A Change Order Workflow That Keeps Jobs Moving

A tile crew finds a wall that is two inches out of plumb. The owner wants to move a window. The engineer issues a revised detail after framing is already underway. None of these are unusual. What separates a controlled job from a margin leak is the change order workflow that starts the moment the field discovers the issue.

For many builders, that workflow is a string of texts, a marked-up plan, a verbal okay, and an invoice nobody can match three weeks later. The work gets done because it has to. Then the office has to reconstruct what happened, who approved it, what it cost, and whether it moved the completion date. That is not a process. It is expensive memory work.

A good workflow gives your team one clear path from field change to approved scope, budget, schedule, and billing. It needs to work from the phone in the truck and the tablet on the tailgate, not just from a desk after the fact.

What a Change Order Workflow Must Control

A change order is more than a price adjustment. It is a decision that can affect scope, labor, material lead times, subcontractor commitments, permit requirements, inspections, and the final schedule. If the price is documented but the schedule is not updated, the owner may approve the extra work while still expecting the original finish date. That turns a signed change into an avoidable dispute.

The workflow should answer five questions every time:

1. What changed, and why?
2. What is the added or deleted cost?
3. Who has authority to approve it?
4. What happens to the schedule if it proceeds?
5. Has the cost reached the budget, subcontractors, invoice process, and owner billing?

Those answers should live together. When the proposal sits in email, the field direction is in a group text, and the cost lives in a spreadsheet, nobody has the full picture. The superintendent may order material before approval. Accounting may pay a sub invoice against a cost code that no longer reflects the job. The owner may receive a draw request with a charge they thought was still under discussion.

Build the Workflow Around the First Field Signal

The first report is where most control is won or lost. Your superintendent, project manager, lead carpenter, or office coordinator needs an easy way to record a potential change before anyone treats it as approved work.

That record does not need polished contract language on day one. It needs enough facts to preserve the issue: project, location, date, photos, plan reference, who raised it, a plain-language description, and the reason for the change. Was it owner-requested, a concealed condition, a design revision, a code issue, or an error and omission? Those categories matter because they affect both responsibility and how you communicate the cost.

For example, “Owner wants shower niche moved” is not enough. Better: “Owner requested moving primary bath shower niche from east wall to plumbing wall after rough-in. Requires plumbing relocation, framing patch, waterproofing revision, and tile layout adjustment.” The second version gives the PM and trades something they can price without chasing down the story.

Field capture has to be fast. If it takes ten screens and a laptop, the change will stay in someone’s head until Friday. A command-driven system such as BuilderHelp lets a field leader capture the issue while standing in the room, then attach the photos and route it to the right person. The point is not more software. The point is getting the fact of the change into the job record before the job runs past it.

Separate potential changes from approved work

Use a status that makes the distinction obvious. A potential change is an item being reviewed or priced. It is not a green light to proceed. An approved change has owner authorization and can be released to the field.

There are exceptions. An active water leak, structural safety issue, or inspection correction may require immediate action. In those cases, document the emergency direction, who authorized it, the not-to-exceed amount if available, and the expected schedule effect. Emergency work is not a reason to skip documentation. It is a reason to document faster.

Price the Full Impact, Not Just the Obvious Labor

A weak change order price covers the visible work and leaves the builder carrying the rest. Moving a door may mean framing, electrical relocation, drywall repair, trim revisions, paint touch-up, rescheduled inspections, and a delayed cabinet template. The carpentry number alone is not the cost of the change.

Your estimator or PM should request trade pricing with a due date and a clear scope description. Subcontractors need the same plan revision, photos, and location details your team has. Free sub access to the project record can prevent the familiar loop of forwarding emails, resending attachments, and wondering whether the electrician priced the old drawing.

The price should show labor, material, equipment, subcontractor cost, overhead, and profit according to your contract structure. It should also state whether taxes, permit fees, design fees, or contingency are included. Do not hide schedule impact in a footnote. If the item adds five working days because the selected product has a three-week lead time, say so.

This is where judgment matters. Not every small field adjustment deserves a formal owner change order. Many contracts allow a superintendent or PM to handle minor items within a defined allowance or contingency. Set a written threshold for those decisions, then still log the work against the correct budget category. The threshold prevents bureaucracy from slowing a job down, while the record prevents small costs from disappearing.

Route Approval to the Person Who Can Say Yes

A homeowner’s casual “sounds good” in a kitchen meeting is not always contractual approval. Neither is a designer’s request if the designer does not control the owner’s budget. Your workflow needs an approval matrix that identifies who can authorize what.

For owner-funded changes, send a clean proposal that includes the scope, amount, schedule effect, supporting images or plan references, and a specific expiration date. Avoid sending a vague email that says, “This will probably be around $4,000.” A firm number may need revision if concealed conditions are discovered, but the owner should understand what they are being asked to approve.

For architect- or engineer-directed work, document the instruction and preserve the question of responsibility. You may need to proceed to protect the schedule, but that does not mean the builder should automatically absorb the cost. Keep directives, requests for information, revised drawings, and pricing connected to the same change record.

Once approved, the field team should receive a direct notice: what was approved, when to start, any constraints, and the current plan or specification. A signed PDF sitting quietly in an office folder does not move a job. The people doing the work need the release.

Update the Job Before the Cost Turns Into History

Approval is the midpoint of a change order workflow, not the finish line. The approved amount must update the contract value or owner billing plan, the project budget, committed costs, and the forecast. If the change creates a new cost code or draws from contingency, make that visible.

The schedule deserves the same attention. Add the activity, adjust dependencies, and notify affected trades. If a custom exterior door adds four weeks, the framing, dry-in, insulation, and finish sequence may all need a new plan. A schedule that ignores approved changes becomes a decorative document nobody trusts.

Then watch the actual cost. Tie subcontracts, purchase orders, delivery receipts, and invoices back to the change order or its cost code. This is how you catch a $2,500 approved plumbing change that becomes a $4,100 invoice before the final draw goes out. It also lets your team see whether certain types of changes repeatedly miss their estimates.

Close Every Change With a Financial Check

When the work is complete, mark the change as executed only after checking that the owner has been billed correctly, the related invoices are coded, and the budget reflects actual cost. If the change was a credit, confirm that the credit made it to the owner statement rather than staying buried in an estimate.

A monthly review of open changes is worth the time. Look for proposals awaiting owner approval, approved work not yet released, work performed without approval, and completed changes with unbilled costs. These are not administrative leftovers. They are direct indicators of cash flow, margin exposure, and schedule risk.

The best change order workflow does not ask your team to become contract clerks. It gives them a fast, repeatable way to turn a jobsite surprise into a documented decision. When the next wall opens up and reveals a problem, capture it while everyone can still see it. That is when you have the most leverage, the clearest facts, and the best chance to keep the job moving without giving away the profit.