general conditions allow it so the job doesn't stall, with the price settled later.
• RFI response or supplemental instruction. These can change scope, but they don't change the contract by themselves. If a response adds work, treat it as the start of a change.

#What are the steps in the change order process?

Here's a process that works on most jobs, whatever contract form you're under.

1. Spot the change early. Changes start from an owner request, an RFI answer, a drawing revision, a field condition or a code issue. Train PMs and supers to flag anything that isn't in the bid scope the day they see it.
2. Give written notice. Read the notice clause in your prime contract before the job starts. Many contracts set a short deadline to notify the owner of a change or claim, and missing it can cost you the money even if the change is real.
3. Define the scope. Describe exactly what's changing and reference the affected drawings, specs, RFIs and photos. Write it so someone who wasn't in the meeting would understand it a year from now.
4. Price cost and time. Break out labor, material, equipment, sub quotes, and markup for overhead and profit as your contract allows. Include the schedule impact in days, not just dollars.
5. Submit and follow up. Send the change order request with backup, and log the date. Follow up on a fixed cadence until it's approved, rejected or turned into a directive.
6. Sign before you build, or proceed under a written directive. For anything significant, don't start without a signed change order or a written directive that says the price will be settled later.
7. Update the contract, budget and billing. Once it's signed, add it to the contract value, the job budget and the schedule of values so it can be billed.
8. Push it down to subs. If the change affects a subcontractor's scope, issue the matching subcontract change order so your sub costs track with your prime contract.

#What should a construction change order include?

A clean change order answers four questions: what is changing, which documents are affected, how much the contract sum moves, and how many days the contract time moves.

In practice, include:

• Project name, change order number and date
• A clear description of the change, with references to drawings, specs and RFIs
• A cost breakdown (labor, material, equipment, subs, markup)
• The original contract sum, the net of prior change orders, this change and the new contract sum
• The change in contract time and the revised completion date
• Attachments: sub quotes, photos, T&M tickets
• Signatures from everyone the contract requires

Numbering matters more than it sounds. A simple log with a number, date, one-line scope, amount, status and signature date for each change is what you'll lean on in a closeout negotiation.

#How do you handle a verbal change order?

Verbal directions are where most change order disputes start. When an owner's rep tells your super to add work, document it the same day:

• Send a short confirming email or text: what was directed, by whom, on what date, and that you'll price it as extra work.
• Track labor, material and equipment for the extra work separately from base scope on daily reports and T&M tickets, and ask the owner's field rep to sign the tickets.
• Take dated photos before, during and after.
• Follow up with formal written notice through the channel your contract requires.

Federal jobs show how much timing matters. Under the federal Changes clause (FAR 52.243-4 (opens in a new tab)), an oral order from the contracting officer can be treated as a change order only if the contractor gives written notice, and costs incurred more than 20 days before that notice generally can't be recovered. The contractor also has to assert its right to an adjustment within 30 days. Private contracts set their own deadlines, so read yours.

#How long should change order approval take?

Your contract should answer this, and if it doesn't, negotiate it in. Without a response deadline, a pending change can sit for months while you carry the cost.

On your side, keep the approval clock short:

• Price small changes within a few days, not at the end of the month.
• Ask for a meeting to walk through any large change rather than emailing it and waiting.
• Review the open change order log in every owner meeting, oldest first.
• If the owner won't sign but wants the work, ask for a written directive so the scope is authorized even while the price is still open.

#How do change orders show up on a pay application?

Only bill executed change orders. Add each signed change as its own line on the schedule of values instead of rewriting the original lines, so the owner can trace what moved. Pending or disputed changes stay in your change order log until they're signed. We walk through the billing side in detail in how to fill out a construction pay application.

Retainage usually applies to change order work the same way it applies to base scope, so carry the change through to your retainage tracking as well. See retainage in construction for how to track it.

#What are the most common change order mistakes?

• Building first, pricing later. Once the work is done, your leverage to get a fair price drops.
• Missing the notice deadline. A real change can become unrecoverable on a technicality.
• Vague descriptions. "Extra work per owner" won't hold up in a closeout dispute.
• Forgetting the schedule. Pricing the dollars but not the days leaves you exposed to delay claims later.
• Not flowing changes to subs. Your prime contract moves, but the subcontract doesn't, and your margin absorbs the gap.
• Keeping the log in someone's head. If only one PM knows the status of every change, you have a risk, not a process.

#Where CooperBuild AI fits

Most change order problems come from scope, budget and billing living in different places, so a change gets agreed in one tool and forgotten in another. That's the same rebuild-the-data problem we describe in bill from the scope you won.

CooperBuild AI keeps the estimate, the job, subcontracts, billing and built-in accounting (general ledger, payables and receivables) in one workspace, and it connects to QuickBooks Online if that's where your books live. Project chat lives in the same place, so when someone mentions a scope change in the job chat, it can be picked up as an action item instead of getting lost. More on that in construction action items from the job chat.

If change orders are slipping between the field and the office, start a 14-day free trial, no credit card needed, and run your next change on one live job.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Change order, notice and payment rules depend on your contract and your state.

#FAQ

#What is the construction change order process?

It's the steps that turn a scope change into a signed contract change: identify the change, give written notice, define and price the scope and schedule impact, get it reviewed and signed, then update the contract, budget, billing and subcontracts.

#What is the difference between a change order and a change order request?

A change order request is the contractor's priced proposal and isn't binding. A change order is the signed agreement that actually changes the contract sum, the contract time or both.

#Can a contractor get paid for a verbal change order?

Sometimes, but it depends on the contract and the paper trail. Send written confirmation the same day, track the extra work separately, get T&M tickets signed, and give formal notice within the deadline your contract sets.

#Should a GC start work before a change order is signed?

For small changes, many GCs proceed with written confirmation. For significant changes, wait for a signed change order or a written directive that authorizes the work while the price is settled.

#Can you bill a pending change order on a pay application?

No. Bill only executed change orders. Keep pending and disputed changes in your change order log until they're signed, or the owner may reject the whole pay application.